Volume 40 , Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2013 before the first round which caused a massive delay in the tournament . Although the rush happens at every tournament , it could have been lessened by at least 10 registrants the night before .
A recent event , in Manitou Springs , caused Anthea Carson to play her son Isaac Martinez . I am of the mindset that family members should not have to play against each other in tournaments unless they are both vying for prizes . SwissSys and other tournament directing programs have a simple way to enter players as a team , which means they won ’ t have to play against each other unless certain conditions are met . My typical set-up is they don ’ t have to play each other unless they are both leading the pack by one point . With so many chess playing families in Colorado ( Herman , Carson , Doykos , Alter , Langseth , etc …) it makes sense to make this a policy at your tournaments .
If tournaments in Colorado can step up their game to be more conducive to producing competition , attracting outside talent , and being more customer service oriented , everyone will benefit . I hope this article will at the very least spark a discussion .
I think it is important to say here that I do not intend to offend anyone with this article . I tend to say things in a short , abrasive way . These are merely observations and suggestions on how to improve tournaments . Please send me an email ( garrensilverwing @ yahoo . com ) or give me a call ( 720-383-0477 ) if you want to discuss anything I talked about here but please know I do not intend to use any of this as a personal attack against anyone . k
A
few weeks ago , I received the book
“ Tactics Time ” by Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson and started reading it .
I am a bond market investor , and that job takes up a lot of my time . My two sons recently started playing chess and are trying to get better at it . I also happen to be a chess grandmaster . It is this last fact that complicates things the most when it comes to teaching chess to my kids .
My sons are not too eager to pick up and read chess books , since they think they already have an all-knowing resource at home who can answer all questions at any moment ( and teach them all they need to know about the Sicilian Defense ). But it is one thing to be a grandmaster and quite another to be an effective teacher .
I don ' t remember a time when I was a beginner . The first chess book I remember reading was “ My System ” by Nimzovich . But teaching “ overprotection ” and “ mysterious Rook moves ” might not be ideal for someone who still stumbles over pins and discovered checks .
“ Tactics Time ” to the rescue !
“ Tactics Time ” is a collection of positions that occurred in real-life games between amateur players . For each position , the book asks you to find a simple tactical solution . It can be a back-rank mate , a knight fork , a double check , or simply a capture of a piece . The point is to learn to
www . colorado-chess . com see the solution quickly ( although sometimes it requires seeing two or three moves ahead ). There are 1001 problems , and you should be able to do 25-50 of them in one sitting . After you ' ve finished all the problems , you can still benefit from revisiting the positions you may have forgotten .
These problems are not contrived - they are the types of tactics likely to occur in a real game . Tactics such as these are really at the heart of chess . If you can solve these problems quickly , you are on your way to becoming an expert - or better .
So I went over some of these problems with my kids , helping them solve the ones that were a little harder than others . They wanted to do more ! I think the problems gave them a sense of accomplishment that kept them coming back , but they were also relevant ; these problems reminded them of situations they would face in real chess games .
I recommend this book to anyone below 1500 , although players above that level will find some positions challenging - even I found a few interesting . Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson made sure to include diverse positions ; you will find opening checkmates and pawn endings . They put a lot of good effort into this book , and the reader will be most rewarded .
I first met Tim and Anthea while giving a simultaneous exhibition in Colorado in 2011 . They are active and well known in the thriving Colorado chess community - a community where I grew up in the 1980s - and they are serious students of the game .
I may have a few quibbles with some of the examples : some positions have more than one solution , and at times some variations are left out - but , as a grandmaster , I will find fault with any book . I recommend this book as a useful supplement for chess study , not as an exclusive educational text .
If you ' d like to learn to see one- and twomove tactics more clearly , such that they become second nature to you , “ Tactics Time ” by Tim Brennan and Anthea Carson is for you .
GM Alex Fishbein December 23 , 2012
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