Developing Chess Talent - Van Delft Karel & Merijn

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Karel van Delft and Meijn van Delft

Developing Chess Talent

KVDC


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00 Karel van Delft, Merjn van Det

First Dutch edtion 008First Englsh edtion 00

ISBN 97890797600

Deveoping Chess Talent' is a transation of the Dutch booSchaataent ontwielen', a publicaton by KVDC

KVDC is situated in Apeldoorn, he Netherands, and can be reachedva www.vdc.nl

Cove photo raining sesson Youth Meets Mastes by grandmasteArtur Yusupov. hoto Fed Lucas: wwwfredlucaseu

ransation: eter Boel

Layout Hen Vines

rinting Whrmann rint Service, Zutphen


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CONTENTS

Foewod by tu Yusupov

Itoducto

OHING

Top-class spotA.1 Educational valueA.2 Time investmentA.3 Peformance abiityA4 Taent

A 5 Motvation

2 Soca evometA21 PsychologyA22 Pesona developmentA23 CoachA2.4 Role of paents

3 Techques

A31 Goa settingA32 aining pogammeA33 Chess diayA34 Analysis questionnaieA3.5 A cunning plan!A36 xpementsA37 Insghts though gamesA38 Rules o thumb and mnemonics

A4 Skls

A4.1 Self-managementA4.2 Mental tainngA4.3 Physical factosA44 Chess thinkingA45 CeativityA4.6 ConcentationA4.7 FlowA4.8 ensionA4.9 ime management

A4.10 ObjectvityA4.11 Psychological ticksA412 Development pocessA413 Avoidng blundesA414 Non-vebal behaviou

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S MiscellaeousA51 Cess as a subject in prmary scooA52 Yout wit adultsA53 Women's cessA5 Bograpies and interviews

B - TRINING

B1 Orgaizig traiigsB Structure and cultureB2 Computers and te InternetB3 Individua trainerB MentorB5 Guest traners

B6 Self-fulfllng propecy and selectionB7 Yout player as a tranerB8 Tranng partnersB9 Team training

B2 DidacticsB21 IntroductionB22 Trainng groupB23 raner

B2 raining planB25 Motivaton to learnB26 ContentsB27 MetodsB28 Study environmentB29 Duration and frequencyB20 Keeping orderB21 Supporting activites and tools

B3 Traiig compoets

B31 acticsB32 StrategyB33 OpeningB3 MiddlegameB35 EndgameB36 nnotated gamesB37 Variaton calculationB3.8 Endgame studies

B4 Practical payB1 Vsiting tournamentsB2 imecontrosB3 Supervision during tournamentsB. PreparatonB5 Playing games

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B4.6 Analysis 75B4.7 Analysis exampes 79

85 Training toolsB5.1 Compute pogams 89B5.2 Building up databases with own games and positions 89

B5.3 Danges of compute usage 92B5.4 Chess magazines 92

B5.5 Chess boos 92

B5.6 Bowsing 93

B5.7 hess movies 93

B5.8 hess CD-OMs and DVD's 93

B5.9 Intenet sites 94

B5.10 Chess on the Intenet 94

86Trainng proceduresB6.1 Pawn stuctue 94

B6.2 Sevencolumn notation 95B63 Coespondence chess 95B6.4 Visualization of move sequences 96B6.5 heme tounament 97B6.6 Game quiz 97B6.7 aining decathlon 97B6.8 Chess puzzles 100B6.9 Psychoogcal tps 00

B6.10 Simutaneous display 100B6.11 actica execises contest 102

B6.12 aent day 102

B613 Chess vaiants 105

B614 Faiy tale boos 105

B6.15 Winne stays on 105

87MscelaneousB7.1 Mondayevenng taning

B7.2 SBSAB73 wo o theedimensiona tainingB74 aning with DvoetsyB7.5 Chess and autism

C - ORGANIZATION & OMMUNIATION

C Organzation1.1 opclass spot and eceational spot

12 hess club o foundation13 Policy planC4 CostsC1.5 Voluntees1.6 Calenda1. 7 valuation, second opinion

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C2 CommuniationC1 he importace of commuicatioC IquiryC3 Cotacts with the mediaC4 ress reeaseC.5 Email ewslettersC.6 Iteret steC7 Fyer posterC8 Makg a CDROM or a DVDC9 Cu ulletC10 SposorsC11 Lie commetaryC1 Chess ewspaperC13 Chess stad o a market or a festial

C3 Tournaments and eventsC3.1 Weeked tourametC3. Bitz touramet ad rapid tourametC3.3 ouramet scearoC3.4 Chess festialC35 Chess party

C4 Youth hessC41 School chess clu

C4 School competitioC43 Youth chess tourametsC44 Chess camp

CS MisellaneousC51 Creatie ourametC5 he Chess ExpereceC5.3 hreeday chess eet i ApeldoorC54 Youth Meets MastersC5.5 Match of Champios with lie commetaryC56 ghtig Chess Foudatio

D - NTERVEW

D1 Daid BrosteiD Loek a WelyD3 Artur YusupoD4 Ja immaD5 Ro Hartoch

E APPENDCE

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159164167171

E1 Aayss questioaire 175E Score form Youth Meets Masters 180E3 ots of atteto for a cosultato aout (sef)traiig 18

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E Lis of sychologicl isE5 Keywods ounmen lnningE6 Scenio weekend ounmenE7 Subjecs fo ens meeingE8 Sudy guide SBSA youh iningE9 he SBSA Youh Acdemy ojec n Aeldoon

E10 ining wih digms o bod osionsE sks of em cinE1 Inquiy youh secon De Schkm

F - GLOSSRY

181881890506

195

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Foreword by Artur Yusupov

he frst tme I heard abut Kael va Delft ad his chess activities i Apedwas frm my chess met Mak Dvetsky. He recmmeded me t visit theplace I 1999 I received a phe cal frm Karel wh vited me t give smechess esss i Apeld. It wuld be the rst time but t the last that I

stayed Karel's huse Of cuse his s Meij w a teratal masteas atteded the wrkshps. I slept the s caled Brstei suite a smalbedrm whch David vich Brstei ce spet a few ights

he chess atmsphee the huse was very impressive Smehw I had thefeeig that there was a chess player each crer f the huse because mayyug chess playes wh atteted traiigs als stayed i Karel's hme I wasvery impressed by the chess ccept i Apeldr: the yug payers were tly learg sme chess deas fm a gradmaste they were als asked by

Karel t give chess lesss t lcal kids themselves!

I liked the atmsphere s much that I tried t visit Apedr every year. heext pprtuity was the s-caled Chess Experiece week which yuthteams frm Germay ad Isral ad tw teams frm the Netherlads payedeach the ad tk lesss tgether fm Mark Dvretsky Ychaa Afek adme. ater I eve started t play f the lca team Schaakstad Apeldr

Recety after amst te years f ur friedship we were lkig at ldpctures i a pht album I was vey pleased t see that may f ur studets

fm the ist traiig sessis had becme strg payers. Sme are evestrg gadmasters w. ust t met sme ames a Gustafss Daietellwage ad Spke Erst

ths bk yu wil d a lt f deas abut the develpmet f chess taletad abut the creat ad stimulati f a lcal chess culture. Karel ad Mejexpla ther views ad share the expeieces i the area f traiig yugtaets cachig pupils gaizig chess evets ad cmmuicatig adtrasmittig ifrmati t the chess audiece

he reader wil d may useful tpcs ad aswers t may practical questis:hat is the re f the parets hw t stimuate creativity hw t develp selfaagemet hw t aayse yur w games ad eve: hw t rgaize aeeked turamet .

arel has wked wth yug kids fr may years I this bk he gves a ltf tips f caches I ike the part f the bk where Karel iterviews severaladmasters ad traiers abut ways t develp chess talet Karel adeij lk t ly at techcal aspects f the traiig they als study thesychlgical aspects f cachig

he qute uique thig i the Apeld chess cultue is that everbdy getsivlved i the chess activites frm begie t gradmaster his is refectedi the weekly BA emai messages which are set t mre tha 600 recipiets

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ee ae seveal good taditioal evets i Apeldoo suc as Yout MeetsMastes wic cotbute to te specia popuaity of cess ee. Kael is temoto beid te Apeldoo cess cutue ad is pactica advce ca be veyuseful fo cess ogaizes.

Beig a cess paet imself, Kael ows about all te pobems tat paetsca ave i tyg to ep tei taleted ids alog te difcult oad o sempovemet is boo is stogly ecommeded fo cess taies cesspaets ad cess ogaizes. Ad of couse fo te cess talets temselves!

