Our Training Regimen

There seems to be some lack of clarity as to what we are doing, so I am going to pass on what we are doing.

This is the summer of being a chess mom. I am going to organize, and initiate the training, even when it sucks for him. We talked about it and agreed before this started, and we both signed up for only the summer. Whether or not he wants to continue with any sort of intensity after the summer is up to him.

He had gone from a 600 player at the beginning of the year, and just before state wanted to get better. His friend in chess class had won a grade championship. Today he just broke 1000. That is pretty darned good. We are hoping to get to 1150-1200 by the end of the summer. I think he can do it.

Currently he spends 4-6 times a week doing a tactics module in PCT. Occasionally we add in some other stuff. A video, a fritz trainer, the opening traps page at chess games. He plays real chess about 3 times a month. And plays me from time to time, and sometimes a few games on playchess on my account. Though I had been playing unrated games, I got accidently rated about 1600 which means it is harder for him to scare up games he can win.

Which brings us to how we play and the last post. As black he tends to always play e5 in response to e4. Not that there is anything wrong with that, and had been playing the two knights all fine and dandy, until state when he ran into the FLA for the first time. This caused me to change the games I played against him. I used to play fairly slow, fairly conservative, knights before bishops kinda openings. Now, I play very fast types of openings, Ng5 in the two knights, and the Evans Gambit. For a couple of reasons. This gets him used to reacting to these kinds of openings, and it plays to his strengths. Up until last week, he started showing some initiative to try some things of his own in reaction to what I had been playing.

This is a good thing! I applaud it wholeheartedly. However, I also think it is important to demonstrate through play if something is truly bad.

The pointer to Damiano's defense was good. It helped me to understand the weaknesses of what he is trying, and it will let me play tougher against him.

It is also interesting from a local cultural standpoint. Where I am from is somewhat of a backwater chess-wise. There was the Sierawan explosion, but that has since petered out. And there has been a movement in the Scholastic area, from a number of different fronts, including having an independent rating service. In Sierawan's time, most gambit systems were passe. He made his way on the power of the English opening and playing based on pawn structures. It was very successful, and shaped how chess is taught and played here locally. And with little other influence, I don't think I have seen a scholastic King's Gambit, but a lot of scholastic Reti openings. Keep that in mind if you are playing in any national tourneys with people from around here.

More Later...