Novice
Nook Testimonials from fans
...NN (and Thinking Cap series) are the best reads on the internet - by far." - Postman at Chessville
"I have found Everyone's 2nd Chess Book and the Novice Nook articles to be just about the most helpful book and articles I've ever read and it's clear that many others feel the same way. It seems you have struck a chord with your readership by writing about topics which should be in novice/intermediate books but which aren't or , if they are, are not explained in a clear and understandable way. More power to your elbow !" - Russell Reagan
I'm a classic baby boomer and started playing chess in 2nd grade and postal chess in 1964. got to be a weak postal master, mostly by following Ken Smith's advice, after I gave up thinking I'd ever get any better. OTB your advice to play real chess instead of "hope chess" was the best I've learned since Smith's. Next week end I lose my crown, but at least I got to the top once. It's fun to beat experts, and it's fun to get linked with players you've known over the years." - Bruce Johnson
"Mr. Heisman,
Happy Birthday! Hope the World Open and your birthday were both great.
I am writing again to tell you of my second tournament. I had a 1262 after my first G45 tournament in Atlanta (4 games). I went back for another G45 in June and had better results. I bagged a 1548 and a 1330 and had a 1500 something performance rating. Your articles helped me tremendously in all of the games. I played real chess and did not make any major blunders, unless you count missed opportunities. I lost to a 1648 in the first round, but played well. He got a small advantage and wore me down. I went to lunch behind the Atlanta Chess club with Mike, a friend from work that was going to his first tournament. When we went into the restaurant we saw a chess player analyzing his game while eating. He was intense! I don’t know if you have seen Huck Finn, but there was a character that murdered someone in town and almost killed Huck. His name was Injun Jim. This guy looked just like him: Black hat, long black hair and even a scar on his right cheek, an intimidating character.
After a good Turkey club we went back for the second round. Guess who was at my board. Injun Jim! I was white and he played a Classical Kings Indian. He was not very aggressive and Fritz gave a positive evaluation throughout. I had an attack going on the kingside and had just won a pawn.
I was looking for something in the position because I knew there had to be something strong there and I noticed his clock was running. I used the time to think and found a move that would pin his rook to his king and I could win the exchange. About that time, he let and adjective fly and hit the clock. He was mad! From that point forward, he moved the pieces with authority and hit the clock hard. I put him in check and his King had to go to e8 behind my pawn on e7. I had picked up my queen to put him in check on c8 and take his queen on h8 when I noticed his rook on c5. OOPS! I hesitated and he almost yelled “touch move” “touch move”. I think it was in your “Everyone’s second chess book” you recommended taking your time and finding the best move possible when you have made this mistake. I did and it was the only “!” in all four games, according to Fritz. I moved to f8+, queen takes, pawn takes, King takes and I am up two pawns with a rook and knight and a 7 minute to 3 minute time advantage. I was still a little shook up from his actions, but I kept to your advice and wrote my moves down and used my additional time to think. We swapped knights and I forced him to swap rooks. I queened my first pawn and moved it to c2, he moved his pawn to d3. Fortunately, the best instructor on the Net had told me to go to sleep. I moved Qd1 and calmly queened my c pawn. He had moved his king to a7, hoping for a stalemate. With the clock still ticking, I missed the shortest, Qa1+, Kb6, Qa6#. I was concerned about stalemate and went to the elementary Qd7+,Qb7+,and Qa8 mate. At five minutes left, I remembered somewhere you wrote to stop recording the moves. That helped save some time. After the game, it took me a while to calm down. There were three or four things that came to my mind directly from your books or novice nooks that had a direct bearing on the game (yes I have read them all at least twice and am working on the third time-you have your own folder on my computer). Injun Jim had played in 608 tournaments, 70% of which were 10-15 minute time limits. He has been rated between 1400 and a little over 1600 since 1996. What was it you said about playing slow games?