Gadmaste ad FIDE Seio Taie Atu Yusupov

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Introduction

How do you develop chess talent, and how do you go about developing a chessculture localy? In this book we discuss subjects n the areas of coaching, training,organization and communication It is the story of a voyage of dscovery,a journey riddled with successes, failures, and, time and again, fascnating

encounters wth a multitude of chess playershis journey began in 1990, when 11yearold erijn van Delft was alowedto join a school team at the schoo chess champonships of Apeldoorn At theage of6, he had learned the rules of the game from his father Karel This tookplace on Saturdays in a caf, after a mornng of shoppng on the market At theschool championship, the battle with arijn Visschedijk, who was three yearsyounger, was bloodcurdling erjn managed to draw a rook ending with apawn ess At that time we could not suspect that both players would becomenational youth champions later on

This was an experience worth repeatng erjn wanted to learn to play better,and Karel broadened his knowedge of sport psychology and the organizationof training sessons erijn became a member of the club De Schaakmaat(he Chess ate') n Apeldoorn, but the club's youth competiton, which washeld on Saturday mornings, could not be combned with his soccer actvitiesAt home, erijn exercised tactcs from books of the Step-by-Step ethod byDutch Cor van Wjgerden and Rob Brunia. Karel formed a traning group,whch consisted of erijn and a couple of friends One of the frst subjects ofstudy was the book udgement and Planning in Chess by Dr ax uwe Wthmultiple Dutch junior champion arc onker, erijn analysed his own games in

onehour sessons once a week hey kept this up for severa years erijn alsovisted many tournaments

Snce there were more young players in Apeldoorn who wanted to be traned,arc onker, Renate Lmbach (who, sadly, would ater on pass away at a veryyoung age) and Kare van Delft set up a youth training system whch would lastfor about 5 years

Contacts were established with (grand)masters and other strong players whoave training sessions in Apeldoorn and often stayed the night. Guests camerom Beorussia, China, Russia, Ukraine, Hungary, Israe, Uzbekistan, ngand,

ermany, Georgia, Poand, and a few other countries. hose contacts wereeasly made During a world championship in Groningen, a brief conversationth ark Dvoretsky led to an exchange of emails, and during the annuaiberation tournament in the nearby town of Wageningen, Baruch Kolthoff hadtruck up a conversation with David Bronstein. any top-class chess playerstrned out to be normal human bengs who had a teephone number and anemail address

With, among others, David Bronstein, oek van Wely, ark Dvoretsky andArtur usupov, the development of chess talent was discussed. A number of taksere done n the shape of interviews Karel had the idea that those intervewsmight contribute to the deveopment of a multi-faceted chess culture, and thatyoung players would be stimulated by contacts with topclass players hereere many talks with many chess players. For example with Yochanan Afek,ho gave many trainings and gladly shared his rich experience with Apeldoorntraners and organizers It didn't take long before erijn achieved his first


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results At 16, he became Dutch champion in his age categoy, and in 2003 hebecame an Intenational maste.

In 1998, Cees Visser, Mejn van Delf and Kael van Delft stated the SBSA,

which s shot fo Stichtng Bevoderen Schaken Apeldoon' (Foundation fothe omoton of Chess in Apeldoorn') his gave ise to numerous intiatvesA numbe of those activities will be mentoned in ths book he oundationcoopeates cosey with chess clubs and schoo chess clubs in Apeldoon

SBSA supported the initiatives by the loca clubs SVA and AS to mege ntoSchaakstad Apeldoon (ie Chess City Apedoon') his concentation of forces,togethe with the attaction of sponsos, esulted in the ecuitment of a teamthat now competes on the highest level in the Dutch national club compettionKael was the team captain fo six yeas, then Meijn took ove fo four yeasThe bottom lne is that appoximately ha of the playes must oiginate omApedoorn, and that playes fom outside' should also paticipate in locatounaments and give youth trainings oday, a handful of youth playes om

Apedoorn have made t to the ist or second team of Schaakstad Apeldoon,and vaous natonal youth tites have been won

In this book, with the development o chess taent' we mean: reachng theheght o you powes. Pefomance ablity s a esultant of talent, tainngcrcumstances, motivation, physical condtion and mental skils hs book samed at taines, coaches, oganizes, youth players and the parents, andothes who may be inteested Many of ou reades may be standing at thebeginning of a journey that is simila to the one we stated all those yeas ago.

Our coaching philosophy presupposes a consdeable sense of esponsibiitywth young players or thei own development and results We believe that goodtaining contributes to a successful personal development At the boad, chessis an individua spot But in a boade sense, chess s teamwok, and it offesthe possibility to meet many people and acquie new insights

Chess payes dife in talent, age, gende, chaacte, motivation, style oeaning, avalable possibilties, experiences, etcetea The chess payer doesnot exst. Cetain pnts of advice in this book may be moe elevant in cetainphases o development or fo cetain indivduas, and less o othes If wegve novice chess playes the advice to apply cetain vebal ules of thumb,we ealize at the same time that a gandmaste's thinking s ess verbal, andmoe space-oiented Howeve, sometimes you have to be taught somethingexpicty in wods in ode to make pogess, whereas at a late stage you wllean ess veba and more differentiated

his book does not hand the eade ecipes, but it does povde ingredientsfo talent deveopment and the ceation of a chess cultue. You can apply thecontents to you own situation, and use what is useful fo you. Many aspectsof chess development ntetwine. To dissect them is, in ou opnon, thebest way to make these aspects easie to gasp Ths appoach wil now and

then ead to epetition, but this will make o easer eading ou cannot beconscious of an abundance of advice all the time, and you don't have to oucan ncorpoate you nsights into your daiy outines, and then you will statusing them automaticaly afte a while he information in this book serves as aspngboard and a signpost fo young playes who want to deveop futhe Withthe hep of thei taine, their coach o thei parents they can solve thei own

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uzzle with this information In this ook we wll often use the terms trainer'and coach aternatey hese dutes overla, and they are often erformed yone and the same erson We will always choose the term which est suits thesuject under discussion

We have een ale to consult a great numer of youth layers, arets,trainers, coaches and strong ayers. We are very grateful to them for their

cooeration We thank Wily Hendriks for his ermission to incude his articleon the SBSA Youth Academy here, and also Dharma Tjiam or his contriutionto the Aedoorn Analysis Questionnaire We thank Yochanan Afek and Haroldvan der Heijden for their ermission to ulish their endgame studies, Arne Moland Roeland Pruijssers for their game analyses, Peter Boel for the translationHenk Vinkes for doing the layout, and Sike Ernst for his contriution as editor.We also thank Fred Lucas, Cocky van Deft, Coie Joustra and Ferdi Kuiersfor their ictures and rix Meurs for her drawing Pictures without credits aremostly y Karel van Delf Aove all we thank Artur Yusuov, with whom wehave had many insiring conversations aout the contents of ths ook

We invite you to visit our ste wwwchesstalent.com.Reactons are wecome via emal to [email protected]

Karel van DelftMerijn van Deft

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Rcdatie: !rjn Vdk n M1 vu DfRda(tadcs: Elgu-d A pl-doorn

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Merijn van Delft as a meber o a schoo's

ess tea.

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A - COACHING

A T t

A1.l Educationa vae

Top- class spot can oer ma ny good thi n g s: experie nces, riends h i ps, p izes,social recognition and suprisng, sometimes even paradoxcal nsights Todevelo p a specia l i sm at a youn g ag e ha s ma ny advantages Chess contributespositvey to the education o people Cognitive sk l ls l ike research, caculationand reasonin g a re i m portant in othe a eas o l ie as wel l Aso, soca l s k i s aedeveloped, such as resl ience, perseveance, serespect and respect o theopponent, the ab i ty to ormu late tho ug hts an d exchan ge thou ghts with othes.Trai n ng i n g roups an d vs it i ng touna ments together is un , a nd it st mu lates thedevelopment o cognit ve and socia l sk i ls .

A2 Time investment

e l motivated yo un g p laye rs ca n p la y chess or ten to m ore th an twenty hou rsa week without a ny proble m Especia l l y i th is is i nstead o the twenty hou rs thatany youths spend in ont o the teevision or a game compute his is tueor teenag ers, a nd sometime s also or chi ld en rom e ig ht years old or so. ouryear-olds can a leady learn the moves and then play a g ame whe re both sideshave one piece, when the trick is to capture the opponent's pawns. I ch ldrentake pleasue n this game, they wi l l ate automatcal ly play chess more otenChi ld ren a n d teenage rs ae ca pab le o much mo re than s oten ex pected omthem , a nd most o the tim e they are perecty cap ab e o nd icatin g themselvesow much t ime they can an d want to spend on trai n i ngs and selstudy

Chess study is i nspr ing i tra i n i ngs a re vaied, i they yield new i nsig hts andski l ls , there is oom or creative think ng an d un, an d i researchi ng s ki l s aredeveloped. his app ies to train ings in group sessions, but a lso to indiv idualstudy. One condi t ion is tha t the study materia an d the execises are i n l in e withthe interests and th e develop ment evel o the p artici pa nts. or any orm o topcass spot, twenty hours per week is a normal t ime investment Some peoplesee this as mono ma ni acal But th is is not necessar ly the case, as lon g as thereis a wel l-thoughtout scheme or trainings and competitions you want toreach to the top, you're going to have to invest time I we calculate properly,we see that most gran d masters, l i ke othe top -cl ass spo rters, have i nvested ateast 10,000 hous n their careers: ten years tmes ty weeks times twentyhours

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A1.3 Perfomace abiity

eorma nce abi l ty is a resu tant o tae nt tra i n ng c ircumstances motvationphyscal condit ion and mental sk i l ls . Coincidence a so plays a role. The wordis ul l o talent but it makes a ot o dierence i a young player grows up

in an envi ron ment where there is much scope or develop ment. ith onl yperormance ab i ity yo u w on't ge t there Talent development a lso mea ns h ardwork putti ng i n h ou rs The good news is that th is can be un i you go a boutit in a wel l-thoug ht-out way

Al.4 Taet

Tal ent means havin g the capacity to develo p certain necessa ry ski l ls havingdevelopin g potentia l . ith only ta lent you cannot achieve anythn g A plant that

does not get any water wi l l withe r. You have to develo p these ski l ls Ths ta kesqute some eort You have to tran gain experience in compettions and youhave to interna ize these experiences n chess important cognitive sk l s arecalculation pattern recogniton creative thinking and systematic reasonng Agood memory is also mportant. Besides these a real istic sel-image and goodselma nage ment p ay a la rge role too. They orm the bass or sel-conid encethe abi l ity to assess situations objectively concentraton the courage to takein it iat ives decis veness and res l ien ce

You can deveop talent i circumstances al low this You need or example a

chessboard and a good trainer. or development intrinsic motvation is also oi nu ence w h ch m ean s that you do someth ing beca use you yoursel want to doit Intrinsica ly motivated chess players can be recognized by the twink ing inthe r eyes i they see a bea utiul chess positio n In order to deveo p ta ent youmust start at a young age There are socalled sensitive periods' which are bestsuited or devel op ing certai n q ua l it i es rom the age o a bout ou r c hi ld ren canstart pla yin g che ss That is certai n ly not too early. At that age they have al readycom pleted as compl icated a task as learni ng a lan gua ge

Just l i ke a a ngu age chess consists o a comple x bod y o normation with

its own characterstics and rules Ch ess is compara ble to a la ngu age . O pin onsdier as regards the extent to which talent is innate (nature) or acquired( nu rture) . However it is cle ar that the bra i n potentia l o peopl e is a lm ost alwaysdeveloped ar rom optimal ly and that anyone who wants to can develop hisown talent urther. The amo unt o ta lent is a gi ven mak ing optim um use o itis a cha l lenge .

