{"id":161,"date":"2021-05-13T16:08:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-13T16:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sandbox.forwardchess.com\/blog\/?p=161"},"modified":"2021-05-16T14:14:29","modified_gmt":"2021-05-16T14:14:29","slug":"amateur-to-im-proven-ideas-and-training-methods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forwardchess.com\/blog\/amateur-to-im-proven-ideas-and-training-methods\/","title":{"rendered":"Amateur to IM: Proven Ideas and Training Methods"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIn order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame.\u201d<\/em> – Jos\u00e9 Ra\u00fal Capablanca (World Champion 1921-1927)<\/strong><\/p>\n

“For 99% of players, the endgame is the most important phase of the game.” <\/em>– IM Mikhail Shereshevsky<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Our BOOK OF THE WEEK is Amateur to IM: Proven Ideas and Training Methods<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by IM Jonathan Hawkins.\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How did Jonathan Hawkins manage to go from being an average tournament competitor to a player on the brink of clinching the Grandmaster title?<\/p>\n

The secret was knowing what to study and how to learn as efficiently as possible. Focusing his attention firmly on the endgame, Jonathan devised a number of building blocks and identified a number of very important areas of study. The result of his hard work was a meteoric rise through the ranks, as he became firmly established as a prominent GM killer on the English tournament circuit. These pages reveal the secrets of his notebooks for the first time.<\/p>\n

IM Hawkins presents special material aimed to help you become a much better practical player, one armed with a deeper understanding of key aspects of chess. A careful study of the lessons presented in this book should enable the chess student to gain significant improvement.<\/p>\n

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Here is an excerpt from lesson 2.<\/p>\n

LESSON AIMS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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  • > \u00a0Recognize the basic methods by which an endgame can be won.<\/li>\n
  • > \u00a0Understand how to identify the long-term goals\u00a0of\u00a0both sides in a given endgame.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The first question which arises in any position is a general one: “What should\u00a0I\u00a0be doing?”<\/p>\n

    It is, of course, nice to have a grand plan, even\u00a0if its\u00a0realization is distant and move-to-move\u00a0matters\u00a0are more reliant\u00a0on\u00a0smaller, shorter plans (more on this later).<\/p>\n

    Strategy (or the accumulation of strategy) is ultimately either an attack\u00a0on\u00a0some\u00a0aspect\u00a0of the enemy position\u00a0or\u00a0the promotion\u00a0of a\u00a0pawn.\u00a0If\u00a0we reduce this specifically to the endgame we can amend this slightly and\u00a0state\u00a0our two fundamental ideas as:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • > \u00a0Promoting our pawns.<\/li>\n
    • > \u00a0Attacking the enemy structure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      In\u00a0an endgame, the material\u00a0will\u00a0often be too reduced to mount a successful attack on the king, so in most\u00a0cases\u00a0when we discuss objects of attack we are talking about pawns and pawn structures.<\/p>\n

      We\u00a0should also keep in mind the defensive corollaries\u00a0of\u00a0this:<\/p>\n

      >\u00a0Improving our own structure.<\/p>\n

      >\u00a0Blockading passed pawns.<\/p>\n

      We will\u00a0now examine five positions and decide which\u00a0of\u00a0these\u00a0ideas (or both\u00a0\u2014greed is always good in chess!) is appropriate for each. Some\u00a0of\u00a0the positions also occur elsewhere in the book.<\/p>\n

      My\u00a0aim is not to do a rigorous analysis\u00a0of\u00a0games\u00a0or positions (although some of\u00a0the positions\u00a0will\u00a0be subjected to this in later chapters), but rather to draw some logical conclusions and make verbose assessments.<\/p>\n

      Let us begin!<\/p>\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n

      \n