Besides the tactics trainer, the computer workout is a gold mine.
The videos are still good ... I'd pause and jot down my own notes based on what they're saying.
Advice for the old-fashioned?
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- I still prefer descriptive notation (P-K4, N-KB3) rather than the standard notation in use now (e4 Nf3).
- I still prefer to set up an actual board and pieces to visualize positions and games when studying from books, and not the Analysis Board and Editor feature here.
- I prefer to read books about chess rather than to watch the videos here, which present the information too quickly, without giving me enough time to think about what's going on.
- I don't use a chess engine and rarely play against a computer"
Yeah, me too. This is how I use chess.com: play CC, do TT, make poor attempts at being funny in the forums. I've found that just playing against stronger opposition is a great training tool!
Good luck.
Practice makes perfect. That's something that a chess site can offer that you can't find in real life: somebody will always play against you. And you can play with time limits ranging from blitz chess to correspondence chess, so you can immerse your thoughts intensively into a single game or take the time to think for days about a single move to get it just right.
So while you're taking advantage of the site's non-playing features like the tactics trainer and puzzles, remember to just keep playing! You don't become a doctor just by studying anatomy, so you can't become good at chess just by studying theory.
There's tons of great chess books available in descriptive notation. I think studying annotated master games gives you the best return for your time (make sure you play too of course). Fortunately you have a ton of authors to choose from in descriptive notation. Check out books by Alekhine, Euwe, Bronstein, Lasker, Marshall, etc etc.
Since you are an MD with likely limited time, I strongly recommend you do problem-solving since it is more effective anyway, and allows you to still practice valuable educational exercises even with only 5 minutes a day. Also, even though you say you still prefer books, the fact that you like Tactics Trainer shows that you may have picked up on some of the efficiencies of training with a computer (where positions are already set up and you don't have to waste time doing this exercise at the cost of exposing yourself to 3-4x fewer patterns).
1. Checkmate problems: books --> Laszlo Polgar's "5334" book; software --> Convekta's Elementary Checkmates I & II, Convekta's Attack on the King I & II, How to Win Miniatures, and Mate Studies. Do all the mate-in-1 problems first, then all of the mate-in-2's, then mate-in-3's and 4's, etc. No more than 1 minute per problem, do not repeat any problem even if you got it wrong.
2. Tactics trainer: Ignore timer on bottom, 1 minute per problem, view solution, then next problem.
3. Chessimo (software program) for endgames and strategy training: Although not perfect, I feel it is head and shoulders above any other resource for interactive training in strategy and endgames for us lower-level players with less time to devote daily to chess. This is simply because it teaches these with problem-solving, so the material is divided into doable increments...even if you have only a few minutes, you can still solve 1-3 problems.
4. Play at your own leisure. You don't need a chess engine or to play against a computer. In fact, be wary of spending your study time "analyzing" your "mistakes", especially if your mistakes are "I overlooked that 2-move combo" or "I missed my opponent's mate-in-3"...those are simply pattern-recognition or calculational errors and those can be addressed by battering through thousands of problems. Game analysis at our level is essentially an inefficient trial-and error-form of learning basic tactical motifs and 2-3-move calculation.
With the above, you can always do at least 2-3 problems a day in 5 minutes or less and maintain some degree of "forward progress" in chess, even with your very busy schedule. And if you can maintain 45 minutes per day, more power to you. Now if I can just practice what I preach.
Most valuable advices suggested by honorable members in response to your post which have almost cover your queries.
I think to improve yourself you must play..... play..... and play chess against a better/higher rated player so as to improve your game and without getting afraid of losing the game. To start with Correspondence Chess (1-3 days time control) and analyse every possible line/varation minimum of upto 3-4 moves ahead. By doing so you would definitely see improvement in your own game within a very short time.
But your main emphasis should be to play good chess and do not try only to win/draw the game. Try to experiment of new lines/variations and don't afraid of losing the game at all. You can also get help of various tools available at Chess.com as advised by other members.
So my friend good luck........... Play, play and play serious chess with love to the game and avaoid Rapid chess unless and until you feel confidence in yourself.
First, don't forget to enjoy the game! It really doesn't matter how good you are at chess, it can be a wonderful entertaining activity at any level.
I agree that, in order to be useful, videos should be watched only with a wooden table in front and in chunks of let's say 5 minutes. You should spend some time thinking about the positions examined by the author of the clip. Just watching a video like a movie is unlikely to be that helpful.
"What are the features of this site that you recommend for an old-timer like me who isn't quite comfortable with the way things are done nowadays? If you could spend only 45 minutes a day here, what features do you consider to be the best use of this time?"
I'd say spend 15 minutes on tactics trainer, then play some games and, if left some more time, divide it equally between articles and video lessons. Personally I love Silman's article (when I find the time to go through them).
I'm in my late 40's and first learned to play chess as a child, in the Bobby Fischer era. I acquired several dozen chess books in the 1970's and very early 1980's. Because of the demands of my medical training, career, family and so on, I went about 20 years or more without playing even a single game or reading about chess. Realise that when I was serious about chess, nobody had a computer and only a few people had a video tape player and there was no such thing as instructive chess video tapes. It was books and private chess lessons only. No electronic databases of games. Nothing interactive at all.
But over the past few years, I've returned to chess, though without the time I would like to study the game. I've noticed, though, I struggle with several things the younger players take for granted:
One thing I do like better than the old-fashioned way of studying is the Tactics Trainer and I'm sure there are other features I could make good use of as well. I'd like to make better use of the new technology in order to learn chess more efficiently and quickly.
I'm not stupid in life--I'm a professor of medicine--but I am definitely a sub-par chess player who feels hopelessly out of date. What are the features of this site that you recommend for an old-timer like me who isn't quite comfortable with the way things are done nowadays? If you could spend only 45 minutes a day here, what features do you consider to be the best use of this time?