A1S Motivatio

Being motivated means that you want to achieve something e dierentiatebetween intr insic and extrinsic motivation Intr insc motivation means thatyou l ke to occupy yourse with an activity because o that actvity tsel; withextrinsic motivation we mean that you do something or an external reward.One important task o a trainer is to create a ascination or the game bydemonstrating the beauty o it and by a lowng hs pupi l to experience hsown deveoping oppotun t ies . Tra in ings and competit ons should be un andthey should be a cha lenge. I a young p layer s not enjoying tra in ings and


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copetit ions, soeti ng is wrong Young payers need to be taugt sel-discipl ine; tey sould understand

tat t is i portant tat tey study reg ul ar y, exercse ter s k i ls a nd acqui reknowledge. or exaple, you ust exercse tactics on a da y basis, just ikeyou brus your teet dai ly I do n't eel l ke t' s not a good reason You canexpla in to c i l dren tat tey teseves wi l not accept it i t e r parents do n't

ee l i ke' drvi ng te to tourna ents by car A deal i s a dea l eite r you wantto pay cess on a certan level or you don't, and you do want t , you wi lave to a ke soe sacrices or it . O cou rse, tese ti ng s are negotia bl e orexa ple , te te o day w en tactica l exercises are ad e. Wat is conveni ent?Iedately ater scool or early in te orning? I a ci ld can ake coicesor tsel and is party responsble or its own training scedule, it wi l be ucbetter otivated to ollow ts up tan i soeone else decides ts or tec l d Wi c is just as wel l , s i nce a good cess player is a sel-w i l ed (young )nd iv idua

e way in wic cess train ings are given and te course o tournaentscan eiter i ncrease or destroy otivation . Good ci rcu stan ces or tra i n in gs a rea sti ulat in g socia an d pysica e nviron ent, c le ar eed back on ac ieveents,interesting study ateria , attainable ( interediate) goas, variety, nteractiveprocedures and responsib l ity. In copetitions a suicient aount o successexperiences s necessary A st ula t ng soci al env ironent cons ists o ep atcparents, riend s to tra n wt, a clu b wit a good atospe re and a n ent usiastctraner A stulating pysical environent consists o, aong oters, a quietplaying v enue an d a tra n in g roo we re t is easy to concentrate .

It is a good ting or coaces, traners and parents to realize wat teotives o a yout player are to practise a sport at a certain level. Adults ayake out or teir c ldren tat playing cess, or, or nstance, badinton,s good or te, but t is better to ask te wat tey teselves tinkCi d ren can ave a n u ber o otives or pla yi ng cess : cu riosity to di scovera new gae, enjoyent o te gae, striving or a certain copetence level(te wi l to wi n) and socia l contacts Several o tese otves can play a roesiultaneously. Intrnsic otivation is a uc better otor or developenttan extrinsc otivaton Interesting postions can continue to ascinate, but

at a certain point winning a edal sn't wort te investent o several ours'study any ore. Wen you give rewards, it s useu to ask yoursel i youare eeding intr insic or extrinsc otivation. Young c ldren love tropies andedals , but pros ng t e an ice crea or a cocoate bar i tey wi n i s a soin e Od er yout p aye rs preer to p ay or oney prizes No probl e However, te beauty o te gae itse is not te cie otivator, teir otivation wil lade away in te lo ng run .

A vmt

A2.1 Psychoogy

sycology is te scence tat studies te way people tink, eel and beave.By studyng tink ing, eel ing and beaviour you wi l l get better at descrbng,expa in ng, predct ng and inuencing tese penoena. Insigts derived ropsycoogy can be appl ied in cess via :

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moe ecient and eective tainingmore ei cient an d eective b ehavi ou r du ring ga mesthe developme nt o a st im ula t ing chess culture.

Tai ners an d coaches can pass on psychologi cal in s ig hts t o young chess playes

This woks best i it i s con nected to the i ow n exper ience, i it is presentedtransparently and concretey, i it is appl icable and taught in doses Youngpayers oten ind psychological insights interesting these ae discussed ingoup train ings, they wi l l quick ly regad it as nomal, and then young playeswi l l not be ashame d o thei r psycholog ical shotcom in gs Ju st l i ke you can talkabout shortcomings in your opening epertoire, you can a so discuss ai lure inselmana gement together (see a so th e parag rap h o n selmana gement)

Here is a nice game mention a proverb and explain what it has to do withchess. or example: Don't sel l the skin ti l you've caught the bear e can

tran sate thi s i nto chess terms as : keep concentrating , even i you r position i sobjectively winning. A tainer can write down new insights in train ing reportsThis wi l eventual ly provide the trainees with a checkl ist with which they canassess their peormance.

A2.2 Persoa deveopmet

It is good or you ng pla yers to devel op i ntrospectio n an d to have respons ibi l it iesThis contri butes to their persona l developme nt and thei abi ity to perom o n

the chessboard. It is important or ambit ious young playes to bea as muchas possible responsibi l ity or their own development. This involves dia logueswith trainers and training partners, but also activit ies l ike taining beginnersthemselves, or writin g a rticles or the cl ub b ul letin o r or a website. By giv inglessons you rsel, or p ubl ish ing a game an alysis, you orce yourse to thin kcareul ly about you ins ights and to put them into words This wi l l increaseyour understanding and, consequently, you perormance abi ity Moreover,teaching chess at a lower level is a useul way to repeat a l k inds o themeseaching is important or the development o your socia and communicative

ski l ls, and it contributes to a real istic and positive selimage. This wi l l improveyour se-man age ment du ing ga mes and is a l so i m portant or bein g successuli n everyday l ie

The Hungarian psychologist/pedagogue and chess trainer Laszlo olga, theather o three successu daughters, also stesses that it is impotant o anambit ious young player to be partly esponsible or h is own deveopment Inthis context he uses the tem coauthor o you r own up bing in g'

A23 Coach

Coach i ng is supe visi on . here a re vario us coachin g style s. A coach or a tra i nercan assig n tasks to a pu pi l , but it is m uch more pod uctive i a coach coopeateswith a young sportsman on the same evel This is already possible at a quiteyoung age. The sportsman is responsible or his own actions, and the coachhas an advisory role. This contributes to an optimum selawareness and apositive seimage The spoter is the directo o his own perormance Thisstimulates h is intr insic motivation Via dia ogues, the coach can st imulate the


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spoter to deveop himse, using his own knowledge, insights and experienceThis invoves both technical sk i l ls and pesonal sk i l ls l ike introspection, selcontrol, ceativity, communicative abi l it ies and a sense o responsibi ity

A good coach is em pathic , i e he is a ble to em pathize with the sportsma n andeels nvolved The coach and the sportsman can, by mutual agreement, drawup a tra n i ng p rogram me together E xp ere nce shows that stron g pl ayers who

have not had a didactic education but ae empathic can st l l be good trainersand coaches Ths is certain ly the case with ndiv idual tra in ing and supevs ionI traners and coaches communicate ther own insights and experiences ina clear ma nn er, i they a re i nterested n the r pu pi ls a nd conront them withcrit ical questions (which lead to selreection), then they can pass on a greateal o knowedge and ins ights about the game and about sel-managementuring game anays is

Trainers and coaches have their own interests For instance, a trainerenjoys sharing his ascination or the sport with others, passing on knowledge,

undestanding and experience, and researching posit ions with wel lmotivatedyoung players rainers and coaches may also be interested in gaining accesso the wold o top-class spots via thei pupi ls However, a coach o trainer'scompett ive spir it shoud never stand in the way o the paying pleasure andhe develop ment o youth players He m an G rooten, an experienced chesstraner and ome top-cass sport coordinator or the Dutch Chess FederationNSB, observes that in The Netherlands he is seeing an ncreasng numbe oyouth tainers who l nk the successes o thei pupi ls wth their own ego t isa we l -known pita l to l nk the results o you r own pup l to the seesteem o

ainer and p up l ', he cla m s I a ways warn agai nst th is phe nome non du rn g myainers' courses, but my advice seems to al on dea ears A l ittle more seleection wo uld be in oder here '

It is i mp ortant or a tra i ner to al low hi s pu pi ls some oom to develo p theirown style He can help them discover the weaknesses in their play and oertem taining material that ocuses on those weaknesses, he can give hintsaout their play, but it is altogethe wrong to straitjacket them inte lectua lyoreover, i n the l on g un th is w i l l h ave a contra prod uctive eect, s i nce asp iri ngyouth payers should take the drection o their deveopment into thei own

handsObviously, youth players have ther weak moments For exampe, they maynot ee l i ke mak in g their ho mework sometim es A traner sho ul d speak to themaout thi s : promi ses must be kept On the othe ha nd , i t s useul to estab l i sh asmal l change' ule: or instance, you can agree that a sportsman s al lowed tomss ten percent o the ta n i ngs or the ho mework You can not bu rn the can dl eat both ends, and thee wl l a lways be pactical pobems at cetain momentsSuch arrangements contrbute to the abi ity o youth players to bear thei ownespons i bi I i t ies

A2.4 Roe o f parents

The world is ul l o young talents Only ew o them reach the top; in puberty,the eot and motivation o at least ve out o six selected talents decreasesThis s how it works in many sports O inuence are the qual ty o tainngcicumstances, the role o parents and socia inuences (o instance, riends

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who may or may not practise the same sport) . Also, a ack o good resultscan play a role Some exam pes o good trai n i ng aci it ies a re good trai ners,sucient tme or tra i ni ng , trai n i ng pa rtners o the same age an d/or level, an dth e avai la b l ty o good study materia .

ithout parents o r other ad ults to supp ort the ch i l dren , youth players wi l not

be a bl e to reach the top . arents determin e to a la rge extent whether possibi l it ieswi l l be within the reach o thei r chi l dren. Ther role s to pay or tra n i ngs andtournaments, to brng the chi ldren there, to remind them o arrangements,to stimulate the chi ldren to study independently, to react enthusiastical ly tosuccesses, a nd to l i sten to the ir accounts o ther experiences.

