chess boot camp for the busby grand masters

Chess Boot Camp for the

Busby Grand Masters

Gwilym Pryce

(Chess board images produced using Chessmaster and Fritz software)

Introduction

• Q/ How can you improve at chess?

• A/ You can improve your chess by:– Playing against opponents better than you– Learn how to think ahead.– Learn techniques that will help you make a good

opening.– Learning how to finish a game – how to

checkmate.– Recognise Patterns – that’s how the grandmasters

do it!– Read chess books and learn chess notation.– Get yourself a chess coach!

Coaching Strategy• Each Boot Camp session has three parts:

– A. Improve Your Openings• Tips and strategies for a killer start• Know your way round the classic openings

– B. Get Tactical• Sneaky tactics to trap your opponent

– Move-combinations to fast-track you into chess stardom– C. Check-up on your Check-Mates

• How to spot a check mate at 20 paces– Piece-patterns you can exploit to demolish the enemy

• We shall try to make progress on each of these three strands in each Boot Camp session.

Training Session 1

• A. Improve Your Openings– Tips for a good opening:

1. Develop your pieces2. Control the centre3. Get your King safe4. Protect your pieces5. Knights before bishops

• B. Get Tactical – Forking out:

1. Pawn forks2. Knight forks3. Queen forks

• C. Check-up on your Check-Mates1. Knight on e7

A. Improve your Openings Tips for a Good Opening

1. Try to develop your pieces in as few moves as possible – try not to move the same piece more than once

• What does “develop your pieces” mean?

• Why is it important to develop pieces quickly?

• How many pieces has white developed here?

• How moves did it take white get to this position?

Q/ What does Developing pieces mean?

• This means getting your most powerful pieces (knights, bishops, rooks, Queen) into positions where they can control and attack– i.e. not stuck behind a row of pawns.

Q/ Why develop pieces quickly?• Chess is a bit like a race:

– Black and White are racing to gain control of the board and gain a superior position

– If your opponent can keep your best pieces trapped behind a row of pawns it can stop them being effective

• … and take control of the game!– Try to stop your main pieces getting trapped

• Your pieces are of no use if they are stuck on the back row– Try to stop your opponent developing their pieces– But remember: some pieces are usually best kept safe until later

in the game• If you develop your Queen or Rooks too soon, there’s a chance

they will get taken or chased round the board!– In fact, a good tactic is to chase your opponents queen around the

board while developing your own pieces…

Training Session 1







2. Control the centre• Q/ Why?• Q/ How many of the

four central squares does white control?

• Q/ How many of the 16 central squares does white not control?

• Q/ What’s the total number of squares that white controls?

Training Session 1







3. Get your king safe – which usually means castling as soon as you can!

• Q/ What’s the fewest number of moves White could castle in this example?

Training Session 1







4. Protect your pieces• It makes it much harder

for your opponent to plan an attack if all your pieces are protected

• Q/ Which of White’s pieces are unprotected?

• Q/ Which of Black’s pieces are unprotected?

Training Session 1







5. Develop knights before bishops

• Q/ Why?• Q/ On a clear board,

how many moves would it take to get from a1 to f8 using:• A bishop• A knight

• Q/ Are there occasions when you should deveope bishops first?

Why develop knights before bishops?

• Bishops work best when the diagonals are free of pieces– They tend to be most powerful towards the end of the game when

there are few pieces.• Knights are good at jumping over pieces and so work well when

the board is cluttered.– So knights tend to be slightly more powerful than bishops at the

start of the game, when there are lots of pieces around.• But knights can’t cover as much ground as a bishop on an open

board– So bishops tend to be slightly more powerful than knights at the

end of the game.• Conclusion:

– Some advantage in developing your knights first.– Exchanging a knight for a bishop early in the game might give you a

slight advantage later on.

Q/ Are there occasions when it’s better to develop your bishops first?

• Yes:– developing knights before bishops only

gives you a slight advantage – So if you can gain a piece or some other

type of advantage by developing your bishop early on, then it’s usually best to do so.

Training Session 1






B. Get TacticalForking out

1.Pawn forks2.Knight forks3.Queen forks

Training Session 1






1. Pawn Forks The cruellest attack in chessdom…

• White is a bishop and a knight down– How can it

reduce the deficit in just two moves?

Training Session 1






2. Knight Forks A lethal lesson in horse stealth…

• White is about to capture the black pawn and permanently end the enemy’s chance of winning.– But it’s Black’s turn

and the tables are about to turn.

– How?

Training Session 1






3. Queen ForksDestruction from a Distance

• The game has only just started and Black is just getting comfy, when out of nowhere comes a blistering attack. The Ice Queen cometh…– How can White gain

an early advantage?

Training Session 1






C. Check-up on your Check-Mates

1.Knight on e7, prepare for heaven.

Go back to B. Get Tactical

1. Anastasia’s Mate* Knight on e7, Prepare for Heaven

Believe it or not, White can win in two moves.• Can you see how?

* Name taken from an example in a novel by Wilhelm Heinse, 1903, “Anastasia und das Schachspiel” (cited in Chandler, 1998, p.14)

chess boot camp for the busby grand masters

Documents

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chess boot camp

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chess notation

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