The Worst Teacher

Players on this site (and other sites, such as Facebook) make threads asking for help. These requests bring out legions of players, some strong but many weak, who offer terrible advice and a handful of those who offer good advice.

Every such thread will attract some of the same posts from some of the same posters as all the others. Reasonably strong players, more than likely possessing some natural talent (if there is such a thing) will tell you how they got where they are. They frame their autobiographical assertions as advice for what the OP should do. Such advice is rarely useful. Experience may be the best teacher, but my experience more often than not will not help you. Our capacities and best learning modes usually differ. Books and self-education have been my mode of operating since childhood. That’s not gonna work for very many who were born in this century. You’ll learn more from Gotham (even though I will tell you that he will harm you with bad advice).

If you want to improve your chess, there are many ways to do it. What worked for me may or may not work for you. Your best route is to find a teacher with teaching experience who can understand your learning style and design a curriculum that suits you well.

Most posters, however, are seeking free advice and more often than not shortcuts. Good luck with that.

Your writing style in the above post reminds me very much of the Dylan Thomas essay - "A Visit To America" Your chess advice too is very sound methinks.

The main thing I know about Dylan Thomas is that Robert Zimmerman liked his name, and took it.

Sounds like an essay I’ll read soon, now that you’ve mentioned it.

BTW . . . a great line among many great lines by Thomas - "I've come to America in pursuit of my life long quest for naked women in wet macintoshes."

Supposedly his last words, also spoken in America, were " I've just had eighteen straight whiskeys. That must be a record. "

He wrote perhaps the most musical poetry in the English language, and wrote what must surely be its finest villanelle.

"Toying, Oh boy, with a blunderbuss bourbon, and being smoked by a large cigar . . ."

- one of many great lines of prose from "A Visit To America"

What works for one player may not work for another, and finding your own path—guided by thoughtful advice and resources tailored to your needs—is the key to meaningful progress.