Pawn Promotion

222 Pages·017.284 MB·English

by  Igor Smirnov

A Promoted Pawn:
My Chess Journey

A Promoted Pawn:
My Chess Journey
GM Igor Smirnov
Remote Chess Academy
http://chess-teacher.com
Copyright © 2015 Remote Chess Academy
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or
used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the
author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Igor Smirnov is a chess Grandmaster, coach, and holder of a
Master’s degree in psychology. He’s the founder of the “Remote
Chess Academy” company that has helped thousands of students
worldwide to improve their results.
GM Smirnov has developed lots of chess video lessons, books,
articles, webinars, and training courses, including the famous
courses “The Grandmaster’s Secrets”, “The Grandmaster’s
Positional Understanding”, and “Calculate Till Mate”.
You may follow GM Smirnov on his blog and social media
web-pages:

Contents
Introduction ix
1. The First Lessons 1
2. Inconsistent Results 5
3. The Art of Attack 9
4. Is Chess for Everyone? – The Weakness Trap 21
5. How I Abandoned Chess 25
6. Time Troubles 29
7. Time Troubles: Aid from the Soviet Chess School 39
8. The Easiest Way to Become a Titled Player 43
9. My Favorite Book and The Art of Limitation 47
10. Stuck In Progress 59
11. Typical Genius: Anti-blunder Technique 63
12. Why Information Does Not Help 71
13. The System of Chess Understanding 75
14. That Nice Local Chess Club 79
15. How to Beat Strong Opponents? 83
16. The Art of Planning 97
17. How I Became a Chess Coach 109
18. How to Find a Good Chess Coach? 115
vviiiiii A Promoted Pawn - My Chess Journey
19. Preparation and Performing 121
20. Lessons from Garry Kasparov 123
21. Effective Training 129
22. The Secret of Chinese Chess Success 135
23. Chess Players 139
24. How to Become a Chess Prodigy 145
25. How to Make Good Use of Your Computer 153
26. Evolutionary Change 163
27. Physical Preparation 169
28. Powerful Opening Preparation 173
29. The Art of the Endgame 179
30. What have you got from Chess? 189
31. Personal Development 193
32. Conclusion: The Key Factors for Success in Chess 199
Useful Resources 205
Gratitude 207
Introduction
hat does it take to become a strong chess player? Many
W
people think that if they put their mind and effort into
training, they can work their chess strength up to the level of
expert. Shouldn’t it make sense that the more one involves oneself
in intensive training, the stronger one’s chess strength will be?
I know many players who have studied endless quantities of chess
books, tutorials and videos. These players have literally spent
decades of their lives learning the game of chess. They are some of
the hardest-working people I know and yet they have NO chess
titles. Some of these lifelong learners haven’t even achieved an
1800 rating. How can this be? Simply put, intensive training by
itself is NOT enough to become a strong chess player.
There is an old Chinese proverb that says, “If you want to know the
road ahead, ask those coming back”. This exact idea is the reason I
have decided to write this book. My own chess journey spans over
20 years. I have played at both amateur and professional levels. I’ve
won tournaments and I’ve lost them. I’ve attained all the titles up
to and including Grandmaster. I have coached chess professionally
and founded a successful chess academy. I have had the privilege
of working with thousands of different students from across the
world at all playing levels. I have been down the road chess students
aspire to travel. I know what works to bring good results and what
does not.