Top- clas s sp ort de ma nd s at east ten to iteen ho urs o tra i n i ng and pl ay ngper wee k or u nde r-tenyearold s, and e ven m ore tim e or teenagers. In a p anor ta lent development, the Dutch Olympic umbrel la organization NOC*NSoutl ines three hours a day or physical sports. Experience teaches us that

ambitious young chess players can also easi y work two to three hours on adai ly bass. It is true that now and then an 8year-od becomes a natonalchampion n h is category on the sole basis o ta lent and a ew train ings Butsuch successes wi be short-l ived he does not work systematical ly witha good tra in er rom then on . Besde s tra n ngs, there are competitions andpractica matters that need to be taken care o Many parents (who themselvesoten spend hours beore the television every day) are worred about the timeinvestment. Oen they do not real ize how much surplus vaue top-class sportcan have or the persona develo pme nt o the r chi d ren , provided it i s practised

in the right waya rents o tale nted o r at le ast am biti ous youth p layers sho uld contemplate therroe selcritca l y Dema nd in g too much o a chi ld wi l l ha mper its perormanceOn the other hand, they wi l l not be do ing their ch i ld ren a avour i they a l owthem to treat their sport noncommittal y, or example by not keeping theirappointments with trainers, tra in ing partners or tournament organizers It isne i parents are spectators at their chi ldren's games. However, they shouldnot hang a roun d the board o their chi l d a l l the t ime, and they should watch outor getting i nvolved in the d iscussion a bout the game content aterwards Thei r

intent ions may b e s ncere, but the ir ch i l d wi l l ee awkward a nd th e deveopmento its own sense o responsibi ity wi l be hampered Asking questions about agame is ine, but giving comments should be let to traners and other payers un less the youth pl ayer asks or it hi msel Actua l l y, youn g playe rs wi l ha rd lyever take an y tech ni cal a dv ice ro m the ir pa rents an yway, so the latter can savethemselves the trouble.

The behavi ou r o so me p arents can be rustrati ng or trai ners They do notmind payng extra subscriptions, expecting top rankings (preerably on theworld stage), but their chi ld shoud not put too much eort in chess study

(much too busy with his homework, he's only a chi ld') In such cases a trainercan just as wel tel the parents r ight away that their chi ld wi l never nd theway to the top. Also, he sho uld seriousy consider termn atng the cooperation .It is important that trainers and coaches nvoves parents with their ch ldren'scompetitive development. arents oten have questions about topclass sport out o i nterest or out o ign ora nce. The re a re even some p arents who cla i mto know it a l l I tra i ners and coaches give them wel l -thoughtout answers, th i swi l l en ab le the p arents to contribute constructvely to their ch i l d's developm ent


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On competition days a trai ner o r coach can h ave inorma l chats with them Thiswi l l result n a reati ons h ip based on mutual trust wh ich may sometmes lead tosurprisn g ns ghts on both side s Tra i ners an d coaches can te the parents thatthey can phone or mai l them i they have any questions Trainers and coachesare we l-advised to point out the own responsibi l ity o the parents to them Inecessa ry the parents sh ou ld contact the tra i ner or coach t hemsel ves

Contacts with parents can provde the coach and trainer with a ot o useulinormation about their pupi ls Nobody knows al l the answers not even anexpert tra ner or coach . It i s i mporta nt that they are capabl e o l isten in g we l !Chi dren may be using certan medicins they may have personal probemsor they may be ( s l ig htly) a utist ic; their parents may be getting a d ivorceor something unpleasant may have happened at school Al l o these actorsay nuence the social unctioning o chi ldren and consequenty aso theirconcentration during train ings and their perormance in competit ions. Manypractical problems require a cunning plan' (see also the paragraph under the

same title) There is no general recipe or any problem but oten a creativesoluton is possb le I parents thi n k a lo ng wth the tra i ner or coach the lattercan take prot rom this in many ways

At tou rname nts certai n ly events with you ng c hess pl ayers pa rents ta k a otto each other. He re an d there a g rap evi ne ' may g row w hi ch is contra productive.t is wiser to stay away rom such grapevines' Matters that concern also otherparents youth players or the spo rts orga ni zation can be d scussed at parentseetings or in a c l u b b ul let in in a newsletter or on a website Du rin g a parentseetin g a tra i ne r can spea k to m any pa rents at o nce w hi ch saves ti me . Another

advantage is that parents are aso conronted with each other's questonsideas and opin ons Especia l ly in a c lub setting such meetings can contributepositively to the development o a stimuating chess culture In 200 SBSAheld a p arents meetin g i n Apel door n whe re Artur Yusu pov was i nterviewedy arel van Det about taent development arents o SBSA youth trainingpati pants were a l owed to ask q uestions O thi s m eeting a video has beenade which youth training partipants and their parents later received onDVD In one o the weekly S BSA em ai l newsletters a su mm ary o the i nterviewhas been publ ished

The age nda o a p arents meeting may eature the o ow in g item s reports on

actvites the ntroduction o new nit iatves an inventarization o suggestonsquestons or an a ppeal or help wth orga nizatio nal matters. In the a ppend iceswe give a more extensive l ist o subjects. parents make active contributionsto a l k inds o orga ni zation al matters th is w i l ease the organ zers' task andcontribute to a stimulatng chess cuture.

In the end parents a re on ly h um an beings A chess ather once told u s thathe never visits crucial matches o his chi d as he tends to get too nervous onsuch occasions. Another parent cla imed that it made hm i l l . Being a chessparent is heavy stu' a novice chess ather concluded. A school chess trainer

recounts During chess matches and tournaments o my chi ldren I am otenstanding on the sidel ine and I notice the parents' negative inuences on theirchldren In the past ew years I have watched plenty o talent go down thedrain' He is a supporter o parents meetings Ater al l a parent s the thirdplayer on the chessboa rd '

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A3 Tqu

A31 Goa setting

An a m bit ious chess pla yer wa nts to acheve a n a i m he wants to pay at the

hi ghest possib le level Onl y very few peope mana ge to become world c hamp ion,but it can a lso be an a cceptable a m to end up in the top ran kings of a reg ona lchamp ions hi p Everyone sets ther own goa ls Ambit ions and pleasure n playcan perfectly go han d in han d they can even strengthen each other It ismportant to set goals that are rea istic If a youth player, his parents or histra ner or coach set their goal s too h ig h, th s can have a very frustrating andcontrap rodu ctve effect

At tournaments, competitions and trainngs, t is best for a youth player tofocus on performance goals These are rea istical y chosen goas where you

strive for an achievement that s optimal ly attainable You take yourself asa point of compa rison not someone e se and , for exam pe, you want toim prove you r tm e ma nag eme nt ear of fa l u re i s u n necessary You have everyreason to be selfcondent and concentrated f the opponent is better at thispoint, then so be it Its not important You want to use your own qua it ies tothe ful l and perform optimal ly You want to learn from your experiences andperform even better next tim e If youn g chess p ayers focus on resu lt goals ( 1-0) , they wi l feel comp e led to wi n at a l l cost Ths can easi y lead to constrai nedplay and fear of fai u re or the sam e reason , pep ta k ai med at resut goals by

a parent, tra iner or coach is useless You l win ths, wont you? is an advcegiven with good i ntentions, but it s empty tal k

I t s better to create opti m u m perfor mi ng c ondit ions, l ke good preparationand a good rest before play, and to give practical tps hese may be about timemanagem ent, the choce of openi ng , o r a bout ta king a wal k before a g ame Go al setti ng im p roves you r resul ts In order to b e effectve, go als mu st meetthe fol owi ng cr iteria

aimed at performance instead of result

h igh but attanable, real st ccha l le ng ing , result i ng in a n enjoyment of your sportspecific, concreteaimed at a not too dstant futuremeasurableshoud be fol owed by feedback, the trainer/coach must evaluate theresuts with the player

Having s aid a l l th s, of course a p layer sti l l wants to become a cham pion The

fed of tenson between result orientation and achievement orentation can besoved in a sim pl e way at every turn your thou ghts sho ul d be aim ed excl usivelyat inding the best possibe move

Exp er ien ce teach es that a score of 7 , 5 out of 9 often sufices fo r frst p la ce na tou rnamen t Then wh y sh oul d you want to wi n every ga me? As you see, theres even room for three draws!

