The Q & A Way
The Q & A Way is based in large part on readers' questions. Do you have a
question about preparation, strategy or tactics? Submit your questions (with
you full name and country of residence please) and perhaps Bruce will reply in
his next Chess Cafe column...
Yes, I have a question for Bruce!
Piece Be With You
Question I am a Peace Corps Volunteer living in Burkina Faso. Teaching chess
The Q & A
to people around here has been interesting, but finding competition above the
beginner level has been difficult. I was looking into correspondence chess over
the Internet, but I was having trouble finding sites that would accommodate
Way
someone who only irregularly has access. I am looking for something informal
Bruce Pandolfini
just to match me up with some partners who would not mind an occasional
wait. Do you have any suggestions?
Michael Kolber, Burkina Faso
Answer It s not every day I have to look up to see if the country of origin really
exists. You are to be applauded for the service you are extending to the world of
chess and to humanity. I suggest you try a few of these sites: InstantChess.com,
Itsyourturn.com, Redhotpawn.com, Chessworld.net, Yahoo! Games,
Gameknot.com, Chessgames.com, and Chessclub.com. The latter are two I
recommend often. For most of these you can play on very informally, whenever
you have access and it suits you. Thanks for spreading the beauty of chess to a
distant Shangri-la.
Question Not long ago I heard you give a talk about business at Bloomberg
headquarters in New York City. It was interesting, but I disagreed with a few
points. You mentioned 3 important rules that businessmen live by that chess
players can use. You said businessmen try to (1) understand the situation; (2)
work with a plan; and (3) stay focused on their goal. How can that advice
possibly help chess players? Are you sure that is what you attempted to say, or
did you only think about it afterward?
John Macneil, USA
Answer Actually, thinking back, you have it backward. I said such a 3-fold
approach is what chessplayers try to do, and I suggested that in some cases such
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thinking might help businesspeople. Are you sure you attended that day, or did
you only hear about it afterward?
Question I ve seen you write that you recommend going to a chess match to
watch. Many people play in chess matches. I can understand that, but I don t
understand why they would go to a match they are not going to play in. Can
you explain what you get from doing that or why you would want to do that or
how a player like me (average) can do it or get anything out of it, or even what I
would do?
Stephen Maslin, USA
Answer Let s first clear up the use of the terms match and tournament. The
public often uses them interchangeably, but they re not the same thing. A match
is a confrontation between two players or two teams. Generally, at least two
games are played against the same opponent, one game with the White pieces
and one with the Black. In a tournament, an individual usually plays different
opponents from round to round rather than the same one over and over, as in a
match.
Some tournaments are truly massive, sometimes with thousands of participants,
all trying to keep as quiet as possible. The games can be slow and difficult to
follow, but observing the action at these major events doesn t have to be like
watching yachts race or grass grow. You can use the time wisely, entertaining
yourself while learning about the game.
A good start would be to stake out the top ten boards. If circumstances allow, try
going from board to board (if you re not prone to creating disturbance, often you
can do that unimpeded). Go through the same routine at each board. You might
begin by asking yourself: Who s ahead in material? You can do that by counting
and comparing pieces and pawns, which is an excellent practice for your own
games. In fact, even good players do it.
Then you might ask: What was the opening? Or, similarly, how is it likely the
game began? Of course, it helps to know something about openings. But even if
you do, you re still playing detective (it ll be fun to pretend being Humphrey
Bogart). Regardless of your experience, the key to understanding here is
determining the type of pawn structure. Most openings achieve their
characteristics through pawn configurations. If pawns are placed logically, they
tell you where the pieces should be. So adopt the habit of asking questions about
pawn structure whenever you try to analyze a chess position. The more opening
setups and corresponding pawn structures you can identify, the better.
Another compelling question is Who controls the center? The side with
greater central control almost always has the advantage. Try to gauge how the
other side can fight back in the center, and if it can be done at all. Classify the
center. A useful way to do that is by considering the placement of pawns. For
example, is it obstructed by each side s pawns, or something in between? If
blocked, play must proceed slowly, with much maneuvering. If clear, a sudden
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mating attack could come from anywhere, just like that. You can explore some
of those central setups in the Art of the Middlegame by Kotov and Keres.
Other questions to consider: Are any pieces placed well or badly? You may
want to strengthen one or two or maneuver them somewhere else. If the position
allows for exploration, keep Capablanca s question in mind: Where would I like
to put my pieces if I could? You could also ask questions about strong and weak
points for each side. (You should think about bolstering your own problem
squares and targeting your opponent s.) Can the weak squares be exploited or
defended? Can they be occupied or controlled? No matter what you ask or how
you ask it, you can conclude your analysis by asking two more questions. Who
stands better? And, what is a good plan for each side?
Meticulous investigation is not easy, but it can be as captivating as it is
challenging. If you do it fairly regularly, you might very well master the process
of analyzing a chess position. If you don t, there s always checkers.
Question I've been playing chess for the past five months and it really became
the perfect activity for me. I've played in two tournaments since and achieved a
rating of 1210. My question is: I know it depends on many factors like (I guess)
intelligence, dedication and others, but how high (in rating) can a player get if
he's in his late thirties? Is it pointless to set a long term goal to become expert or
even master? I learned chess at the age of fourteen but did not have anyone to
play with. I played a little more during my late teens but never set out to go
higher gears. Now chess has become a passion and I want to catch back as
much as I can. What do you think and what do you suggest? Thanks!
