07-10-2011, 09:53 PM
Robin, I have only heard good things about Endgame Strategy by Shereshevsky. From what I have heard it’s all about training yourself to think correctly in the endgame. Another good endgame book in my opinion is 100 chess endgames you must know by Jesus De La Villa. I think it would complement the Shereshevsky book very well as it is not about how to think but rather shows all the theoretically important positions in a friendly way.
David, I have never heard of Livestream but it sounds very interesting and is worth investigating.
I don’t normally post on the noticeboard but since Robin asked for people to put forward their ideas I thought I would give it a go:
I have been receiving/giving chess lessons online for about 7 years. With Skype available you no longer have to type and the lessons are instant. There are a lot of advantages which people don’t realise till they try a lesson; I will try to list some of the ones I have come across:
• The coach is able to get through a lot more material. You simply press F12 and you can instantly upload a position, no setting up times, the student doesn’t get bored.
• The student and coach are able to save everything covered in the lesson.
• The coach can instantly send homework and receive games the student played.
• These days understanding how to use Chessbase software is very important.
• Like McHarg says the coach is able to charge cheaper rates due to no travelling costs and time.
• As McHarg points out student and coach are able to talk to each other even at tournaments.
When I was at the World Junior last year a lot of the participants were regularly on Skype talking to their coach, sending files and getting help with preparation.
• I am able to answer a quick chess question any time as my phone has Skype on it.
In my experience coaching in groups online does not work that effectively. As you have to use a headset it makes it very personal and it can become harder to control as you cannot see who is speaking. I think coaching needs to be regular - at least once a week - perfectly would be twice.
Ideally I think juniors would be paired off with a coach. The coach is then able to go over their games continually assess their game and create an opening repertoire for the student. Speaking to Callum Macqueen I know he said he would have loved this kind of setup when he was a junior and most certainly would have not been playing the Grob in his younger years. We can point the juniors in the right direction, get them to develop good habits and cut out any bad habits. If you really wanted to create competition you could make it that the top rated junior in each age group gets their coaching subsidised/paid for.
Could we create a page with coaches having a mini blog about themselves? Maybe a picture, their achievements, style of coaching, rates etc? Chess Scotland could take a charge for the advertising on the website to raise some money. I know lots of strong players who would love to offer their services. These players would then also have some money which they can invest in tournaments and hopefully bring back some titles. Suddenly we would have a coaching structure and be raising funds for CS.
Just a few ideas and I would be interested in what people think?
David, I have never heard of Livestream but it sounds very interesting and is worth investigating.
I don’t normally post on the noticeboard but since Robin asked for people to put forward their ideas I thought I would give it a go:
I have been receiving/giving chess lessons online for about 7 years. With Skype available you no longer have to type and the lessons are instant. There are a lot of advantages which people don’t realise till they try a lesson; I will try to list some of the ones I have come across:
• The coach is able to get through a lot more material. You simply press F12 and you can instantly upload a position, no setting up times, the student doesn’t get bored.
• The student and coach are able to save everything covered in the lesson.
• The coach can instantly send homework and receive games the student played.
• These days understanding how to use Chessbase software is very important.
• Like McHarg says the coach is able to charge cheaper rates due to no travelling costs and time.
• As McHarg points out student and coach are able to talk to each other even at tournaments.
When I was at the World Junior last year a lot of the participants were regularly on Skype talking to their coach, sending files and getting help with preparation.
• I am able to answer a quick chess question any time as my phone has Skype on it.
In my experience coaching in groups online does not work that effectively. As you have to use a headset it makes it very personal and it can become harder to control as you cannot see who is speaking. I think coaching needs to be regular - at least once a week - perfectly would be twice.
Ideally I think juniors would be paired off with a coach. The coach is then able to go over their games continually assess their game and create an opening repertoire for the student. Speaking to Callum Macqueen I know he said he would have loved this kind of setup when he was a junior and most certainly would have not been playing the Grob in his younger years. We can point the juniors in the right direction, get them to develop good habits and cut out any bad habits. If you really wanted to create competition you could make it that the top rated junior in each age group gets their coaching subsidised/paid for.
Could we create a page with coaches having a mini blog about themselves? Maybe a picture, their achievements, style of coaching, rates etc? Chess Scotland could take a charge for the advertising on the website to raise some money. I know lots of strong players who would love to offer their services. These players would then also have some money which they can invest in tournaments and hopefully bring back some titles. Suddenly we would have a coaching structure and be raising funds for CS.
Just a few ideas and I would be interested in what people think?