For the upcoming academic year, Fall 2011, I want to try something different. We have just received new materials for the club: four new chronos clocks, and six chess books. The books are broken down this way: a complete course on opening strategy, 1 book on endgames, and Nimzovich’s My System, which deals mainly with middle and endgame strategy.
It has been my experience that simply playing casual chess, while lots of fun, is not as helpful as studying the game in depth, and for any of those genuinely wishing to improve their game, there really is no substitute for hard work. That’s why the majority of club time will now be spent learning new opening theory, new middlegame and endgame technique, and improving tactics. The last 20-30 minutes of club time will be spent applying the days learning with 2-3 blitz games.
For tactics specifically, there are several good computer programs out there that actually make tactics kind of fun. The best I think is the chess.com mobile app, which is on iphone/ipod/ipad and probably android as well. Also, ideachess.com has unlimited free tactics as well.
Also, UNLV is now certified to hold USCF rated tournaments again, so we will plan to have one, probably next spring.
So tell your friends about the revamped UNLV club and let’s try to build up our membership a little.
The club will start up again this Fall when school starts.
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