Personal Chess Trainer

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What exactly are the benefits of having a Personal Chess Trainer? Is one really necessary? Good question. To help in trying to answer that, let us start right at the base level and work our way up ...

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To begin with people usually start their Chess playing life as a hobby, as a recreational outlet - something to do to pass the time.

For some, Chess was and will always be just a hobby-type pursuit ... They'll play a game here, a few there. But, for the most part, playing Chess is a half hour sideshow to what they're really interested in.

Those types of players may be more interested in physical sports like Football (European), Rugby (funny, egg-shaped ball game), Boxing, etc. ...

They may see Chess as a way to occupy the mind when they're meant to be resting up for a match at the weekend.

For them, with access to a computer, all they'll ever need is a Chess program like the free downloadable progam WinBoard, or the online game Flash Chess III.

For sure, they may even pay for a more-hardcore Chess program, such as Fritz 12 - but they'll never really use its full potential as a Chess Training program; instead, just starting a new game and being content with the snazzy 3D graphics.

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The next level up may be seen as the Brain Training Enthusiast ...

Their interest in playing Chess has been spiked due to the many perceived benefits of the game.

They, rightly, see Chess as an exercise similar to how a weight lifting exercise can help build muscle in the body, or cardio exercise - such as Rowing - can help build fitness and endurance.

For them, while also being a relaxing way to enjoy a coffee, playing Chess helps to exercise the Brain in such ways as training to build abilities such as:

• Foresight - in trying to plan moves ahead, you need to be able to visualize the moves in your mind - not just yours, but potential counter moves by your opponent, too.


• Perseverance - when you suddenly find yourself a couple of pieces down, it may be tempting to quit the game. But by persevering, you never know, you may be able to turn the game around and snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat - or, at the very least, pull back to draw the game.


• Reasoning - when you have multiple attacking options, plus multiple threats to deal with, improved reasoning will help you choose better moves to make.


• Logic - Chess is a very logical game. When either side makes a move, logic dictates that while a threat may be coming, the advancement of the pieces across the board will open up weaknesses that can be exploited.


• Adaptability - imagine you've studied a set Opening sequence. You've played the first couple of moves, just as you learnt. Now, your opponent makes a totally different move and your sequence is disrupted. With Chess, you'll learn to become adaptable to these sorts of situations and be able to change plans accordingly.
  
  That's how Garry Kasparov became World Champion - through have a better selection of plans in his mind and being adaptable enough to change them, mid-game, as and when required.


• Focus - with so many potential threats, with so many counter opportunities, Chess teaches you to pay attention. A lapse in concentration may see you pass up opportunity to gain material advantage. It may also see you lose a valuable piece, or become positionally weaker on the board.

All those skills are just a selection, but they're all transferable in the 'real world' ... and that's what the Brain Training Enthusiast is looking for.

For these people, regular practice - regular playing of Chess - needs to take place in order for these Brain skills to build and take effect. And, if you're going to be playing long enough, you may as well study a bit to get good. The better you get, the longer you're likely to play, the more benefit you'll get from this form of Brain Training.

But, they don't need a Personal Chess Trainer to help them accomplish this. Books, such as The Middlegame (M. Euwe & H. Kramer), together with a computer Chess training program, like Fritz 12, is sufficient to improve their game enough to get the Brain Training benefits they seek.

This is where I'm personally at. Maybe I'll seek comptetition later on, but for now, my sole focus is to get better, to play a better game, so I can maintain interest long enough to get the Brain Training benefits that Chess has in abundance. I have a good selection of Books, which I study with, on a leisurely basis, using Fritz 12, to help analyze the teachings.

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Now then, this is the more serious, more dedicated Chess player ... They actively seek out Chess Clubs, so they can meet up with like-minded individuals who they can study the game with, in a group environment.

Usually, there is somebody who takes charge of organizing these Chess Club meetings. They're usually strong players - that is, they play a very good game of Chess, not necessarily Arnold Schwarzenegger.

You could say that these 'heads' of their respective Chess Clubs are, in effect, a type of Personal Chess Trainer ... they just happen to train more in group settings, rather than on a one-on-one basis.

How good the level of training one gets, naturally, depends on the level of knowledge and experience of those giving the lessons, in these Chess Club meetings.

Like any sporting Club - and we're including Chess as a mental Sport - the usual focus is to train locally, with your Club peers and then, collectively, they'll attend and compete in various Tournaments.

This is often a player's first experience of the Tournament scene and, for some, is a gateway to the next level up - that of the Professional Chess Player.

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When talking of Professionals, we mean those who make a living, doing whatever it is they do to generate an income.

And where there's good money to be made, there's usually decent competition for prizes - which can be anywhere from $100 and rising to over $40,000, depending on Tournaments and their many categories.

On top of that, the top players can earn $millions through endorsements, book sales and so on.

Because of the potential financial rewards, and because of the number of players competing for those rewards, it makes sense to seek out opportunities wherever you might be able to legally gain an advantage ...

And one such opportunity is to hire the tuition provided by a Personal Chess Trainer.

In the end, the real benefit of having a Personal Chess Trainer will be for those who are already really good players who, with just that extra bit of training, have a real chance of winning the big prizes at the higher-paying Tournaments ...

The winnings then go to paying for the tuition, with enough left over for the Professional player to enjoy their standard of living and so they take more training, enter more Tournaments, win more Prize money and the positive benefit cycle continues upwards.

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