For Premium Members Only...

Hey Guys and Gals,

I know Erik and the staff here have worked really hard (and continue to do so) -- to provide us this amazing (and amazingly practical) premium membership and all for merely a fraction of what it costs for even an hour's time from a professional chess coach.

...And we get an entire year!

Of course, we know the availability of those pro coaches provided here are just one more feature of the many I've yet to fully explore.

Like each of us here, I read a few of the success stories on the membership signup page.

And seeing all those people's whose chess lives improved I have to admit, is pretty freaking exciting!

But, even with reading about the success of others,

it still can't even light a candle to the experience of when you:

-learn new exciting chess knowledge for yourself... and then... you put it to the test against real live action here with people all over the chess-playing world...and then...

 -- You See your own results for yourself, agreed!? 

Well, this is exactly what I'd like to discuss here in this thread with my fellow premium members.

The reason is simple.

When you surround yourself with people who have the same desires, same goals, same aspirations and heck, even same ambitions...

a most unusual thing happens...

You influence them and get influenced by them toward your common goal.

It's not too hard to see how this happens either.

I mean, when you get to mix it up with others who are just as intent on improving their:

*chess understanding

-- chess strength

* chess skills

-- chess knowledge and

* chess rating as you are...

it can only help you get better...

And get better faster!

Right?

Supposedly each one of us each earns the average income of the five people we spend the most time with in our personal lives.

I don't think it's such a stretch to see how hanging out with people who are stronger chess players than me for a good period of time will help me improve even more than I otherwise would without the motivation.

And I believe it's the same for you and each one of us.

So, with all the "why", "what", "who" , "what if" and "how to" out of the way...

let's get this ball rolling and let this thread become a valuable resource for each of us and future premium members.

How?

Your participation is encouraged.

I'd like for each of us to just share at least one way the membership has helped you improve your chess.

It doesn't have to be one certain area like rating or endgame or opening or tactics...it can be anything.

I'll throw my hat into the ring here and share some here now:

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My father taught me how the pieces moved when I was about seven years old.

We played a few games and I remember vowing one day to be as good as him.

I think he let me win a few times and my confidence grew.

As I grew older, I noticed girls, partied, played sports and focused on career, business, creating wealth and who knows what other kinds of distractions that without me noticing, had pulled me away from the sport.

But, I still remember playing every now and then with friends or acquaintances at the coffee shop.

My father always kept a set around too and we used it to bond when I was in my twenties.

I knew the fool's mate, scholar's mate and parham openings with a few trap variations, but that was pretty much the extent of it...

just winging it and tactics.

It wasn't until I met the guys who played at the coffee shop where this girl I was dating at the time worked... 

that I saw the sharp contrast between novice, intermediate and advanced levels of chess strength.

It made an impact on me.

I almost viewed these guys as geniuses, magicians, gurus and specialized tacticians.

And they were!

One guy, had this chess set where he wrote on the d8 square "____'s victory square".

It was no joke!

Every time I played him, the last piece he'd moved invariably landed on that square with my king in checkmate.

This guy, needless to say, was held in very high esteem with an almost reverential awe and respect for his mastery of the sport.

It was a whole new level and I never dreamed I could get there too one day.

That is, until I found Chess.com and the diamond membership!

Now, I'm excited to learn and grow and hope my plan to stay here for the long haul is one I'll live to realize.

After just my first month as a member, I've learned endgame positions, strategies, opening theory and tactics galore.

Before I sprung for the membership, 

I was just playing without any concept of study or even knowing what to study or how to begin.

Long story short, (and yes this is only scratching the surface)

Just a couple of weeks ago, my live chess rating went up to 1709.

That's not an expert by any means and after a few tournament losses it's dropped over a hundred thirty points or so,but I'm confident it will rise back up and even higher in the near future.

More importantly, I know I have virtually unlimited resources as a premium diamond member to help me continue to improve and that the rating will take care of itself as it follows my increase in understanding, knowledge and chess strength.

