Entries by James

Back in the days, if someone set his/her mind on becoming a reasonable chess player (or turning their offspring into one), there wasn’t a whole lot they could do about it, other then sign up to a chess club, where they could only hope they’d stumble upon a master who would not spare the effort to aid their development properly.
Nowadays, thanks to technological advancements, learning tools have become much more accessible for those truly willing to improve.
The computer, being the wonderful good-for-everything tool that it is, can be a superb aid for beginners. There are many chess programs out there (some of which come as cheap as 40-50 bucks) which will pit players against the pre-programmed skills of a virtual brain. Like it or not, these programs are likely to give players an exceptionally sturdy challenge in the beginning. Unlike playing online poker, learning to play chess against human opponents can often be intimidating. Playing against a computer eliminates that aspect and makes sure the rookie stays fully focused on the game. The computer won’t taunt junior, and won’t go into a rage when it finally loses a game. The downsides of learning to play chess on a computer program are diverse too, though. Therefore, it is seldom recommended as an advanced learning tool. It’s more like a fast and accessible way to get started in the sport.
The social aspect lacking, the chess program will not teach players any people skills, and believe it or not, playing chess has a lot to do with knowing how to handle people. Even though the “professional” chess engines feature a plethora of individual settings which can be used to fine-tune their play, a computer program will never be able to even approximate the behavior of a human opponent, and thus it is not going to prepare someone for the battle against natural intelligence. Bottom line is, an offline chess program, beyond the advantages it provides, has some pretty obvious limitations. One can basically use it for putting strategies to the test, training, analyzing games and solving chess problems. Make no mistake, all of these factors are useful, but in order to take his/her play to the next level, a player needs to measure up against human opposition.
Fortunately, the computer still doesn’t fall out of the equation here. Online training and learning can be much more valuable than what any good chess program can provide. Nowadays, playing chess online doesn’t involve more fuss than preparing yourself a cup of coffee. As one specialist puts it: it has never been easier to find a human opponent, no matter what time of the day you feel the urge to give the grey matter in your skull a little bit of workout. There are chess servers online 24/7, some of which are free, while others are paid. Depending on the level of expertise you’re looking for, and the conditions in which you like to play, you can choose any of those. Player traffic is certainly very important when playing chess (or some other board game) online, because you definitely do not want to spend half an hour waiting for some potential opponent to drop in. In this respect, large and popular servers provide much better services, whether they’re free or paid.
The power of the internet will impact one’s chess education on several levels though. Chess websites do much more than just provide a safe and stable platform where opponents can hack away at each-other. They bring the social aspect of the game back into the fold via specialized forums, where public wisdom comes for free, and socialization is right at home, too. Before the internet, many of the people who joined chess clubs did so for the social benefits involved. Those same social benefits are conveyed through community message boards and forums these days. It is kind of scary if one stops to think about the fact that one doesn’t even have to leave the house to become an excellent chess player anymore.
The articles and in-depth analysis on certain aspects of the game come in extremely handy as well, whether the discussion is about the King’s Indian Attack or the Marshall Attack.
Online chess sites, portals and servers play host to a wealth of information about this game, adding to it the benefit of the “wisdom of the crowd”. As soon as it appeared, the internet looked like something that could potentially revolutionize all boards games as well as card-games, and in the case of chess, we can safely state that the transformation has come full circle indeed.

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