Notes: First Chess Coaching Session

On Wednesday, I had my first chess coaching session with a FIDE Master I found through the Marshall Chess Club.

After about 2.5 years of independent study, I had finally reached the point where I felt I would benefit from coaching. A year ago, I didn't want to pay a coach to hear what I already knew: "study tactics" "learn checkmating patterns" "improve your board vision" - etc. But after playing through a six-round classical swiss tournament (90+30) I felt that I had questions that I needed answering.

Happily, the session exceeded my expectations. My rough notes:

1. Stop Playing "Quirky" Opening Moves - Play More Solid

In some of my recent games, I had played dubious / less then optimal moves - such as the Tennison Gambit in response to the Scandinavian - which, while possibly effective in a blitz or rapid game - are not suitable for a 90+30 game. My opponent is going to have time to work out a solution, and I'll just find myself in a slightly worse position - or losing.

Instead, try to play mainlines and for small advantage - not overly aggressive, over-extending (and poorly thought-out) moves.

Some specific examples, aside from the aforementioned Tennison Gambit, were playing 4. ... Bxc3?! against the English, and 3. ... Bb4?! in the Russian Three Knights.

2. Don't be concerned with "trappy" openings in Classical Games

Conversely, I have lately been overly concerned with losing early against a trappy opening by my opponent. My coach pointed out that in a 90+30 game, this shouldn't be a concern at all. Unlike a rapid or blitz game, you can take 10 or more minutes to work out a defense, and in the end your opponent will just be down material - likely with an inferior position.

In a classical 40/80, SD/30, +30 game (such at at the Eastern Chess Congress), this is even more true. However, in a G50d5 game, you have to move more quickly as those are essentially "fast" time controls.

3. Simplify Whenever Possible

Going over my games, my Coach observed that I missed some opportunities to trade of pieces to a winning endgame.

(Interestingly, he attributed this to my background in Liberal Arts - apparently, STEM majors don't have this issue. Math majors strive to refactor and simplify, like an equation. Humanities majors are looking to create Art).

This seems obvious, but I should really value even a 1-pawn advantage. In my games, when I had opportunities to trade down and consolidate my advantage, I instead made moves looking for an attack or improving piece activity.

4. Tip: How to Protect your King when you can't castle

In one of my games, I had to exchange queens early and - re-capturing with my King - lost the right to castle. It took me far too long to get my king to safety and connect my rooks. My coach recommended this setup:

Kind of a "king in the foxhole" setup. It looks weird, but it's actually much safer than the solution I came up with in the game (Kc1 followed by b3 and Kb2).

5. Play the Budapest Gambit

I expressed frustration on playing against 1. d4 openings. I had been trying to play the Nimzo-Indian, but found it frustrating. It had seemed more aggressive and tactical than playing, for example, Queen's Gambit Declined - but I never enjoyed the ensuing games.

Given my playing style and values, my coach recommended that I try playing the Budapest Gambit instead. I was surprised to receive a recommendation for a Gambit, as I thought they were "unsound" - but it turns out this one is not so bad - and he re-assured me that concerns like that for this opening are a "high level player" problem. For my section (U1400 - U1800) this is a perfectly playable opening - and more importantly, it will give me the sort of game I like - tactical with lots of piece activity.

6. It's Okay to Play the French

Finally, I asked - given everything we had discussed on my playing style - if it was ok to play the French Defense? My reason being: I am usually facing 1. e4, I don't like the sort of games that arise from 1. ... e5 (they can be slow and dull...) and I don't want to play the Sicilian (...yet). But is it ok to play the French? Don't I have to know pawn structures, and other theory?

Again, this is a "high level player" problem. If I want to play the French, and I like the sort of game that results, I should play the French.

We had a brief discussion about the long term plan for playing the Advance French - basically, black should attack on the queenside where there is more space due to the pawn chain orientation.

The next day in a casual slow (no clock) game at Bryant Park, I was able to apply that discussion into a French Advance Variation game where I eventually pushed my a-pawn to a2 and force a queen trade for a winning endgame.

Next Steps

I have a few more classical OTB tournaments coming up. After playing them and hopefully the Eastern Chess Congress in October, I'll have another batch of games to analyze and see if I've been able to apply any of this insight.