I watched the videos and have done about 5 hours of tactics training along with picking up a few recommended books.

To put this in perspective...

before I became a member, I hadn't played the turn-based games yet and only blitz and bullet.

My ratings on there were like 1100.

So from around 1100 to over 1700 in just my first month shocked me!

I definitely see the value and am excited to continue to learn and grow.

Am I alone in this excitement about the possibilities afforded to us here as premium members? Of course I'm not.

So let me and the rest of the premium members here hear your story!...

Post below at least just one way how your premium membership has helped your chess strength grow...

I'm excited to see what others are doing with the resources here and

feel certain those who participate here will help motivate other members to new heights once beyond our wildest imaginations if we continue to motivate and hold each other accountable for improving our chess, don't you?

Okay, let's get it going!...

Your turn...post here below now...

******For the most motivating and inspirational success story, after 30 days or ten pages, whichever happens first, as voted on by the other members, I will pay for your next month's membership access. Who knows, it could be you!?

*Disclaimer: Just to make it ridiculously clear...I am an individual diamond member of Chess.com who paid to become one. I'm not speaking on behalf of Chess.com and have received no monetary compensation from Chess.com These views are expressly owned by me and assigns and any/all gifts of Diamond Membership to Chess.com for the period to be no less than one month or 30 days will be paid for solely by me and/or my assigns. Good luck!

Okay, good stuff. So far, Shadowknight's in the lead with his post on how the unlimited chess tactics, chess mentor and videos has kept him sharp using the tools. Thanks for participating and sharing with the rest of us. Much appreciated and I definitely see how that's true!

When one arrives at Chess.com words such as "bordome, nothing to do, or I'm not learning..." just show the type of individual's passion for the game and to achieve greater heights.

Seriously, where else could somebody go, to engage in friends, work on chess tactics and chess mentor (and please...these are not easy!) but as for me it's the videos and sheer effiency of the progress available at Chess.com Just one more issue: I have learned that an opponents rating doesn't make the player he/she is. It hurts indeed when I lose 30 to 40 points off my rating for a heinous loss; however, I've only myself to blame for not paying attention or making blunders. Cheers everyone!

I don't have any inspirational stories. Well, not ones that are inspirational to me anyway.

I'd like to hear about how a total beginner used this site to learn chess from scratch. That's what I would vote for. For the record if I did win I would donate the month's membership award to someone who needed it more. I am serious.

I don't want any votes. Please vote for someone who started from scratch. Or if there is anyone here who is blind or limited in some other physical way who found chess here - that would be inspirational as well.

Okay! So now we also have One More Cup (is that coffee, I presume?) in the running with the "Sheer Efficiency of the Progress" available at Chess.com and the videos.

You make another valid point about how the rating is a measure of how we do as chess players and not necessarily due to our opponents' prowess.

Thanks for participating and sharing your insight and what you find most valuable.

Linux Blue 1 now posits the possibility of a total beginner from scratch becomes a polished chess pro thanks to the tools here at Chess.com

You also remind us of the "gift membership" feature option Eric has provided us here. Good stuff. Thanks for participating...

Let's keep 'em rollin'! 

"Long story short,"

...a bit late for that I'm afraid.

Don't be afraid...you're Batgirl. 

And thanks for participating, sharing your experience, etc.

That's what community is all about, but even superheroes among us must share how your membership has helped you improve your chess in order to be eligible for the free month of diamond.

I wonder if a premium membership ever taught someone how to use paragraphs.

I'll bite....I think it depends on your experience and rating when you arrived.

The Premium Member features HAVE helped me a GREAT DEAL. Although Chess.com is not my only source of learning (I don't frequent too many other sites, but I have been reading 3 other books off and on to supplement my learning).

I came to Chess.com as a < 1000 rated player.  And in a short period of time with the tactics trainer, videos, and a small amount of use of the Chess Mentor, I was able to fight my way into the 1200 range.