If we put th s into perspective, a l tte relat ivi zatio n is in o rde r A chess tal entdeveops by jumps Now and then an incubation period occurs, when newy


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gained insghts ae internalized and t takes time before this is expressed inachievements t is i mpotant to be pu rposve but it sho uld not be a problem ifthis s not im mediately expressed i n a h i ghe ratin g Most talents w l l even ndthat the r ratin g em ai ns level fo a nu m be of mon ths

A32 Traiig programm

Young players with ambtons must train a lot and play many games Room forsponta nety s i m portant stud yi ng g a mes that you fn d i nteresting ca n be doneat any poi nt in time However in order to ach ieve resu lts it is al so necessaryto work systematcal ly via a tanng programme n such a programme thefo low ing th ing s are determ ned

goals (whch books col lection of tactica exercises etc)t iming (eg tactcs before school game anaysis in the evenngs)

activit ies (tactical exercises annotated games etc)tools (books computer etc)procedures (sef-study with patner with trainer etc)locaton ( study c l ub ven ue etc )

t is im portant to real ize why you trai n l ke you do a nd to div ide your tmewel over the various components For example a tain ng programme canbe put together by drawing up a matrix where you wite the week days inhoizontal col um ns and in vertical col u m ns you can i nd cate su bject p rocedu re

t iming and the amount of t ime spent; which l iteratue location and addit ionacomments Drawing up a training programme is a form of goalsetting It isadvisable for a youth player and his tra ne to d raw up a tra n i ng program metogethe The taner has expertse and the youth player s the one for whomte programme s desgned One-way trafc fom the trainer to the payer is awaste of time A programme and a week schedule wi l only be effective if theyouth player real izes its use and heps designing it He should fee responsibefor it and decid e fo h i mself what h e wants to ach ieve an d if he wants to m akean efort for ths Parents must be involved in these matters They transport

teir ch ldren pay for train ings arange various things and they are a lso asounding board fo their chld Sometimes it is aso necessary for them toremind a chi ld of certain appointments it has made whch consequently haveto be met If parents do not suppot the programme the whole thing wil l be agaranteed fa lue

A taining pogramme covers a certain period Appoximate season'sprogrammes and trimester programmes can be drawn up n a week scheduletis can be laid down very concretely Wth individual trainngs the trainer andthe pup l can check during weekly meetings if the schedule of the past week

has been completed The youth payer may keep a diary where he recodsis earning experiences The trainer can look at these and give commentseedback by a trainer on selfstudy s important: t is stimulatng and it al owsfor an optim um processing of experiences and acqu ired i ns ig hts Also the wayn which the pupi l studies and makes execises can be discussed Next a newweek schedule is drawn up

The pogramme must be evaluated regularly and adjusted accordng to

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experiences progress and new possibi l it es cropping up The drawng up of atraning programme does not take a lot of time if it is developed nto a routineBesides it is useful an d e njoyab e to refect on experience s f a tra ne and hi spup l evaluate experiences and make new appointments in good consultationths wi l contribute to the pupi l s post ive self mage and to h is development

of self-management It s possble that these tasks ae fu i l led by differentpeople or exampe a parent can supervise the week schedule One tranecan analyse games and another strong payer can fol low the pocess and giveadvice for example about the choice of whch tounaments to pay

It is impotant that the programme is flexible and that it leaves room fospontaneity An opportunity to play an extra tournament may present itselfOr maybe there are enjoyable activities at school sometimes preventing ayouth player to play chess A chess friend may in his enthusiasm borrow aninterestng magazine or book that he wants to have a ook at A search on the

Internet may yield interestng games positions or stories A good chess players a eseacher and therefore the training progamme must eave oom foesearch of al l k nds of inteesting themes that crop up spontaneously A gooddea is for instance to solve ten dagram positions with tactic exercises fvetimes a week This gves you two extra days to make those exercises if youcannot m ake it at on e tme o r a nother Anot her idea is to outl in e three-qu artersof the training tme befoehand and eave one quarte for browsing Browsingmeans to spontaneously get going with certain subjects th ink about themsearch on the I nternet for nformati on tal k abou t them w ith a tra i ni ng partner

etcetea There are no universal recipes Age ambit on learning style and al l k inds

of indiv idua possib l it ies and restr ict ions have to be taken into account Ata ine r and h s pup i l can develop a n in spir ing and effect ve ta n i ng progamm ein consultation and they can adjust the content where necessary A train ngprogam me hel ps you to structure your activ ities It m akes t easier to s umm onsefdi scipl ne as the progra m me clearly i nd icates what must be done on eachday Sometimes a payer does not fee l ike doing anything for an entire daySometimes then he has to be made to fee l ike it but at other times he can

be a lowed to take a da y off f the weath er s good fo swi m m in g sefstudy canbe postponed for a cou p e of ho urs or for a fu l d ay If the p rogramm e i nd icatesan appointment wth the trainer the training wi l take place A week scheduleaso enables you to switch activ it ies for instance by makng more than yourdai y portion of tactics on one day and spending more t ime on anothe themeon the next

The tra n i ng pogam me sho ud consist of vayin g proced ures Some thingsae better done a lo ne othe rs preferab ly w th a ta n er an d/or a ta i ni ng partnet is aso useful to alternate tactics with positional subjects; for exampe by

spendi ng 1 5 m in utes a day on tactical exercises and half on ho ur on posit iona subjects If yo u want to get results y ou s hou ld work methodica l y A p lanconssts of a g oa tools proced ures obstacles and a t i me schedu e Withta in i ng pl an s as we l as chess exercises it i s useful for a tra n er to ask hs p up i lto classfy these fve elements systematca ly By asking questions the tranercan adjust the d scovery and the cl assicaton of the vaio us aspects


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A33 Chess diay

The weakest i n k is strong er tha n the best memo ry C onfuc iu s sai d I f you want to become a better player a chess di ary i s u sefu l You ca n earnsometh ng from every sing le ga me you pl ay by ana lysi ng it You ca n record yourconclusions in you diay These notes may be quite short as long as you write

down the most important things You wil l go a ong way even if you learn justone si ng le thin g from every gam e Th is di ay can be i n the shape of a n otebooka text document on a computer or a loose-leaf i le In it a chess studentcan record notes from trainng sessions and also remarks on games he hasstudied or on chess l iteratue You can also include observations about yourow n behavio ur For in stance yo u may h ave been g iven a tip a bout concentrationexercises or your ta n e has exp la in ed to you that it i s vey u nsportsman i keto cal l other chess payers patzers (how good are you a nyway?) Othewsea diary can contain pictures newspaper cl ippngs articles fom club bul etins

ra n kn g l i sts of tou rname nts youve p ayed reports on trai ni ngs etcetera Keeping a chess diary has four advantages

while you write you contemplate what you have learned andexperienced This helps you to understand things better and tomemorize new insightsyou col lect a l ist of things that you know and are capabe of By rereading the diary you wi l refesh your memoryyou can write down rules of thumb in it These are general rules that

you take into consideration during a gameit is fun to browse backwards no w and then

In the diary you wil l work mainly wth texts Apart from that it is usefu tocol lect interesting postions in a separate database of a computer programmeke ritz or Chessbase

A34 Anaysis Questionnaie

If you want to become a good chess p ayer yo u mu st ana lyse your own ga mesIt is a tough job to make a good game analysis he Apedoorn AnaysisQuestionnaire (see Appendix 1) helps you to plumb the depths of your owngames and to study the way payers perform during a game he answersto the questions provide you with a technical and psychoogcal analyss ofstrengths and weaknesses which wi l povde you with statingpoints forim provn g you r pl ay he Ana ysis Qu esto nn ai e is u seful for youth p ayersas wel l as adult players and trainers Usng an analysis questionnaire a chesspayer and his trainer wi l concentrate on certain aspects of the game and on

the formes performance at the board This is different fom the classical wayof analysing where a chess payer crit ical ly assesses his play move by move(see the paragaph on analysis)

A tr ed- and -tested method i s when a partic ipa nt of a trai n i ng group an a ysesone of his own games and l ls in the questionnaire Before the training hehands n the comp leted q uestio nna i re to h is trai ner and the othe players fromhis tra in n g g roup Du ring the tra i n i ng they d iscuss the game whi e studying the

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answers in the questionnaire As a procedure this questionnaire offes somevaiety duing tainings t is not necessay to always use this questionnaire foana lys is

The Apeldoorn Analys is ueston na ire has be en deve oped for youth tai n i ngsin Aped oorn by Dh arma Tj am a nd Ka el van Delft A tai ner can abridge this l ist

or add to it as he sees ft Abidging s ecommended wth younge playes asotherwise they wi l be confronted with too ma ny su bjects at a tm e Lucen vanBeek and Kael van Deft have made an nquiry among youth talents at SBSAta in ng s in Apeld oorn a ski ng them w hat they thought of the questionn ai e Asit turns out their responses to the task of indicating the ten most mportanttechnical and psychological questions vay Probaby a l the questions aerelevant but not fo everybody a l the t ime A plausible explanaton s thatyouth playes tend to look back on their most recent experiences ony if theyare asked to make a selection of the most impotant questons f a traine

thinks the l ist is too ong he can make a smal e selection of questions or hecan ask h is trai nees to take ten qu estions w h ich they themseves consider themost reevant for a cetain game

n a g reat num be of trai n i ngs an d workshops the autho rs have spoken toeght-year-old payers and upwads about psychologcal aspects of chess Amaority of the youth players ae inteested in those t is mpotant fo thetai ne not to ma ke abstact obsevato ns He wi l be a ble to pass on psycholo gi cali nsig hts optim al ly i f he g ives them c oncrete nam es wh ch ae related t o conceteexpeences n g ame s A trai ne shoul d spea k about psychol ogica subjects i n a

wel l baa nced way A youth playe is on y a be to ntena ize one o two i nsig htsper trai n ng Psychologi ca i ns ig hts s i nk i n best if a youn g player di scoves themby hmself A traine can accomp ish th is by asking directed questions aboutpivate experiences du ing a goup d iscuss ion or an ind iv id ua l ta i n i ng

A35 A cunning pan!

