General Questions

• How do I learn the basics of the game

  • Most people learn the moves and rules from a more experienced player nowadays you can also learn chess online. Youtubers such as GothamChess provide beginners’ courses, many of which are free, and there are educational guides on chess sites such as Chess.com and ChessKids.

• Are there special rules I have to know about

  • In addition to the basic moves of the pieces you have to know about the en passant rule and castling. Check these out on a video before you start playing, they are necessary in all games.

  • If a position is repeated three times the game becomes a draw. The three times do not have to be in sequence.

  • If the game goes 50 moves without a pawn move or any capture/exchange then the game is a draw.

  • There are additional rules about how you behave in face to face play, which you will get to know over time.

• What are the rating levels

  • Ratings are relative and vary from one platform to another, online ratings tend to be a little higher numerically.
    An ECF or FIDE rating of 2000 or above is expert, 2400 is Master level and 2500 Grandmaster. The best grandmasters can get up to the high 2700s.
    Club players tend to be in the range 1400 – 2000, but there are plenty below 1400 and in top divisions of a local league there will be a few players above 2000. In London the strength of the top division is very much higher.

• What chess equipment should I have

  • You will find it useful to have your own set and board to use at home. A full sized Staunton set is recommended as the pieces are easily recognisable and will be of the same type that are used in chess clubs and tournaments. Small sets are easy to transport but can be fiddly and the pieces may be hard to see so you may find it better to use an app on a tablet when travelling.

  • Chess clocks range in cost between about £30 and £60 – the DGT series is the tournament standard. Most clocks nowadays allow for increments, which are used in almost all chess competitions. For casual play you can make do with a phone app instead of a dedicated clock.

  • If you play in matches the equipment and scoresheets will be provided and all you will need to bring is a pen to record the moves.

• What are the values of the pieces

  • The values are measured in pawns. As a rough guide, a bishop or knight is worth 3, a rook 5 and a queen 9. For more expert players the values may vary according to the position. When one player has both his bishops and the opponent has, say a bishop and a knight, the bishop pair is often more valuable.

  • A king becomes a valuable piece later in the game and can often be considered to be worth about 4, though of course it cannot be exchanged for other pieces.

Training

• Should I play blitz or concentrate on slower games

  • Many players like the buzz from blitz games, and it is an enjoyable way to play chess. From the point of training: slower games, puzzles and endgames are better, and you should take your time and check your games and puzzle solutions very carefully. So try and get a good mix of chess activities and watch your rating go up.

• How should I train to improve

  • Capablanca said you should learn chess from the endgame backwards. Study a lot of simple positions, this will help to build a foundation for your chess knowledge.

  • Regular puzzles, either online or from a book, will help you find clever tactics in your games. Fewer is better, a couple a day is fine. Always spend plenty of time on them and check carefully if you get them wrong, using an engine to confirm the lines once you have inspected them as deeply as you can.

  • Study the games of the masters, particularly where they are explained by an author or online commentator who suits your level of play.

  • When you play games try to find an opponent with a slightly higher rating than yourself, this will help lift you up to their level.

• Should I have chess lessons

  • There are many roads to chess improvement. In the past most people studied on their own or with a friend. Now a lot of people also train and study online and some get coaching from experienced players or academies.

  • If you can afford to have a coach they will study your games and show you ideas, and will go through games of more advanced players to build up your knowledge of the underlying structure of the game. They will also give you recommendations on where to play matches and how to train.

  • You will not be able to rely on coaching alone to improve to expert level, just as in a sport such as tennis, it all depends on how much work you do throughout the week to build up those chess muscles. Chess is a complicated game which rewards people who carry out a variety of training activities.

• How much time should I spend studying the game

  • Russian grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi said in Chess Is My Life that he spent 40-60 hours a week on chess, plus time spent playing matches. This would be a bit excessive for anyone who is not a professional. An expert player with time to spare may spend up to ten hours a weeks on study, working people often just play their matches and wish they had more time. A good balance would be to take about an hour to review each game you play, and spend an hour whenever available doing online puzzles, chess videos, or the traditional method of reading chess books.

  • As with most activities, setting aside time in blocks and dedicating it to chess study will have far better rewards than fitting in a few minutes in the middle of a crowded schedule.

