Best Chess programs and helpers and files

[Andrew Jarrett]

On Nov 12, 2007 11:34 AM, Knapp <magick.crow at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hello all, I am trying to help by daughter learn chess.
> What is the best free program out there?
> What is the best web site(s)?
> A place to find openings and also pro games that can be replayed on the home
> system.
>  Anything else helpful.
> Thanks,
> Douglas
>
> PS For all you Igo fans out there. I think qgo is best program. Note that
> pandago does not seem to work with 64 bit computers.

I'm not much of a chess player anymore, but a couple of days ago I was
looking through the games in Adept and found a bunch of chess games.
I installed "Brutal Chess", and it took me about 10 - 20 moves to
checkmate the computer.  It may have been a fluke, though, so I am not
sure if it is a great starting place for your daughter.  Having been a
beginner myself, I found that the best way to get better is to play
actual people (in real life preferably).  There's nothing like the ego
boost of finally beating that guy that has beat you at least 25 times
(especially since he evilly snickered every time he took the queen).
Your daughter would probably be better off joining a chess club,
participating in chess tournaments, playing someone close to her
level, and playing online chess (I know yahoo.com has online chess).
I was never a fan of playing chess on the computer (there's no
"intimidation" factor), but the more she can immerse herself into
playing, the quicker she will see progression.

It is a good idea to know the various kinds of openings and see how a
chess master plays the game.  You can just google for "chess openings"
and find explanations for the various chess opening, but most people
just open with the King's or Queen's Gambit.  The _advanced_ player
knows his enemy and determines which opening will be best to gain a
(slight) upper hand against the opponent.  As for watching already
played games by chess masters (always a great learning experience),
there is actually a firefox plug-in
(https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2171) that allows you
to search for chess masters and watch their game play itself out.

I wish I had more resources for you, but I can give you a couple of
pointers.  A good strategy for playing chess is to control the center
of the board, keep your pieces open so that they are flexible and
aren't trapped, and create systems of defense (where all your pieces
have another piece guarding it).  Also, remember to not develop your
queen too early in the game and that knights are more valuable than
bishops at the end of a game.  Actually, you may find some good
beginner pointers by googling "chess tips".

Anyway, I got carried away, but I hope some of this helps her.
Andrew

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