Youth players run nto al l knds of problems Not for evey probem thee s aclear sout ion but for many poblems thee is one The coach shoud analyse

the situatio n be creative an d come up with ticks Often h e ca n m ake the youthplaye solve the pobl em by h im self With a cun ni ng p an!

f a payer plays too cautousy he can get nto timetrouble or perhaps hedoes not trust hi msef to stat an a l l out attack A tai ner w l l ist ty to i nd outthe cause for such ca utio n Does the pl aye lack selfconden ce fo insta nce oris he a pe fection st and does he f nd it ha rd to ma ke decisio ns? The tra ine r canassgn the paye to em ploy sha rp va riat ions n a n um ber of game s By doi ngth s the playe w l learn how it feels to pa y i n s hap post ions a nd his fear ofsuch pay may subside A youth paye is best able to acquire new insights if

the trai ne expa i ns to h i m ho w somethin g works an d if besides that he a lsoexpeiences it h i mself du ring a g ame or a tra n i ng session

f a youth payer when solving a sheet of diagrams makes more mistakesnear the end this may be caused by a decl ine in energy Once during a youthtrai ni ng sessio n in Apeld oorn the partic ipan ts were asked to hold a cha i r ovethei heads That was easy but after a few minutes vaous chair carrersstated to think otherwse They wee al lowed to put down the chairs and thetraning went on Half an hou late they wee asked to hold the chars ove


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their heads aga n They succeeded without trou bl e By way of expl anato n thepatcip ants were tol d that as rega ds energy the b ra i n works ju st i ke a musce you ha ve to gi ve it a rest no w and then f y o u want it to p erfom optim al ly Thi smea ns that du ring the course of a ta n i ng sesso n or du ring a g ame or forexample during you homework you have to take a break egulay Duringpivate tai n ngs the then si x-yea-o d youth player Yassn e M ou hd ad was often

vey busy When his traine Karel van Deft set up a position he started to getbored and dispayed rrtating behaviour The taner devised a cunning planOur young fr iend was told to set up the pos it ions h mself from then on Asthere were no coodinates on the board and moreover he was regularly seatedbehind the black pieces this was a good chal lenge The training sessions wereno longer nterrupted the boy developed a constructve eanng atttude andthe traning sessons became more fun

A36 Experments

An experiment is a systematcal ly planned tryout in the framewok of aresearch project A chess tane must stmulate young players to deveopinto esearchers hat is good for their chess deveopment and also fo theipesonal development Expeimentng is a tried-and-tested method to enjoycess Certain kinds of experiments shoud be part of every trainng session Aresearcher th n ks ph osophi cal ly ( i e contem plative a bout the use the essenceand the possibi i t es) and anayt ica ly (what is in whch way elated to what)about subjects and ties often systematically to develop new ideas Next he

w l check if h is hypothesis ( i e h is assum ption ) is corrector example a youth player starts paying a new opening He can read

books and consult databases on it he can browse on the nternet o look atan notated ga mes He can al so study open in g tra ps The next th ng is to use theopen ng i n practcal pa y n o rder to ga in exper ience with it his can be donen tain ing games wth a train ing partner during the club competit ion againsta compute programme va a chess server or in tournament games A chesspaye can also dscove interesting positions when he is studyng annotatedgames or h is own g a mes S uch posit ions dema nd closer investigation They can

also be tested in games against a trainng partne or a compute O sometimesa player can try to get such a positio n on the boa rd in a g am e

Ma ki ng mi sta kes is nh erent to any devel op ment pocess You ca n ea rn fromyour mi stakes an d you m ustnt be afrai d to ma ke them You can l ea rn from you mstakes by ana l ys ing your games we l a nd wt ing down you conclus ons i n adiary and/or a database wth positions fom you own games A chess payecan expeiment with technical questions and he can a so experiment with h isown behaviou or exampe f he reguarly suffers from timetrouble he canfind ou t what h is perfom ance wi l l be if he never thi n ks on ger tha n thee

mnutes per move for twenty games in a row f he has trouble concentratinghe can decde to em a n seated at the boa rd d u ring t he entire gam e o r o n thecontrary walk around regularly durng a game to reax

By learn ng to experiment you w i l l learn to us e you i mag inat ion and deveopcreative abi l t ies You wi l get to know your possibi l t ies and (temporay)l imitations and learn to express your thoughts on cetain situatons You wl llearn to deal with setbacks and to reativze develop an eye for paadoxes

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and discver that seties there is re than ne way t slve a prbeIt is useful fr a chess pl ayer t exp ress his in di ngs d u ring a n expeient intwrds in his diary and t discuss the with his trainer The latter can help hit reflect n the and t d raw cnc u s ns

ea f fai l u re n experients is a ba d cu nse l espec al ly fr yuth p ayers

Obvius y a chess p ayer w l pla y it safe if thi s al ws h t wi n a gae evena tunaent But in such cases a yuth player shud nt be chicken ptiu enjyent f th e gae an d ptu devel pent a yut h play e ustreal ze that he i s the di rectr w h i s resp nsi ble f hi s wn deve pent Thisinvlves esea ch and the exp atin f new hizns The trai ner shud keepn encuragi ng h i s pu pi s tie and aga in t experent a nd he shuld prvidethe with trai n in g ateria l t help the wth th s If yu a e a be t expeientand yu a re nt afrai d t d it thi s wi feed yu r i ntrins ic tvatin C hi d rencan ccupy theselves fr hurs n end playing fr exaple with ther eg

tain This is because they have the freed t ake ther wn discveriesand give the shape This playful way f discvey earning is cnnected withaspects f bth a cgni t ive (th n k in g) and a n eti nal (fee i ng ) nature

A37 Insights though games

A trainer can clarfy insights in aspects f sefanageent knwedgeacquisit in va gaes r exaple he can ask a grup f trainees hw lngthey can hd their breath Afte th ity secnds st f the wi l be qu ite shrt

f breath a l read y It sees t last ages! But if th irty secn ds i s a ges thenwhy shuld a chess p layer pani c if he h as n ly tw inutes th ink ing t ie left?the ta in er ay ask I n Apeld rn enti e gaes are cpeted i n tw nutesat the fcal Dutch Chapinship Lightning Chess an event that has beengan ized h ere fr sevea l yea rs nw I f the re is a cputer a un d the tra i nercan as te l h is pup ls t ggle recrd hlding beath which turns ut t bearund ifteen inutes Peple have trained n that Practce akes pefectThat ges fr chess t

Anther gae is t ask a trainee t clse h is eyes Yu can a s use a

real bl indfd Next the traner walks the test subect wth the rest f thepatcipants t anther There he is al lwed t pen his eyes fr nesecnd Then he is asked t describe what he has seen As a rue he wi l l haveseen plenty: cus shapes veents bjects relatins yu nae t Anawfu lt in a ny case The trai ner ay ask his pu p ls hw n ea rth it is pssibl ethen that they cannt see what is g ing n in a s iple chess pst in with n lya few wden r p lastic p ieces W t h such prvcative questins the ta i ner cancran k up a dscussin i na ly smene ay rea ize that yu can see a t in nesecnd because yu recgnize everything yu see Knwledge is recgnitin It

wrks the sae way i n chess f a chess pl ayer knws any patterns an d theycan be earnt he w l l be ab e t recg ni ze them n a psiti n Then if he a lsknws the chaacteristics f these patterns he can put this knwledge t gduse whether it s tactica tifs ike a discvey attack r a pin r peningsiddlegae psit ins r endg ames

Wth a l ittle creativity trainers can invent sevea gaes They can als askther pupi ls t ce up with a new gae at the next taining sessin A chessstudent can wite dwn the insights he has ganed in a diary r in a eprt n


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the training It s useful to browse through ths information now and then Hecan take example from t and devote extra attention to certain behavouralaspects n future games

A38 Rues o thumb and mnemonics

Apart from he rules of the game chess has a number of other genera rulesThey can be formuated into rules of thumb and mnemonics There are manyexceptions but sti l it may be helpful to apply them especal ly if you are tredor stressed O ne examp le of a m ne mo ni c when a p iece is un der attack is CPCCapture Interpose vade Protect Counterattack An exampe of a rule ofthumb is: If you cannot choose between playng a pawn or a piece pay thepiece A piece can always go back a pawn cannot Or: ach strengthenngnvolves a wea keni ng f you move a p iece or a p aw n certai n squ ares are coveredbut others a ren t an y o ng er There a re l ots of ru les of th u m b and mn emo n cs

It is usefu to write them down in a dary if you encounter them during theanalys s of your games or when p layng throug h ann otated games

A4 k

A41 e-management

Sefm a nage ment s a centra l not ion i n chess Objectivity a rea istic sef i mage

and a sense of responsib l ity are qua it es that contribute significantly to thedeveopment of good self-management A top-class chess player cannot dowithout good self-ma nagement du r ing tra i n i ng sess ions a nd certa in ly a lsoduring games He has to div de h is t ime wel manage his energy controlh mself cope with setbacks a nd concentrate we l

A chi l d ca n develop a sense of responsib i l ity i f th is s st mu ated by tsenvironment A youth player should be as important a co-author of his owndevelopment as possible He must be able to make his own decis ions abouths own situati on Tak in g control of you r own ife i s the key to success This

si mu ates your fg htn g sp i rt you r an al ytc al ab i l ity and creativity at the boardand your effort during tranings and it stimulates active selfstudy It alsocontrbutes to the development of your personal ity You wi l l learn to redefneproblems as chal lenge s This h appens whe n a youth player learns that theoutcome of an event is largely determined by his own actons

We cannot repeat often en ough that wel tho ughtout chess trai n n g is a medto stimulate both chess ski l s and persona development Trainers coachesand parents can stimulate the deveopment of a sense of responsib l ity and ofself-management in a number of ways Youth players are members of training

groups and club teams It is important that as a group they feel responsiblefor various practical asks such as setting up chess materia and ceanng uptogether They m ust hel p each o ther tech n ical ly with th e preparation for gamesand their analysis Train ng partners and trainers should tacke each other incase such tasks are neglected The trainer shoud make clear arrangementswith the g rou p about ths If th is is u nder discussion he sho uld express h i msefdirectly and clearly and give a good motivation (always menton a reason) Of

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course he should require that the person in question sti l perorm the agreedtask Du ring a tra n i ng sessio n ma ny types of cooperating procedu res betweenyouth players are possibe They are jintly responsible for the result and alsofor each other Youth players can assume smal organizatonal and train ingtasks at primary schoo chess clubs and reguar chess cubs The task of the

parents is to see to it that everything goes according to pan Where necessarythey can give constructive comments or end a hand Tasks must be doable Ithey do not lead to a perception o success th is w l l work cou nterproductively

