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1. Right now we are in the
perfect
situation as far as young talent is concerned. I don’t remember any
time in
recent history when we would have such large group of gifted young
chess
players. Most of them are very determined to become Grandmasters and
possibly
even best players in the world, however judging from my experience they
really
don’t know how to do it. I see our goal not only in teaching those kids
how to
improve their chess, but also in showing them how they can study chess
themselves. I hope to demonstrate to them that studying chess is very
exciting
if you do it in a right way. I also believe that showing them the
importance of
hard work and how rewarding this hard work can be, we help them succeed
in life
in general.
2. My vision of USCS is not of a
school
where “a teacher will teach students”. I believe that we are going to
have a
group of chessplayers, who will learn from each other. I look at myself
as a
coordinator, who will help students to go in the right direction. Here
are some
of the things we are going to do:
3. Each student comes to a
session with a
selection of his/her annotated games. We all discuss those games and
formulate the
student’s strengths and weaknesses. Then I would suggest a homework
assignment,
which will help student to improve such weaknesses. An example will be
for
someone who is too excited about his/her own play and constantly
misses/underestimates the opponent’s counterplay to study games of
Anatoly
Karpov. Karpov is well known for his prophylactic style and obsession
about how
to stop opponent’s plans. I am aware that for some students it will be
a very
hard test. Most of our young players don’t like to be criticized and
prefer to
show only their victories. I hope to create such an atmosphere where
critique
will not be too harsh and will be well wished. I believe that these
lessons
will have profound influence on students and will go well beyond chess.
4. Besides homework aimed at
improving
one’s weaknesses, each student will receive an assignment to prepare a
lecture
for the next training session. It could be anything from “Endgames with
Rook
and Bishop vs. Rook” to “Typical plans in positions with a closed
center”. I’ll
provide students with the list of books/games they need to study to
make this
presentation. I myself will be well prepared and will make some
additions to the
student’s work.
5. We’ll learn how to study in
groups. My
plan is to identify students who play the same opening, then make them
study a
critical position in this opening and come up with a novelty. I’ll
teach them
how to use databases and chess playing programs. I’m convinced that
after such
experience students will be well equipped to study openings on their
own.
6. We’ll pay a great deal of
attention to
the area of chess psychology. Such common problems such as time
trouble,
overestimation of one’s position, fear of stronger players, etc, all
will be
addressed. We are going to play training games, where student will get
a
specific assignment, for instance “pay attention to the clock and avoid
time
trouble”.
7. I’ll try to emphasize the
importance
for a chessplayer to be physically fit. I hope to reserve some
facilities here
in