Chess- For all you chess girls and guys out there!?

Question

First off I'd just like to say how awesome you guys are and admire how great you are at chess, if you are. I am new to chess and am decent at it. Being good at chess generally means you're an intelligent person. If someone's good at Maths they're going to be good at chess basically .. this also must mean if you play and are good at chess you become good at Maths right? I'm quite young and am taking A-Level Maths next year and am getting overly worried and wish to brush up on it a little :D .. I just need reassurance that playing chess would be a good thing.

Also, can any chess pros please give any tips on chess moves for the offensive? I'm quite good at preventing, but not good at attacking really. Is there any decent advice out there? :D

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

Studies have repeatedly confirmed that students who play chess do better at academic work than students who do not.

Chess is thought to improve visualisation, memory, concentration, analysis, pattern recognition, self-confidence, resourcefulness, decision-making, taking responsibility for your own actions, independent-mindedness and, crucially, creativity.

It is for such reasons that chess is on the National Curriculum on Spain and Portugal.

Chess tips cannot usefully be presented in a generalised way but only through specific examples: you need to find books on tactics that group together similar positions with themes like "the Greek gift sacrifice on h7" "attacking on the dark squares against a fianchettoed bishop" "attack on the e-file against an uncastled king" etc with lots of mate-in-2 and mate-in-3 forced wins

Laszlo Polgar has put together a tome on chess tactics (5000+ positions that he used to train his home-educated daughters Judit, Zsofia and Zsuzsa) and also worth a look is "Attack with Julian Hodgson"

But books will be inaccessible to you unless and until you buckle down and learn chess notation so you can read the answers at the back of the book!

Answer 2

Hello Shantei.
Being good at math or chess doesn't mean you are going to be better at the other. However, math and chess make your mind more EFFICIENT. That doesn't mean you are more intelligent, just that you react faster. However, if you wish to brush up on A-level math instead of play chess, that would work just as well. Or you could do a little brushing here, a little chess practice there.
As for chess tips on the offensive, you are going to have to figure that one for yourself. There are many different attacks out there, and many different kinds of people. Everyone has a different style, and it's up to you to figure out what your style is. Who knows? Some players don't even need to attack. For instance, Peter Leko, a recent super GM only defends.
Thanks.

Answer 3

I am not sure that there is any direct connection between skill in math and chess. But only math, chess, and music have produced children who have abilities that equal those of professionals in these fields, so there is some connection. Look for chess books in your city's libraries, Bruce Pandolfini is probably the best modern writer for chess basics. As to general observations about chess, I must disagree with one of the previous writers. There are many such sayings, and they are all valid, to an extent. Every beginners book has some of them. Examples: Develop knights before bishops; Castle in the first 10 moves; Always play a king's or queen's pawn into the center of the board in the first ten moves. While these sayings are generally true, they all have exceptions. In one of my games playing Nf3 (moving the kingside knight toward the center in front of the bishop) was the losing move even though the knight is most often moved to that square. In another game I castled kingside in an even position and then realized that my position was now worse than my opponents, even though k-side castling is the most common type of castling. Understanding the general sayings and knowing when they aren't true is where you will find the art, fun, and skill in chess. As to the attack, that is harder to give advice for. Suppose this, that you have moved all of your knights & bishops once, your queen once, and castled kingside. Your opponent cannot castle because he still has a piece on each wing between his king and the rooks. If you can get rid of the of the pawns on the king's and queen's files then you should be able to checkmate your opponent without ever giving him the chance to get the rest of his pieces into the game. Look for collections of games that have explanations in words about why the moves are made. Particularly games by Morphy, Marshall, Alekhine, Keres, Tal, and Kasparov. All of these are famous attacking players. The first two, Morphy and Marshall, will do you the most good out of these for learning the basics of how and when to attack.

Answer 4

If you want to do well in math, study math and physics. Play chess to enjoy it.

The most fun part for a beginner, in my opinion, is the area of tactics (as opposed to opening theory, strategies, and end games). Look up "pins", "forks", "skewers", "discoveries", "deflections/decoys/lures" and other such tactics and learn to use them. There are a lot of positions that lend themselves to be set up as a discovery. Avoid offense such as early queen development, hoping for a mate on the opponent's king bishop pawn.

If you are having fun, learn some gambits, specifically the kings gambit, and also the scotch, goring, etc. They can lead to interesting offensive positions.
Get a book to over openings such as the Kings pawn two nights defense : 1. e4 e5, 2 Nf3 Nc6, 3 Bc4 Nf6
White has an extremely knight sacrifice on f7 (popularly called the "fried liver attack" which is great fun)
Gioco Piano (sp?) with white playing c3 and d4, sacrificing a center pawn is also interesting.

Bottom line - play chess to enjoy it, and not to improve your math, which it very well may, but remember, Einstein was a pretty poor player.

Answer 5

if you play chess that doesn't mean you are or you're going to get good at math

math is my best subject, but I'm not great at chess (I'm OK though), and Math A is not that difficult, pay attention in class and you'll be fine

my strategy with math is if you pay attention in class then you don't have to study as much because you already know the subject, so you have more free time after school

chess is all about anticipating the players move, and getting into their head, just put yourself in the players shoes, what would you do if you were them, and base your move upon that

Answer 6

Keep it in mind that chess is a TEAM game, your team members being your pawns and your pieces.

A great football coach would NEVER send his best player to attack the opposition all on his own, so make sure YOU do not do this with your Queen. Keep her in reserve until the middle or even the end of the game.

The best defence is a strong attack!!

Answer 7

Not necessarily. Some really dim bulbs are pretty darn good.

I'm a class C (USCF 1400-1599) who briefly visited class B. I've met stupid experts (USCF 2000-2200, master is 2200 and up).

I can't give you math advice, but for raw tactics try the Chess Tutor by Ault. If you can find it in a local library.

http://www.ecampus.com/book/0452255570

Answer 8

Chess may expand your mind a little but if you want a real brainstretcher then you can play Go. Gameplay is simple but amateurs can beat the Goplaying software easily. Go to www.gokgs.com for a Go server. And math, I skipped a grade so when I'm in 7th grade next year I'll take geometry. Unfortunately, I wanted to go to Duke to take geometry over the summer so I could take Algebra 2 in 7th but my rents wouldn't let me.... don't know what A-Level Maths is but if you think I'm around your caliber you can e-mail me.........

Answer 9

Controlling the center of the board will normally allow you to control the game. The center is the high ground and increases your mobility.

Answer 10

Well, let me see, I have known how to play the game for decades. Alas, I have noe one to play against but the computer.