The third game was another mid-1600. I played fairly well and had some chances later in the game according to Fritz, but lost anyway. My last game was a 1330 with 50 tournaments under his belt. I was down two pawns late and he had a passed a pawn on a4 and e-h pawns against my f-h pawns. I saw that I was going to lose unless I could find a tactic or two. I moved my rook to g4. He didn’t notice his bishop on f6 was not protected by his g7 pawn anymore (my queen was on f3), so he played Qd5, attacking my queen (his was protected by a rook on d8). I took his bishop and he played g6. I moved my bishop to h6 and he resigned. He could have played seven or eight more moves, but I don’t think he saw Qe5. The purpose in this last story is that I got outplayed, but because of my intensive tactical training over the last 30-45 days, I saw something he didn’t. Even with his experience, he missed a simple tactic. Seems like I have read over and over and over and over from my favorite article, beginners should STUDY TACTICS!
I got the “Winning chess exercises for kids” by Coakley that you recommended. I set up a spreadsheet in excel that lists all of the contests and I have been typing my main answer in the next column. I then set up a formula to give me my running average score by placing a 1 or 0 in the last column. Except for vacation, I did a contest a day until the tournament (currently at 87% correct through contest 38, but need to work on speed).
The Thursday before the tournament I went to Books a Million and played 5 games. My 4 wins were a direct result of tactics. Phil is one of the better players and wore me down in the second game with a lot of trades and ground out a one pawn advantage in the endgame. I was able to beat him and a guy that won the Robins AFB tournament champ because I was seeing tactics.
I am a devoted follower of yours because everything you recommend to me works. I have seen a lot of improvement over the last year and a half of reading your articles.
I have tried to get Mike to buy in to your guidance and have printed out several of your articles for him, but he studies more advanced books (I think he is almost finished with Watson’s “Secrets of modern Chess Strategy”) and doesn’t really hit the tactics very hard. He lost 3 games and got a draw with a 1400 in the tournament and has an 1100 provisional rating. He really enjoys playing and plays every Thursday night at Books a million (a group that he started after only playing for a year). He plays more than I do and doesn’t study quite as much as I do, but I am improving more rapidly because of your guidance. Thanks for all the guidance and wisdom you put into your Novice Nooks, books and Thought process articles.
You are helping me enjoy chess more than I ever thought I could and gave me the incentive to get into my first tournament.
If they have a hall of fame for chess writers and teachers, you should get elected on the first ballot."
Thanks again."
We had round 3 (of 4) last night--time control G/60 +5. I was paired against Johnny X (~1700 USCF) and club champion for several years. And I won! He's by far the strongest player in our club.
I made a big mistake about half way through the game, and spent several minutes trying to figure a way out. I searched for a better move but realized there was only one good reply, and played it. I made the position more complicated and hoped for the best (earlier I read your Novice Nook on symmetry). He played an inferior move which allowed me back into the game with a slight edge in his favor. His knight ended up being trapped, so I captured the knight that WASN'T trapped (again, thanks to another Novice Nook on trapped pieces). I ended up with two knights for a rook and two pawns. Then at the end of the game, he made a seemingly safe rook move that allowed me to gain the initiative. I immediately saw the threat to attack the rook with a knight and then move in with a queen check. He had only two good replies. If he made a third reply then I had a forced mate in two. So he chose another. Then I played a knight check, forking the king and queen. He had to take the knight with his rook and after I recaptured with my queen, he was down a piece! I spent several minutes trying to figure out the best way to finish him off and decided (according to Fritz) on the best move. It was over in a few moves. He had to trade his queen for my knight or suffer mate in two--he took the mate in two!
My time management was far better in this game and I was careful about how much time I should spend on each move. This gave me time to carefully consider the best moves when things got complicated. Also I was aware of how long the game could last and tried to adjust my time accordingly. The mistake I made earlier in the game, made me realize that I need to focus on selecting better candidate moves.
Anyway, I just wanted to give you some good news for a change! Thanks for all your help!
Don't think Novice Nook can help stronger players? Read these two interesting emails from USCF experts:
After
reading your article “The
Two Triggers,”
I had a great tournament this weekend, including a draw against IM Timothy
Taylor (2395).
Thanks a million.