Is it possible for me to master the game of chess in a year's time?

Question

I, having no pre experience at the game of chess, want to master opening moves and play well in a year's time from now...Can you suggest some books and softwares to help me?

Answer 1

I would suggest Jeremy Silman's Books "Reassess Your Chess" and "The Amateur's Mind" . But a year is not nearly enough time. Expect it to take 5 years or more. Chess is very very difficult to master. I would suggest getting the Chessbase computer program and going over games by top players. Also join a local chess club and expect to get beaten badly for the first few years.

Answer 2

For a beginner, Yasser Seirawan's books are money. Read them in this order:

Winning Chess
Winning Chess Tactics
Winning Chess Strategies
Winning Chess Brilliancies
Winning Chess Openings
Winning Chess Endings

Those books will make you a solid club player. To become a master, you'd probably need more than one year. Either that, or you'd need to work at it like it was your profession.

Answer 3

A few books which I have found to be great are:
1) Winning Chess Brilliancies
2) Chess for Juniors

Also books which allow you to follow along on a board are great. Try to get a board with the algebraic notation. This will allow you to follow along as the game is played out, and allow you to analyze at your own pace.
There are several beginners books on the market. Try to review them before purchasing, to reduce wasting time and effort on poorly written books. Scan thru a book to verify how the pictures or illustrations look. All the best to you.

Gent

Answer 4

There are some who believe you cannot master the game in a lifetime.

My suggestion would be to find a good partner to play with and to read everything you can get your hands on to learn as much as possible.

I don't have the patience to play chess well. I would never set a goal for myself like the one you have set. Good luck.

Answer 5

A master chess rating is earned via consistent performance in tournaments. You probably wouldn't be able to participate in enough tournaments in a year to earn a master rating.

The Yasser Seirawan "Winning Chess" Series is an excellent way to get started... However, I would recommend studying (not just reading) the books in the following order:

Play Winning Chess
Winning Chess Endings
Winning Chess Tactics
Winning Chess Strategies
Winning Chess Brilliancies
Winning Chess Openings

It's up to you whether to study Endings or Tactics first, but Openings should be left till the end. It's easier to really learn and understand how various pieces work together if you start with just a few pieces on the board (i.e. endgame study).

Tactical ability will be crucial in your development as well. Tactical ability (and lack thereof) decide basically all games played between "Class" Players (i.e. players rated below the 'expert' level).

In addition to Yasser's Seirawan's books, you can also check out Susan Polgar's "A World Champion's Guide to Chess" and "Chess Tactics for Champions"... another excellent Tactics book is John Nunn's "Learn Chess Tactics".

Eric Schiller has a lot of books out there, but I would avoid anything by him, as his books are known to contain a large number of errors.

Books by Bruce Pandolfini are good "Weapons of Chess"; "Chessercizes" ; "The ABC's of Chess"; "Pandolfini's Endgame Course".

Also "Logical Chess, Move By Move" should be part of every player's library... it contains the moves of 33 Grandmaster level games, and explains WHY each move was made.

Re: Openings... as a beginner, you should not spend your time trying to "memorize" openings. "How to Play Good Opening Moves" by Edmar Mednis will teach you the PRINCIPLES of opening play, without having you try to memorize hundreds of varations for just a few openings.

It is only at the Expert level and above where openings really mean anything, because players below that level make too many tactical mistakes during games for the opening to have much significance.

Once tactics, endgame play, and middlegame strategy are understood, THEN move on to studying and learning the actual openings that are used in games.

Also highly recommended is Jeremy Silman's "How to Reassess Your Chess" and "The Amateur's Mind".

You don't need a HUGE Chess Library to start off with...learn the things that are in these books, and then you can move on to other, more complicated things...

If you want to get only one book to 'study' the game, I'd also recommend Ron Curry's "Win at Chess"... it's a very good "all in one" book that covers strategy, tactics, openings and position analysis. But you have to know the rules of chess before you try studying this book.. This book does not explain the rules of the game, the author assumes that you already know how to play.

For a first book, which includes rules of how to play the game, I'd recommend either Yasser Seirawan's "Play Winning Chess" or Susan Polgar's "A World Champion's Guide to Chess"....either of these two books will teach you everything you need to know to get started. If you can get both, get both.

I would actually recommend Polgar's book over Seirawan's SLIGHTLY, only because it has more example problems for you to work on and practice. But Sierawan's series of books is outstanding!

Answer 6

Every good chess player whether Garry Or Bobby started out playing chess.With time they get better.They are both like you and I.They arent these special humans.They got to where they are from learning. What separates men is practice and learning.-Confucius

Answer 7

yes, try using books and online souces on how to play the game well, and if u use these referances, you'll become very good at chess in a years time, and remember, practice makes perfect!

Answer 8

Its a game of strategy and logistics... I say yes, if you have the mentality to learn, patience and you like competitiveness.
I consider chess to be a game of brilliance.

These are 2 good web-sites; the first being basics and the second for beginners. Have Fun!

Answer 9

"Master the game in one year"?
I suppose it can be done if you had nothing else to do and spent every waking moment playing against other people... but I doubt it very seriously.

Open up with 1-2 pawn moves.
Get your knights and bishops off the back line
Get the Queen up at least one space
Castle (King or Queen side) to have the Rooks protect each other

This should take you 7-8 moves and is referred to as your "beginning game". Most games are won or lost in the first ten moves...... the mid-game can last forever or be very short.... the end-game is after a significant number of both sides have been lost.... typically coming down to a few pawns and 2-3 medium pieces plus the King.

Answer 10

I'm sure you can...I mastered Scrabble within a week, so you should be able to master Chess within a year