Teaching a big group can be dificult but as a rule it s perfectly possibeor youth payers to function as individual trainers by anaysing with motivatedyounger players I a youth player is responsible for a train ing sesson th iswi l improve his self- image and st imulate the deveopment of h is socia l andcog nit ive sk l ls ( h i s abi ity to structural ize h s thoughts and put them nto wordsto practise patience to l isten to ask or reformuate questions and to consult

others) Al too requently youths are given too l itt le responsibi ity Ths canead to msbehaviour as youths wi l l not feel that they are taken serouslythey w l l get bored an d ( qu ite r ightly) take a rebel stan d Another thi ng is thatch i d ren and youths may i ke to test the tra ner a itt e H ow far can I go?'There is an easy answer to this a oke is ne but we are here to enjoy aninteresti ng tra n i ng session

During a training session a trainer can reverse the roles and ask a youthpayer to continue the lesson He can aso ask someone to handle the subjectmaterial or a secon d tim e w ith the trai ne r play ng a sl ow student This ormu la

struck a chord with the th en sx-year-old Yassine M ou hd ad who wo ul d becomeDutch youth champon roughly one year later Even though he coud not yetread he d id want to have the m an ua l on the table in front of h i m That's whathis trai ner di d and it looked quite m pressive Su ch a new roe is somethi ng youhave to get used to but this boy p ayed it with verve H is eyes twi n kled and hesat up straight You could see hm grow two inches To teach instead of bengtaught is no sma matter Sud de nly you h ave to form ul ate q uestions in stead oanswering them Thi s means that you must be thorou gh y a ware of the essenceof the theme und er discussion O course a youn g teacher w l lose the thread

here and there at his deb ut The tra i ner can he l p h im o n his way with a qu estionor a remark Bearing responsibi it ies promotes sel-refection Keeping a chess diary with

brief notes on experiences n the areas of acquired chess knowledge and sefmanagement can contribute to this It is useu for a youth payer to regularysh ow ths d ia ry to h s tra ne r The l atter ca n g ive constructive com men ts a ndhe can show interest by askng for further explanations Gv ing compl mentshas a stimulatng eect In case of ai lure the trainer can ask how the youthpayer woud react hmself if he were shown something l ke this Qite a lot

o talented young players are capable of penty of things at a youthful ageHowever overestim ati on a nd overbu rde ni ng mu st be avoded It s no t easy forevery youth pl ayer to keep a di ary or in voved p arents it can be a n i ce taskto dscuss what has happened in the traning sessions and to write down a fewwords on it or they can h e p the youth pla yer to write someth ng h i mse Ayouth player's sense o responsibi l ty is also stmulated if he draws up his owntrai n i ng schedu e and exp a i ns t to h s trai ner In a conversation with the trai nerths schedue can be deveoped further


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Via the Anal yss Queston na re a youth p ayer can try to m ake h s own strength/weakness anayss his is a form of selfcrit ica reection which is importantas a chess player who wants to develop optima ly should be objectve and hesho uld welco me ho nest crit icsm The tran er can g ive comm ents on the answersn the questionnaire possibly in a train ing group where the partic pants taketurns in presenting a competed questionnaire If such sessions are conducted

n a positive tone they can y iel d useful self-i nsi ghts and i nteresti ng d scussions Obviously it wi l l have to be made clear that false modesty about shotcomngss out of the queston It is better to sti mu ate a mo re or less h eathy mach ismo '(a lso with gir ls) l ike: I am so strong that I wi l g lady admit my mistakes, so Ican ea rn from them an d become stron ge r' or words to that effect

A42 Menta training

Mental tran ing is a med at solv ing mental problems and shortcomings in self

management Desirable thoughts feel ings and behaviour can be reinforcedand undesirable thoughts feel ings and behaviour can be toned down orremoved This creates sef-awareness and skil ls and causes the subject to feehappier Some examples of mental problems are: a diffuse self image ackof motivation concentration disorder stress insuffcient stamina an inabi ityto ive up to expectations of others demanding too much of oneself lack ofcomposure or ack of confdence

A mental tra i ni n g can b e g iven by a psychol og ist or a qu al ifed tra i ner/coachand this can be done n various ways A mental tra i ner can gather information

about a chess player by means of conversations, questionnaires tests andobservations It s i m porta nt to have a n o pen exchan ge of thoughts Mentablockades are often unconscous It is diffcult if not mpossible for people tohave a com p etely objective self-ju dge ment V ia m ental trai n n g a chess playercan gain ins ight n h s subconscious motves and blockades As soon as thereis someone who has these questions in vew' they can get a grip' on it Thedevelopment of new ways of th ink ing and new behaviour cannot be rea izedin the wink of an eye This is often emotionally stressful as well But the goodnews is: t's dogged as does it Some mental techniques are:

set c lear goa ls an d formu late them o n paperbefore crit ica situatio ns s uch as i mp ortant game s try to vis ual ize thepossible course and determine how you want to tackle problemsrelax before a gametalk to yourself du rng a gameevaluate experiences in a diary and n conversations with a (mental)coach

Cau ses of mental prob lem s can b e cha rted by a tra ner or a pl ayer with a so-cal l edreversed tree di ag ra m ' h is term is de rived from the tree di ag ram s' n o pen in gbooks where possibl e contin uatio ns are depi cted as a series of branches heselook i ke the bra nches of a tree hence the na me tree di ag ram ' The more youlook to the right in such a scheme the more branches you see In the mentalreversed tree diagram' it is the other way around here s one problem forwhch you can imagine several possible causes hese causes have different

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backgroun ds or c ircumsta nces. You can put these on paper i n a schem e We wi lg ive a s imple example A player has concentration problems Possible causesare a bad physic al cond tio n or a l ack of self-cond ence. An i nsufcent physicacondit ion s caused by regular lack of s eep or nsufic ent physical exertionLack of sefconidence can be the resut of very ambitious parents who keep

interferingA trai ner ca n ex press variou s relevant issues n catchwords and in corporate

these n a scheme that l lustrates the mutual relations between the variousissues. Every factor s a 'swtch ' tha t the trai ner can turn' n o rder to ncreasehs pupi l 's sk i l s Mental tra i n i ng can take place in a separate settin g. A qu al edtrainer can also incorporate it into his trainings.

The theme of mental tra in ing is extensively discussed in the bookSchachpsychologie' by Reinhard Munzert and Mentale tran ing in de sport' bysports psycho log ist Rico Schu ije rs Other o utsta nd in g books in the a rea of sport

psycho logy a re Succesfu coach in g' an d Coaches' gu ide to sport psychology' bythe American author Rai ner M artens

A4.3 Physca factos

According to former word champion Mkhai l Botvinnik's model, chess has fouraspects: technique, psychology, physcal condit on, and coincidence Formerworld champion Garry Kasparov found that h is physical and mental condit ionwere inf uenced positively by p racti sin g physi cal spo rts He observes that they

increase his stamina, his attentiveness and his quickness of response SixtimeDutch champion Loek van Wely shares this experience If a chess player istired, he is n't a ble to concentrate we l , a nd so he wi l do a bad job at processinginformation, calculat ing, and thinkng up ideas A healthy body contrbutes togood ach ievement du rng tra n ngs as wel as competitons . Th is means thatyou shou d

eat health i ly and moderateyseep suficiently

be well-restedmanage your energy dur ing the g amebu l d u p a bas ic physica form by reg ul ar ly practis ing physcal sports

Energy management mpl es a lternating exertion with relaxation Ths enablesyou to prolong you r thi n k in g performances on an optim al leve Du rin g a gam e,for instance, a player can dvert h is thoughts and relax h is body by walk ingaround for a bit. A short strol l between games in a tournament aso has areaxng effect

Kees Gorter, a gen era practit ione r in A pedo orn, has don e some research o nthe nfue nce of physical c ondit o n a nd n utrit ion o n attention a nd concentration(see th e tou rna ment b oo k of the C reative Youth Chess Tou rname nt, A peld oorn1994). Cit ing Dr. arm Kuipers, a Professor of Exertion Physiology at theMaastricht University and a one-time ice-skating world champion, Gorteremphasizes the importance of the neurovegetatve system on the stressbalance He advises against heavy physical exertion before a game. However,between g am es a sh ort exertion is goo d i n order to stim u late the ae rtness of the


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syste, lthough ftigue should be voided In pnciple, bd s leepng befoe ge s not big poble , s physic ins conclude tht in suc h s itutons theneuovegettive syste s hy pective

Mentl wok does not cuse ny sg ni i cnt lowein g of the b lood su g level i nthe b i n Too u ch su g sti u ltes the woking of th e gstointestin systeinsted of the b i n Thi s cuses sense of n u bness Too l tt le su g led s to

shk ness nd loss of concenttio n Du ing g es, it's best fo p ye to tkelig ht nutt on Sweets w ith lot of ft e ston g y cont d vi sed A l i ted useof cfe in e ( coffee, coke) sti u tes the ne uovegettive syste Th is esu ltsin n ncesed ttentiveness nd dequte esponse Alcohol, even in sl ldoses, hs n dvese effect on letness Isotonic dinks e best, since theypoduce s le od on the wte blnce Poteins nd vitins neve gveny pobes, Gote sys, ct ing Sis, Pofesso of Hun Nutit ion t theMsticht Unvesity A vied nd blnced nutit ion is especi ly ipotnt.Gote obseves tht quickness of esponse especi ly nfuences ptten

ecogntion A supus of stess hpes concenttion, eding to decl ine npefonc e. G ote cl s tht su plu s of tens ion cn b e loweed o neutl iedby physcl elxtion execises nd bething execises, sef-hypnosis, dbofeedbck pocedues. e points t the fct tht such pocedues ust belened befoeh nd . He enti ons thee gode n u es of n utt ion suffcientvit ion in the e nu, s fesh in gedie nts s possibl e, nd sufic ient l i qu id

On e point of ttention in th is context s the i de l tepetue fo studyin g.This ssue ws once sed t Mondy evening tn ing The heting wstuned too hgh, nd when the tine sked wht ws bette fo tining: 30

degees Celsi us o 3, M tjn knew the nswe 3 deg ees, becuse you l wystel l us to keep cool hed ' Rese ch hs yie ld ed 18 deg ees Cel si us s theidel tepe tue fo studyi ng . Ths s ubject deseves close nvestigt on nychess pye cn ty it out hiself. It is lso dvisble to py ttention to hu id ty, l ght nd th e ou nt of oxygen n th e tosphee

A4.4 Chess thinkng

The thinking of chess plye ent ls nube of functions, fo exple

eoy, clcult ion, esoning, cobining, the ppl icton of u les of thub,nd ptten ecogniton. A chess plye y hve gete ptitude fo cetinfunctions thn fo othes Othe fu nction s e best tug ht t n e ly stge, i n so-cl led sensitive peiod'. The Russin psychologst nd chess gndsteNikoly Kogius, fo exple, descibes in h is book Psychologie i Schch'tht plyes who hve ened to ply chess fte thei tenth ye ke oetctcl stkes thn plyes who hve ened the ge el ie.

