And I actually don't care about the rating, since it probably is not accurate anyway. What matters to me more is the fact that it times me, so I can solve under time pressure, which I don't get from books.
I sure do like the chess tactics trainer:
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I just went through the chess mentor demo. They said I'd get 10 free lessons, but I think they gave me 25. They got pretty challenging towards the end, but very informative feedback to each of my moves. I was rated 1700, even though my current rating is 1400.
Since it teaches positional chess, and there are tons of tactics books already out there but few intermediate positional chess books, the chess mentor is a high value. It is only offered to diamond members, though, but I guess they need to give us an incentive to go diamond instead of gold.
I just bought 15 chess books, 4 of which cover most of what I need for now, so I'll probably wait a bit longer before up grading. I am tempted to upgrade to gold though just so I can get easy game analysis without having to type moves into a different program. I heard the analyzer is far from perfect, but I'm sure it would point out many things I missed or would not think of.
As a beginner in chess who has loved the game my whole life, my grandfather taught me, and he was a wisconsin state champion for 5 years, what books would you recommend I start with? Preferably available on Amazon, thanks!
~Jonathan
Chess mentor saved my life, before chess mentor my legs were falling off and were flapping around everywhere. It took chess mentor to show me the way. My legs are now no longer flying off, they have restructured themselves in way that benefits me and all the people around me. THANKS CHESS.COM; you've really exceeded any and all expectations I had about you and I shall be forever grateful.
-James
I like how it times me and estimates a rating based on how long it takes me to solve it. I also like how it tells me right away if the first move is right. Normally I solve to the end when reading books, but during speed chess I just use my gut feeling from pattern recognition. I like guessing and getting instant feedback to test my gut feelings. I'm still considering upgrading, though I do have many books at home to read.
Does this site also have a positional trainer? I think I saw it has an endgame trainer. It is one thing to know how to solve endgames, and another thing to play accurately under time pressure, and to do exchanges correctly in the late middle game so that you get a winnable endgame.