Since them...I increased my use of the Chess Mentor a LOT (and even worked out a system that forces me to learn the material before moving on and counting courses as complete), more use of the TT, heavily reading two Silman books (The Amateur's Mind, and End Game), and...getting lucky enough to find a high rated player willing to "coach" me with Takeback games at no charge...and I've worked my way up into the low 1400's, although enough of my games are wins via timeouts that in reality I am probably a 1300-1350-ish player when I'm really focused.

I have two favorite parts of Chess.com...the Chess Mentor (and my strange system to get the most out of it), and the simplicity of the Online Game system and the analysis board.

Bottom line for me is that I originally paid for a Premium Membership to get the unlimited tactics and videos, and have found it to be much more valuable than just that.

That's a different premium membership altogether...a copywriting membership where you can learn how to increase readership, readability and response.  

It's counter-intuitive when you learn it though, because much of what works in advertising and marketing is in direct opposition to what you learned in university. That's why it's easier to train copywriters who don't have much education or experience in academia's world so they also don't have as many rules to unlearn.

You should challenge Batgirl to a game.

Okay, that's a good one. Ensure you always have enough access to tactics training. 

+1. Same here. Thanks for sharing your personal experience. Another good contribution. 

Are you planning to seek such a membership in the future, too, then?

This isn't relevant to the thread discussion, but I actually created the product based on my market tested and proven successful results in response to demand from my copywriting clients and students. If you were sincerely requesting help in this area I could send you some material with more information, but let's stick to the thread topic here.

If you'd like to share how a premium membership here has helped you improve your chess or read other members' success stories, please feel encouraged to do so as it's the purpose of this thread.

And about your comment on formatting...forget about it, -- it's a common misconception for those who haven't been introduced to the concept or instructed professionally.

I'd also at this time like to thank those who have intelligently and constructively participated in the discussion according to my intention as clearly set forth in the original post. You are a credit to this community.

I also hereby request future posts and those posting them to follow the examples of the courteous members who participated in this discussion by staying on topic...sharing how this premium membership has helped improve their chess.

And as politely as I know how , let it be made abundantly clear to those who think they are clever with sarcasm or otherwise attempting to insult me or my content here...you are most definitely revealing yourself to be something...but clever isn't even in the same ballpark.

Learning, you are an inspiration to us all! Will think about a decent and courteous contribution.

If your dubious tall tale were true, you'd be able to demonstrate some actually genuine skill in your subject matter. Like, for instance, not writing a five page rambling spiel, without a single paragraph, not using bullet point lists with only one bullet, and not displaying a chronic inability to keep even single sentences free of newline characters. Or, perhaps, not offering a month of premium membership to people who can tell you why they're already enjoying their premium membership.

Let's see...cheesy avatar with you wearing a suit...offer to pay one lucky winner the princely sum of $8.25 in return for personal information and marketing ideas from a large population...insistence, without prompting, on presenting yourself as a "copywriter" on multiple occasions....so, are you trying to sell something, or is this your way of angling for a job?

Seriously, if your original post is a representative example of what the recent course you took taught you, you ought to ask for your money back. I expect only a handful of people actually made it to the end of your post because of the awful way in which you presented it, despite your odd insistence that you're being "professional". A thread on whether chess and knickers are related got more responses than this in a few minutes, there's a marketing lesson for you in there somewhere.

YDG: you managed to capture perfectly, in a concise and literate fashion, the very same first impression I had when I stumbled across this thread. Thanks for that!

oh dear...do you know what, I'll accept Learningthemoves thread at face value and ignore the conpiracy theories from others for a second...

I stumbled upon Chess.com approaching a year ago when I had nothing better to do one afternoon. I used to play chess at school over 30 years ago at the weekly lunchtime chess club and very rarely played since then.

Having played Live chess for a number of months and, being an accoutant, loved the stats options available to  premium members (sad, I know)  and decided to subscribe to pay my way.

Since becoming a premium member I discovered On-Line tournaments which have now completely replaced the Live game. Again, I love the league tables and the opportunity to get to know players more closely than the fleating encounters of Live games.

