Playing Chess: Improve Your Game With Hybrid Chess Playing Sites

Want to improve your chess? Here's an interesting article that might help...

How to improve your chess is a question that many chess players ask. There are many ways to do this. The most difficult is to study chess books. This is a very time consuming process and a chess player really has to be very dedicated to read these types of books as it can be compared to reading a math book. Using a chess computer is another way to improve chess playing strength. Taking lessons can be a good way but it can be very costly. Another good way to improve is by recording all games played and analyze them at a later time. However, you must understand chess notation to do this. Many chess players today are turning to the Internet to improve their chess. Getting results, no matter what you do, will take time and commitment.

Most people, today, play chess online in some form. There are really two ways to play online chess. One way is to play live with another opponent who is online at the same time. The other is to play an opponent who is not online at the same time. There are many sites where you can play chess online live.

However, if you really want to improve your chess the best way is to play on hybrid chess sites that offer a unique solution. Hybrid sites allow players to leave a game and come back to it at a later time without losing the game. This type of chess playing site has many benefits for a chess player that has a very active and busy lifestyle. For example, if you have children it is sometimes difficult to play a full game of chess without being interrupted. If you are playing live chess you must resign your game or lose on time. If you play on a hybrid chess site, where your opponent may or may not be online at the same time, a chess player has more control over how they want to play. For example, a player logs on and has 5 active games. The main benefit is the ability to play many chess games at one time. The chess player makes a move in one game and then moves on to the next game. After making all of their moves they notice that one of their opponents is now online. This gives the chess player an option to continue making moves in that game. They can chat and agree to make a certain number of moves before logging off or agree to finish the game that same day. If a chess player were on a live chess site they would be limited to only playing one game at a time and would have to finish each game in a specified time limit usually between one to two hours. Also, most live sites do not store your past games and are deleted as soon as the game is over.

The hybrid sites like www.chessmaniac.com allow both live and longer time limit games to be played. On most sites like this a chess player's games are saved and can be downloaded for review at a later time. The chess player also has the option to review their games while online. Which can be great as they can review their past games while making moves in other games. Playing chess on a hybrid chess site also allows a chess player to study a game more in depth and to learn openings as they are not rushed by a clock. Chess combinations can also be improved by playing on a hybrid chess site. If you get into a position where you think there is a forced win you can log off and study the game for as long as you need providing you stay within your game time out setting.

There are many ways to improve in chess. Online chess playing offers an easy way to play, study and improve your chess. Hybrid chess sites, by far, allow a chess player the most flexibility to learn and grow their chess abilities.

Dennis Steele is the site admin for www.chessmaniac.com.

*****************
Discover How To Dramatically Improve Your Chess Playing Skills In
As Little As 7 Days, Guaranteed!

...Check out "Chess Success Secrets" today!
*****************

How To Understand Descriptive Notation In Chess Strategy Books

Ever wonder what the difference between "Algebraic Notation" and "Descriptive Notation" is? This article should answer that question for you...

"Notation" is a method in chess strategy books that is used to describe the movement of pieces on the chess board, without needing a visual diagram of the chess board for each move. It greatly increases a chess author's ability to describe a large number of chess games in compact form, leaving more room for game analysis. It also allows the author to concentrate on chess strategies and tactics, rather than requiring hundreds and hundreds of cumbersome diagrams of the chess board for each move.

If you are a chess player, aspiring to improve through strategy books, understanding the two chess notation styles is crucial to your improvement. Most chess strategy books are either written in "Descriptive Notation," or "Algebraic Notation."

Descriptive Notation, in general, was used in older chess books and magazines, although it is possible to run into more current chess literature using this notation style as well. There are a huge number of valuable chess books written in this style. I've posted a visual diagram of a chess board describing descriptive notation on my chess strategies site http://www.chessvictory.com. Scroll to the bottom, and click on the resources link to access the diagram.

In chess literature, the term "rank" refers to the rows of the chess board. "File" refers to the columns. If a chess book talks about the "1st rank" it means the "first row." The "a file" refers to the "a column."

In Descriptive notation, the files are named according to the chess piece on that file in its initial position. For instance, QR means "queen's rook" and KB means "king's rook." The diagram on my website mentioned above also shows how the squares have different names/notations depending on if we're describing the white side or the black side. Each square is also described with a number, describing the rank of the square, for instance, QR7 means the queen's rook file in the 7th rank.

The movement of a piece is described by the name of the piece, then a dash, then the name of the square to which it is moving. For instance, Q-QB8 means that the queen is moving to square QB8. Sometimes the square names are shortened a bit if it is obvious which square is being described. Both "KT" and "N" are used to describe a knight.

Important notes: Check is described with a "+" or "ch". A capture is noted with a "x" followed by the piece being captured. If the game has become complicated and it is unclear which piece is being referred to, the description will sometimes note whether it is the kingside or queenside piece being moved. Instead of R-K7, the clearer description would read QR-K7. P-K7=Q means the pawn moves to K7 and is then promoted to a queen. Castling is noted as O-O or O-O-O.

The best way to become familiar with descriptive notation is to go to my chess tactics and chess strategies site http://www.chessvictory.com, scroll to the bottom, and click on the resources link. On that page I've posted diagrams for the chessboard in descriptive notation, as well as a sample game written in descriptive notation, along with clear diagrams of the chess board so you can easily see which piece is moving.

Chad Kimball is an editor and publisher, publishing chess instruction books and courses on the Internet. He is responsible for bringing an exciting resource to the Internet: "The Grandmaster Strategy Training Library." Click Here to Access This Exciting Chess Resource: http://www.chessvictory.com.

To Your Chess Success,
James

*****************

Discover How To Dramatically Improve Your Chess Playing Skills In
As Little As 7 Days, Guaranteed!

...Check out "Chess Success Secrets" today!

*****************