There are many things for which you can "hope" when playing chess: for example, you can hope that your opponent doesn't see that your move was a blunder and fails to exploit it; you can hope that your opponent doesn't see your threat and will let ...
Many years ago I wrote a Novice Nook column, "The Fun of Pros and Cons." This column was directed at the many players who play way too fast in long time-control games. The column and its sequel "Chess is Decisions" have proven very helpful as refe...
Yes.* *Speed chess is good for you (meaning it can help your slow chess, too) but doing it "incorrectly" could be harmful. Let's digress... A few years ago our Main Line Chess Club hosted a seminar by WGM Jennifer Shahade. At the end...
The rating system is very accurate. That's obviously good... ...but it's also potentially bad. Humans can't help but be affected by perceptions. When players first start rated play, they are often unaware of ratings, but that all quickly ...
Chess is a thinking game. Thought processes and time management are intertwined and are two of the most important skills. I break down time management into two sub-skills: Macro Time Management: The ability to use almost all of your time eve...
Occasionally I run into players who think that Bobby Fischer "did it all by himself." I.e. he locked himself in his room, studied chess until he was world class, and then burst onto the tournament scene. Uh, no. Every day after school, Bobby w...
In all sports, you play much differently when you are winning easily. In baseball, if you are leading 8-0 in the 8th inning, you would not pull your fresh relief pitcher out of the game to pinch hit and try to get another run. In soccer, if y...
When you see a good move, don't play it. Look for a better one. This is the number-one principle in chess. Over the years, I have also told my students: You are trying to find the best move you can in a reasonable amount of time. I...
There are basically three ways a tactic can occur, both for and against you: The opponent makes a threat for a tactic (or a check or capture), which either can't be met, or can be, but is missed. There is no existing threat of a tactic, bu...
"Is the Fried Liver Attack good to play against players rated 1800-2000?" This was one of the questions in this month's Chess.com TV show "Q&A with Coach Heisman. My answer: "Well, yes, but that's not the problem (and I get a similar question...
"If you had a choice of seeing the future or reading your opponent's mind as they apply to a chess game, which one would you do?" I never had that question before! If I could see the future (not with regards to the game), there are some options ...
"When you start a game, how do you get into the mood of concentrating from move 1?" "If you are in a bad mood, how do you prevent this from negatively affecting your play?" Those are good questions, and they are not completely unrelated. It only...
When Fabiano Caruano was about 12, he and his father Lou, whom I knew casually, approached the TD booth to ask for a bye in one of the Continental Chess Association's big Philadelphia-based open events. I was the fill-in TD and, although I knew h...
"If you had to pick only one legacy to leave to the chess world, what would it be?" Well, I have long given up on any hopes of my campaign to de-emphasize the wonderfully accurate but humanly over-dependent rating system (see Encouraging Tourname...
"I noticed that the pre-registration for the Open section of the Holly Heisman Memorial (HHM) fundraiser chess tournament on Aug 3 (in Wynnewood, PA just outside Philadelphia) has several titled players. I am only in the 1500's. Is there any way I...
Let's attempt to define a good trap: "Setting up an attractive, but faulty, sequence for the opponent that, if followed, would allow a tactic or, at least, a forcing sequence unfavorable for that opponent. However, if the opponent avoids that mov...
In his fun and instructive book Grandmaster Secrets: Openings (recommended for those 1700+), GM Andy Soltis discusses in some detail why it is not necessary good, and often misguided, that average tournament and club players feel it necessary to p...
"I did action X and gained Y rating points so I suggest everyone should do that." This claim came up during the show, raising the question: How helpful it would be for others to follow the suggestion? In order to address this issue, we should sta...
1."If we partition your chess strength (or improvement) into two broad classes, what portion is knowledge (opening moves, endgame positions, tactical positions, principles) vs. abilities/skills (analysis, evaluation, time management, criticality a...
"I am stuck at 1700. Does that make me studid?" "Is there a correlation between chess rating and IQ?" One of the world's leading physicists and expert on string theory is Ed Witten. Ed took up chess for a while and what was his rating? 1700. I d...
Bobby Fischer played 1st board for the US in four chess Olympiads, the final one being Siegen in 1970. In 1972, after beating Spassky, the first major event he skipped (and never played again!) was that summer's Olympiad in Skopje. Fischer also p...
My first wife, Susan Hollis (Holly) Bloom Heisman, passed away of breast cancer in Oct 1994. Among her social work jobs had been working with battered wives and runaway teens. She also did extensive volunteering for the American Cancer Society (I ...
In life, improvement is usually achieved by proceeding along the triangle "->Learn->Practice->Test->". In chess, this is "->Study->Play->Get Feedback->". Leave something out of the loop and you get diminishing returns. Thi...
On the TV show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" the contestant lets it be known that he wants to stick with his answer by stating "Final answer!" Similarly, an over-the-board chess player commits when he intentionally touches a piece (have to move...
"What's the going rate for selling 100 rating points?" Let's start with "It's illegal and I wouldn't do it, and neither should you or anyone else!" Now that we got that out of the way, I can then state "Interesting question! I've never had that o...