As far as learning is concerned, I get very bored very quickly when trying to follow agebraic notation as a teaching source, but found the repetitive scenarios of the chess.com training videos really helped me digest tactics and strategy at a pace I wanted/needed. Frankly I don't spend enough time learning because i love playing so much, but when I do, the training videos is the one for me.

I can't remember what I did with my time before playing so much chess on-line, but I know i enjoy it and have so much more to learn. Also, the time I spend with my sons teaching them is total quality time in so many ways.

@learningthemoves Not that I'd be expecting the vote for my contribution and frankly would prefer if you donated it to charity, but I love to see people with passion and enthusiasm, of which you clearly have in abundance.

YDG, you are dead wrong on every count. As I already told you, I created this thread to discuss how the premium membership has improved your chess for the purpose of motivation.

That's it.

You are the one who commented on formatting, paragraphs and pretty much every other topic completely unrelated to the topic of discussion.

I've already told you this thread discussion is intended to be strictly limited to the discussion of the topic at hand.

It's only when you chose to derail the discussion with your unsolicited feedback on the formatting and then made false statements that I corrected you.

I won't be asking you for any marketing lessons or formatting advice.

As I said, I am the one who has successfully written copy professionally and have helped others to do the same.

Again, you're so completely off base I wonder what your motive is.

The fact is, my clients have been pleased with my copy successfully selling their products and services. They are satisfied and know what I have provided them works.

This has nothing to do with the topic of this discussion as I have grown weary with asking you to stick to the topic...your own personal chess improvement as relates to this premium membership.

So you either have something to contribute on the topic to the discussion or you don't. So far, you don't or haven't been able to free yourself from your self-appointed position as forum formatting monitor long enough to contribute something.

Only attacks. Blatantly false, I might add. 

And as previously stated, I don't care what you think of how I wrote my forum post, so you're barking up the wrong tree wasting time with your unsolicited forum writing feedback. If you're trying to get a job as a forum post editor, that's not the way to go about it.

That's never been the topic of this discussion, which I will remind you again, is to share your own personal story of how the premium membership has helped you to improve your chess for fellow members to read and enjoy some motivation.

Most of the others who have posted had no inability to understand what the topic is.

I'm confident if you exercise enough self-control you could do the same. So your blatant refusal to share anything related to chess improvement from the membership says all we need to know about how to value your unsolicited and untrue input.

You're either proactively contributing something of value to the topic of sharing your own personal experience with the premium membership and chess improvement as a positive addition to the discussion or you're not.

When you choose to attack me, make false accusations, imply I haven't done what I said I've done, slander my name, reputation "If it's true, etc.", insult my avatar and hurl insults about my suit...

It's obvious you're either a troll or have just chosen to troll me because you didn't like the way I've written something or you don't like the fact that the truth doesn't match what your pre-conceived ideas of what a professional copywriter should look like, dress, discuss chess in a chess forum or apparently anything.

Anyone can try to insult someone or try to find fault with someone's avatar, occupation, formatting, etc. It doesn't take anything but a small mind and negative attitude to accomplish that does it?

What will take some self-control and an intelligent approach to this discussion is to focus on the topic at hand...

contribute your personal story of chess improvement due to your premium membership.

Thank you so much for taking the time to share your personal success story Wbilfc! It's wonderful. 

You are exactly right on about the tournaments. Those are fun and of course, as members, we can play them without limits.

That's a great benefit and I can see many who would probably consider unlimited tournaments alone worth the few bucks for membership.

I might be one of them.

Of course, I also share your appreciation for the videos for the same reasons.

Highly instructive and perhaps more importantly, allows you to go at your own pace on your own time.

Thanks also for accepting the discussion at face value, because it is what it is! 

I just wanted to hear from other members how membership has helped their chess improve and interact with others of like mind.

It is good to see others who share the same sentiment and don't mind sharing their own personal experiences with it in discussion. 

You're certainly in the running for the free extra month up for grabs, so thanks again.