MY CHESS JOURNEY
When I was about 8 years old my father taught my brother and me the basic chess moves and rules and gave us a cheap chess set. I think he figured it would keep us quiet and prevent us from tearing the house up. We played periodically and enjoyed it , but on a most basic level. Later , I dropped out of college and started driving a taxicab in Miami Beach , Fl in the 1970′s. I was kind of lonely and I happened upon a book by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld called “Winning Chess: How To See Three Moves Ahead.”
I began reading this book and getting interested in chess again.
I sought out the Chess Club in South Miami Beach (now just called “South Beach”). I don’t know if it is still there. It was an outdoor club with granite and concrete chess boards and had a roof over it in kind of a patio. I showed up not realizing how bad I was and was roundly crushed with simple gambits by guys who would rudely laugh at you when they beat you. Not daunted , I figured my problem was openings and tactics(very common conclusion), which I proceeded to study. Being the pragmatist that I am I stayed with Fred Reinfeld and began another beginner’s classic “How to Think Ahead In Chess”.
This expounded three opening systems: The Stonewall Attack for white, the Sicilian for black against e4 and Lasker’s Defense with black against d4. These were fun to play , because if I played someone at my level and they hadn’t seen these books they would probably lose. As stronger players and chess teachers will tell you , studying openings is probably the greatest waste of time for the serious student. I studied many of the beginner’s classics and although these type of books(“How to Win in the Chess Openings “, Horowitz) probably stunt growth ,they served their purpose at the beginning levels. I would beat many players and be inspired to greater study. ( I tried not to laugh at them; that would come later)
Watch this YouTube video from Kasparov and Karpov 2002 “Quick” match in New York.
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11 Ideas I try to Apply to Chess Improvement
- Figuring things out for yourself is the only way to make sustainable chess progress.
- Concentrate on your strengths instead of your weaknesses(unless you are trying to make your third GM norm).
- Confidence comes from getting the education you need and taking the necessary action(playing in tournaments is crucial).
- Like a laser beam, you focus on your goal and activities with Controlled Attention.
- Try to focus on incremental small steps , progress not perfection.
- Each obstacle will seem reasonable and insurmountable , but each can be overcome with dogged determination.
- Visualize in detail , with emotion, what the outcome of your goal looks like.
- What do you believe that is actually false?
- What can you understand that others find incomprehensible?
- What is your brain doing to blindside you?
- The granddaddy of all chess improvement:”TACTICS,TACTICS,TACTICS!”
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MY CHESS JOURNEY (cont)
Years would go by and once again I found myself driving a taxicab. It was 1981 in San Francisco, CA. A cabbie friend and I would play speed chess on our days off. He took me to the famous Mechanic’s Institute Chess Club. 
I eventually got very “burned out” driving a taxi at night and moved to Lexington, KY to help take care of my aging aunt. I looked up the local chess clubs and for me there was no looking back. I began to play in as many rated tournaments as I could and my rating slowly improved. I’ve never rated higher than 1760 USCF and frankly it has always bothered me. I started to look for ways to become much stronger at chess and this is what this blog is essentially about.
One of my problems is I start a program , do poorly in a tournament and then feel highly motivated to change the program to the next “flavor of the month”. I believe now I will just stick to a tactical software program I am using called 
” Chess Combinations Encyclopedia”. It is a little easier than “Chess Tactics Art 4.0″, but I’m able to go through a greater number of problems and I sense that may be better for pattern recognition. When I get more time I plan to go back to studying Openings and Chess Strategy, which is my first love. ( I’ve always been a big fan of Aron Nimzovitch’s ” My System”). I will post my progress periodically and hope you enjoy my blog.