• What is the best age to start learning chess

  • There is a wide variation. Most people learn chess as children and gradually build up experience at the game. Some do not learn until they are adults and with a decent amount of study catch up after a few years. A few adults do not learn chess until middle age and can still learn to become strong players.

Joining a club

• What is the Bristol League?        

  • The Bristol League consists of 17 clubs who play each other in classical games on weekday evenings. Matches consist of team of 6 players (or 4 players in the lower divisions) and run from 7.30 to 10.30 pm.

  • The season runs from September to the end of April and at in May there is an annual meeting where trophies are awarded. Teams then get promoted or relegated in preparation for the following season.
    
    New teams can join over the summer and start playing matches in September, or they can also join the bottom division in January with a four player team, as long as they enter before fixtures are calculated in November.

• How do I select a club

  • Most people go for the club that is close to them, a map is shown on the Clubs page. Some clubs have junior sections, these are listed on the Junior page. A few clubs also have active club evenings where you can play friendly games or join in a club championship.

  • You can go along to a club for a trial evening without any commitment, you are only bound to that club for the current season once you have played a match for them in the League.

• How much does it cost

  • Typically the membership fee for clubs is between £50 and £100 for a year, which is low compared to similar games and sports, and much less than playing in tournaments. You will also have to become a member of the ECF which currently costs £21 a year.

• Do I need to be a member of a club to play in tournaments

  • No. Unaffiliated players can take part in tournaments. There is a minority of players who only play tournament chess, you will find that most play for a club as well.

• Do I have to become a member of the ECF

  • Yes, you have to take out Bronze membership (currently £21 a year) if you play four or more League matches, and Gold membership (£37) to play in tournaments.

Playing online

• Is online chess better

  • Online chess is a lot different from face to face play. Mostly it is quicker and more casual. Most players practice a mix of the two formats.

  • Online resources are a great addition to the chess toolkit, particularly if you go through games carefully and make use of the puzzles, endgames and training features which online sites produce. This can greatly improve your chess skill.

  • You can also use online analysis tools to go through your face to face games. So the online world offers a lot of valuable resources, while face to face offers the chance for deeper games in a more competitive setting.

• What time limits should I play

  • Coaches usually recommend slower games to develop deeper insights into chess. You will probably want to play some faster games for entertainment, a lot of people can cope with ultra-fast time limits but other prefer relatively slower games such as 5+3, 10+5 or even 25+5. (The times are quoted in minutes plus seconds, e.g. 5+3 starts with 5 minutes each and you get 3 seconds extra each time you make a move.)

  • The best policy is to try various time limits and work out which best suit your particular style, and see whether you are getting good results or losing a lot of games because it is too fast.

• How do I use online chess for study

  • You can study engames, tactics and openings on major chess playing sites and also on study sites such as Chess Tempo.

  • YouTube has a great number of chess resources, including some popular influencers, who may be grandmasters in their own right.

  • A list of online resources is shown on the Links page.

Tournaments

• When should I start playing in tournaments?

  • It is a good idea to have some experience of full length classical games, but you could just play in tournaments right from the start. For most people one tournament during the first year of playing League matches is a good start.

  • There are tournaments in the Bristol area, including the League Congress which is a full length weekend tournament, which is a good start for local players as it does not involve hotel bills.

• How many tournaments should I play in a year?

  • Many people play one tournament a year, you can play two or three and still stay local. If you are happy to go further afield five or six tournaments a year should satisfy the strongest chess appetites, more than that and there starts to be a risk of overplaying.

• Which section should I play in?

  • Tournaments normally have three or four sections, for most players the lowest or second lowest is suitable for first time out. If you wish to improve it is better to play in a higher section rather than trying to win a lower one. You could also try alternating with stronger and weaker sections as it is a good idea sometimes to play in sections where you will be trying to come first.

• How much does it cost?

  • Typically tournament entry fees will be about £40 for a weekender, less for a one day rapid. This compares very well to games like Scrabble and Bridge where entry fees are much higher.

  • If you are going away for a tournament you will have to consider hotel bills, travel and eating out.

  • If the tournament is in a hotel you may get a discount rate for staying at the venue. This makes things much easier as you will have everything in the same place. Bear in mind that you will not be allowed to go to your room while your game is in progress.