Jeff Bissonnette
Answer I don t want to place limits on what a determined person of talent can
do. To be sure, I can t, nor can anyone else. You can go as far as your ability
and willful application will take you. Certainly, as you become older, the road
becomes less smooth, though you might be able to compensate by drawing on
your experience. Possibly that can make up somewhat for having a clogged,
deeply grooved brain, as most of us do once we reach middle age or beyond.
Nevertheless, you may be thinking about this in an unfruitful manner. That is, I
think it imprudent to set yourself certain potentially unreasonable goals.
Fulfilling specific levels of achievement is, in my opinion, an unfortunate, if not
misguided reason to play chess. I feel that is especially true when much of the
concern has to do with an unfeeling four-digit number (your USCF rating). A
better reason to play chess is to enjoy and be stimulated by satisfying leisure
time. What do I think? I think you re placing too much accent on achievement.
What do I suggest? I suggest you just keep playing chess for enjoyment. If you
give it your multi-tasking all, and revel in using your time that way,
improvement, if it is to come, will take care of itself.
Question Bruce, what is a good rule of thumb for managing your time in
standard tournament time controls? I'm never sure how I should allocate my
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time. There are times, obviously, when you need to really think in complex
positions or have forced moves that are no-brainers. Other than these two sets
of circumstances, what should be your rate of play (moves/time)? Since most
slow tournaments are G/60, G/90 or 40/2 with 1 hour SD, how many moves
should be made per time increment? I'm a class D player, but I suspect the rate
of play would be the same for all class players. Thanks.
Stan Ogolozelec, USA
Answer I m going to take slight issue with your suspicion about the rate of play
and playing class. Your class, your experience, and your level of clock comfort,
as well as other variables, are all factors, so it s really hard to supply you with a
convenient rule of thumb.
What I might recommend to a D player would probably be different from what
I d suggest to a B player. If you handle time pressure well, I probably would
counsel you very differently from one who becomes flustered when short of
time, irrespective of playing skill. And surely there are other aspects to this
question that might also have to be weighed, such as what the actual time
control is to the situation on the board itself.
Even so, if my back were against the wall, and I had to tell you how to approach
it anyway, I d offer the following: Without referring to conditions or
circumstances, play the game so that the time control is half of whatever it
actually is. If you have 90 minutes, operate as if you re going to forfeit in 45
minutes. If you have 2 hours, keep the one hour point in mind as an imaginary
barrier. Naturally, that is not an inviolable principle, and you ll always take as
much time as you require. But if you function within that kind of halfway
parameter, aiming to keep a reservoir of reserve time, you ll usually have the
time you need whenever you need it.
Question I hear an awful lot of discussion about color (of the squares) and
playing by certain color rules. As a chess teacher, I understand the importance of
squares and their color, but it seems that grandmasters exaggerate how
important color can be. I also don t want to talk so much about color in the
classroom because it could confuse young people, and my advisor doesn t even
play chess, and I don t think she would understand. What do you think about it
and do you do anything with your own students to help them with the colors of
squares thinking? Have you ever taught those things in a classroom? How did it
come off?
Mike Horning, USA
Answer Ignoring color might confuse your students a lot more than talking
about it. Many strategies in chess are based on controlling squares of a definite
color. Entire opening plans are designed to influence squares of a particular
color in an organized approach. For example, in some variations of the English
Opening, White s c3-knight, flanked bishop at g2, and pawns at c4 and d3, work
together to guard related light squares in the center. Indeed, it could be said that
White is thereby playing a light-square game. Therefore, when talking about
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the opening, it s typical to emphasize how consistent moves affect squares of a
definite color. Moreover, color-minded developments can impinge on key lines
and battle plans.
In accordance with that type of thinking, it can be productive for students to
recognize the progression of squares on a diagonal (such as how a bishop at g7
attacks along the a1-h8 diagonal), as well as how and where the powers of
friendly pieces intersect (as when an open b-file for Black can allow a rook at b8
to unite with a bishop at g7 to pressure b2).
Occasionally, when sitting with a private student, I ll ask the student to close his
or her eyes. Then I ll name a square in algebraic notation, and the student has to
tell me the color of the designated square. I may even ask other questions about
that square, such as which, if any, pieces and pawns impinge on that point, or
can do so shortly and meaningfully. I think this exercise can impart a greater
sense for the board and where the pieces naturally go. I feel it also enhances
vision and the ability to look ahead. You can t really play chess, at least as it
should be played, if you can t foresee future possibilities. This method lends
itself to developing that skill.
The other day I was at a public school in Queens, and it was time to work with
an unschooled third grade class, for which no preparations had been made by the
in-room teacher or the school administration. We didn t have any chess sets, and
we didn t have a demonstration board. True, some of the adults in the room had
heard about chess, and that was good. So I drew an eight by eight grid on the
blackboard, and after explaining how to name the squares algebraically, I called
upon different students to come up and write the name of the indicated square
on its corresponding box, until the board was filled in.
That took a while, but eventually it got done, and I decided to introduce the
notion of color. I colored in only one dark square (e5, with a purple-like chalk),
and one light square (b7, with a yellow chalk). Once again I called upon
students, but this time they had to indicate the color of a named square and color
it in. We did this for some time, and though it wasn t the most exciting exercise,
everyone s fingers got messy and we all had a good time. At least they didn t
complain, and they might have, since no one knew I had done it for free (I
would have done the same things for double the compensation). How did it
come off? I suppose they used an eraser once I left.
Copyright 2005 Bruce Pandolfini. All Rights Reserved.
Yes, I have a question for Bruce!
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