Thee hs been uch esech on the thinking of chess plye. A cssicwok is Dutch psychologist nd chess plye A.D de Goot's Thought nd

Choice i n Chess' ( 1946) . In convestio n with Rente i bch nd Kel vnDelft, De Goot explined tht he hd inly investgted cognitive spects ofchess Ju st l i ke ny othe utho s on chess psychol ogy, he h d neve occup iedhiself with the queston whch condt ions detene the developent of stiu lt ing (youth) chess cutue Neithe hd h e looked ny deepe i nto ti n i ngpocedues He hd witten sevel ticles fo gzine on didctics, n whichhe esoned tht the Polg expeent, in which the thee Hungn s istes

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Zsuzsa Zsa and Judit received extensive cess training by ter parents atme migt ave beneited te devepment f te persnal ity f tese gir lsAer a l l specia l izat in des ave adva ntages

In s bk Tugt and Cce in Cess' De Grt dstinguises betweenfur stages in cess tnking tat a cess player passes trug regardess f

s level te r ientatin p ase' w ic mves a re wrt cnsidern g; candid atemves) te explratin p ase' tryi ng ut pssib i l it ies by ca lcuat in br ingi ngdwn te number f canddate mves) te investgatn pase' deeper andmre serius researc) and te prf pase' s te remain ing candidatemve g d? If nt return t an ea rl ie r stag e) S metim es via a nal ysis ata later stage yet anter candidate mve wl surface. Te big differencebetween a grandmaster and a esser player accrding t De Grt is nt tatte grandmaster caculates mre deepy but tat e as a greater arsena fpatterns wit accmpan yi ng evalu atins at is d ispsa wit w ic e can test

any given pstin In a researc prject by De Grt and ngman tit ed TeEye f te Master' it turned ut tat strng cess payers were muc betterat reprducing a cess psitin after avng lked at t fr a wi e tan essstrng players. If te peces were placed randmly n te bard te resultswere virtua l y i dentical Ti s s an a rg u ment in favur f te su ppst in tatcess players recgnze patterns cunks') in a cess psitin

De G rt d d g ru nd break ing wrk n t e su bject f cg nit ve psyclgy.One f is few predecessrs was te rencman Afred Binet w cnducteda researc prject n intel l igence and te cnditns fr bl indfld cess in is

wrk Psyclgie des grands calculateurs et jueurs d'cecs' (1894) B inetcncluded tat te abi l ity t play b indfld cess was funded n tree basiccndt ns cess knwedge and experience imaginatin and memry In amem ran du m tt led Cess nstructin i n scl ?' De Grt as sug gested tatcess educatin migt ave cgnitive effects as wel as scial effects Creativet ink n g a ppeals t te i mag inat i n . Te psycgst Amatzia Avn c la ms tatcreative tin k i ng i s a sk i l tat can be le arned. Mre n tis belw

Te majrty f cess pitins cntan a multitude f pssible variatinsA uman being cannt pss b ly ca lcu late tem a l Te recgnit in and te

cmbnatin f patterns prvides yu wit startingpnts fr te assessmentf a pstin a nd te selectin f can di date mves W en assessin g a variat nsme cess players ciefy rely n teir calculating abi it es Oters give mrewegt t ter ntuit i n. We can dei ne i ntuit in as te u ncnscius recg nt inf pssib l it ies leading t te selectin f a slut in Tere is n cncusiveyana ysed sc ientic mdel f uman t i nk in g If t is wud ex ist i t wuld cnta i nmany varables ike age caracter learnng style ambitn eve etcetera.

Hwever tere is nt i ng m re pra cti ca t an a gd te ry. A n u m ber faspects f t in ki ng a nd le arni ng a re kn wn frm researc an d frm experience .

Te appl icatin f tse nsig ts is a d rect cntributin t te develpment ftalent a nd capacity

A4.S Ceativty

Creatvity means making cnnectins between matters and ideas tat arent cnnected at irst sigt. It enables yu t nd use and develp mrepssb l it ies tan appears pssibe. Creativ ity is seeing smeting tat ters


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also see, bu having ifferen houghs abou (afer Ensein. You ene heroblem in a ifferen way Chess is a game of ossib l i ies an imiaonsaern recogni ion, calcula ion, echnique, osi iona r incles an he useof combina ions lay a ole . You o no see ha which you o no oo a . Acreave chess layer's mi n is oen o arao xic a ossib i l i ies . He searches forhe u nexece h imself Creaviy s a si l ha yo u can le an , cl ai ms he Israe l

chess sychologis an FIDE chess maser Amazia Avn, who has evoe anu mbe r of chess boos o h s subjec He men on s n i ne i ns of aeni on forhe evelo men of creaive hin i ng :

1 . Awaeness of sycholog ica l b ocs eerrin g c reaviy2 Coec ei n i on of he roble m o era nce o un orhoox i ea s Inegraion of nown elemens5 Wieni ng o f horizons, reven ing secia l iza on

6 Use of ma gi na ion7 Ciic ism an ou b ing8 . e lf isc ine ra n i ng9 . The moivaiona l asec of creaiviy

Remaraby, in a conversaion wih Karel van Delf uing an oen youhchamionshi in Isael , Avni sai ha he consiere chess o be an ansocia lso His chi ren on' even have o hin abou gong o ay hs gameAvni 's aroach is cogni ive: a ime a h ining asecs Jus l ie many oher

chess auh ors he has no occuie h m self wih soci al sycholog ca l asecs.You can acqu ire a si l i n sages You ass h ro ug h fou sages :

1 Unconsciously U nab le A in ? Never hear of i '2 Consciously U na ble A oug h job, hese a gram exercises' Conscio usly Able ( racice ma es erfec, you maser he echni qu e Unconscious ly Able (you recognize ins unconscious ly an aly he

echnique

You can evelo creaive hining by rain ing sysemaical ly on i , suyingos ons ha are iamerical ly oose o common hining aens Thisrequies an oen min o new an suris ng ieas I can even lea o a socale ow', a sae of consciousness where everyhing is, where you areoeraing selfconiously, concenraely, energeical y an exoraively.Creaviy is someimes egae as synonymous o inui ion, an consiereo be somehin g mag ical an u nfahom ab e However, i nui ion is nohin g moeor ess han u nconsciously recogn iz in g aerns an m ai ng con necions Thesehi ngs o l ay a rol e in creaiviy, bu he re is moe o ceaiviy sycho logy

eaches us ha he execaions of eole la rgel y eerm ine heir observaionsThen i is o nly log ica l ha fferen execaion s wi l l a l low for fferenobservaons

eole normal ly aroach robems by verifying hem: by invesigang ifsomehi ng s rue Anoher aroach i s fa ls icaion i nvesigaing if somehi ngs no rue Ths hels when you are ighing agains menal ixaions. As anexam le of mena xaion , he Russia n g ran m aser an sychologis Ni olay

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Kgu s in di ates te Restbi ld : in yu mi nd a piee is st l l n a ertai n squareWit su a faul ty assumptin yu w l ten develp a fau ty l in e f reasni ng .e Sttis gandmaster Jnatan Rwsn pints ut te fat tat strngess players ften use te wrd maybe in analysis is sgnies a fasifyingapp ra t prble ms

Tinkng is infuened by emtinal fatrs. F instane it is difiult tantiipate yur ppnents mves Smetimes it feels as if yu are elping yurppnent by in di ng a g d m ve f m as frmer d rau gts wrld amp inn S ij ba nds ne tld us In te 1 990s e was n vlved i n yut ess ativt iesin Apeldrn am ng tes wt a eture n self-m ana geme nt fr yut essplayes in a tw-day wrksp in a yut stel He lst a ffand ess gamet Merijn van Delft w was twelve at te time In a draugts game playedbl ndfld by Sijbrands Meins pay was s dramatal ly bad tat at a ertainp nt Sjbrands beame u nsure f te exat psit in ere was n mean ngfu

patten t be disveed in Merijns play A patal adve is t get up nwand ten dung a game and lk at te psit in frm yur ppnents s ide.Draugts players d tis mu mre ften tan ess players w apparentlyave me tuble mng up wit su an idea

Adpting a different way f tinkng is trainable. Als in reatve psitinste ess ues appy Its just tat te slutins t tese psitns are mresuprising. Hweve if yu ave never seen a disveed attak yu prbabywnt t ink f inding te slut in t a psit n in tat diretin. Many pepletink nvergently tey lk f nrete slutins Creative ess players

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Developing Chess Talent - Van Delft Karel & Merijn

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