Chess Training

Ubisoft Announces Chess Instruction Games Learn how to play chess, or people will laugh at you. by Ryan Geddes August 10, 2007 - Two chess instruction games are on the way from Ubisoft - a portable version for the Nintendo DS as well as a PC version. Chessmaster: The Art of Learning for the DS and Chessmaster: Grandmaster Edition for the PC are scheduled for an October release. Both games feature Josh Waitzkin, International Master and eight-time National Chess Champion, who teaches the fundamentals of the game and walks players through chess courses and tutorials. The DS version will include multiplayer wireless modes and six original minigames, including the mildly disturbing-sounding "Fork My Fruit." Players will also have access to 900 of the world's most important chess games, which are analyzed to help players improve their tactics.

Today I want to throw some thoughts out on selection of your Opening Repertoire and when you might want to consider changing your selection of openings based on results and perceived style. At the end of this short discourse I have listed a few links that might be interesting to those who want to pursue this subject further. As you may know (Or no know if you are not a reader of this blog), my current repertoire consists of 1.e4 heading towards a Ruy Lopez or a Bb5(+) Sicilian or a Kings Indian Attack against 1...e6 and the various hypermodern systems out there. From the White side, this is how I roll. From the 'Dark Side', I currently employ a (safe, boring, drawish??) combination of the Caro-Kann and the Slav/Semi-Slav Defense setups that tend to have alot of common strategies between them. It is because of that fact that I made those choices, along with having a good book on this idea of an opening repertoire for Black by Andrew Soltis (a bit dated, but still generally valid...

Here is a summary of the GCTS items I have posted here at the Chess Training Blog that relate to self-training chess methods: Systematic Study: CTS Study Guide Generic Chess Training Revisited How I use GCTS Thrashing, Tweaking, Holes, Feedback Captures, Checks, Pins, Forks Theory Frequency Of Play Talk Exercises Fighting Frustration and Disappointment Opening: How to Study an Opening: An Amateur's Perspective Middlegame/Strategy/Game Studies: One way to study annotated games Middlegame Training Middlegame Training, Part 2 Common Plans Endgame: Corresponding Squares and Triangulation Tactics: Thinking Tactics Calculation Skill Exercise The Importance of Being a Good Tactician As usual, feel free to leave comments!