Many parents/students ask for book suggestions. Here are some of my suggestions ( not in any particular order, this is just a sample, not a complete list) 60 memorable games by Fischer
2.1953 Zurich International by David Bronstein
https://t.co/xjndrep6fT… https://t.co/3ZJytVTCul1.My
3.Art
twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 26. The power of pawns by Hickl
27. Advanced chess school series by Grivas
28. Mastering complex endgames by Daniel Naroditsky
29. Mastering chess middle games by Panchenko
30. Positional decision making by Gelfand
31. Dynamic decision making by Gelfand
32. Positional chess… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

a) In chess improvement, two approaches are possible: 1. Identify weak areas and try to get rid of those. 2. Build strength,& in the process overcome "weaknesses" or to put it differently, avoid the formation of weaknesses. b) When a player is in the growing stage, formative years, they will be "weak" in most areas. Instead of viewing this as a weakness, I prefer to see this as the absence of strength. Progress is not a process from weak to strong but more a function of evolving & growing.

1. Want to completely delink this thread away from the ongoing scandal. Purely approaching it from lessons learnt, preventive & punitive measures in the future angle. Private entities should have space to formulate their own rules n regulations. Players can avoid or abide by them 2. Guidelines/regulations/rules on what can be considered acceptable proof for a) online and b) OTB cheating should be drawn. Without a clear yardstick, it is up to everyone's interpretation to reflect their bias.

Got a message from a parent: A child new to chess got to 800+ USCF. Parents noticed the child making blunders in a few games. Suggested child to slow down, since then lost 9/10 games, started losing on time for the first time. Current diagnosis by parents: Overthinking, not playing good moves as before. Parent query: What should we do?. This is a very typical approach by many parents. Pardon the long reply:

1. A coaches' role:
1. Setting a goal based on students ability
2. Cultivate the passion for chess in general and towards learning through struggle in particular
3. Make the students aware that a lot needs to be learnt and we should start now! 4. Remove fear of results especially losing games
5. Teach child not to play to satisfy others expectations or to fear others criticisms when results not favourable
6. Teaching student that learning more & becoming stronger in the process is the only way to ensure good results

Was discussing the effect of lock down on my chess students. Suggested to them to make a list to get a better idea about themselves: 1. Which openings you are currently playing with white and black? Make a list 2. Identify the openings/variations with bad results, be specific 3. Identify the openings coming often in your tournament games. For 2 & 3, prepare alternative lines/surprises. 4. Make a list of areas where you feel you are weak/you don't like/you avoid, in your tournament games & in home preparation (Endings, Closed, complex positions etc.)

Can you guess the fee that was paid per day for being Coach of Indian Chess team for official events like Olympiad, World Team Championship, Asian team Championships? No one would believe it. Things got slightly better eventually, though nowhere near what it should be. The Indian system looks down upon Indian coaches for most part. Foreign coaches mean 5 to 10 times more fee will be paid, forget about competency of coaches or results produced for the country. Slave mentality due to centuries under colonialism still prevalent among many still.

1. As most nations go into Corona Virus related lockdown, this is a good time for chess players to take a fresh, deep look at their training methods, priorities in Chess. Most are likely to be working on making changes to their opening repertoire. 2. For opening related changes, order of priority could be: a) openings/variations (O/V) that occur often in tournaments b) O/V where we have bad results c) O/V we have neglected or not worked as intensely in recent past d) O/V where we have less over the board experience

1. Regarding solving puzzles/studies to improve calculation, one common question we often get in our mind is, how much time we need to take to solve one puzzle? There are 2 school of thoughts on this as far I have come across: 2. 1. Give yourself a set amount of time, if you dont get answer in this time, either see the solution or move to next one and

1. Many young chess players when they see chess, they see things as in isolation. They see that this idea/principle works in this position but do not learn the lesson that in similar situations, we should think in similar fashion. 2. They don’t absorb/ assimilate different ways of thinking but keep thinking in their usual manner without changing it.

The main problems young children/players who do not calculate well face while calculating are many. I will list them out in the coming tweets. Unless these issues are addressed effectively, solving puzzles, working on Calculation will not yield desired result. 1. Not able to visualise the position in their head. After some moves, position is all jumbled up & hazy. We dont know where the pieces are, We get lost.
Solution: To get better in this area simply solve progresively harder puzzles WITHOUT moving pieces on board.

1. Calculation : Very often, many young players are solving puzzles regularly at home but still do not make progress in improving their calculation. 2. 1. Do not move pieces while solving puzzles 2. Complete answer should be found not just the 1st or 2nd move. 3. If opponent has a good defensive resource, it should be found too 4. Solution we find should be correct. These 4 common mistakes should be avoided.