June 2017

Play as many games as you can and don’t worry about the result. Chess players like positions they have seen before as familiarity with a position leads to quicker decisions on finding the correct long term plan whilst pattern recognition helps spot tactical opportunities. Learning from books is good but it’s more fun to play and every game played adds to your experience as you soak up knowledge of what works and what doesn’t work at your level of play. Don’t worry about losing or the time limit of the game as all the time you are gaining experience and this will benefit you in the longer term. So take every opportunity you can to play and start reaping the rewards.

Tim Turner