chessmaster XI and a book?

4 months ago i played chess for the 1st time in my entire life. at the beginning i was making mistakes because i haven't memorized the pieces' moves yet. but then i had some improvement.

now i am usually beating players of a ~900 rating. but i am having serious difficulty to improve my skills so i can beat 1000 and above players.

i've been searching for assistance and it seems that now the best thing would be to learn tactics, right? what would be a good book or software to it?

i'm thinking of using chessmaster XI. it was a gift from my gf.

what do you think?

and what would be a good book for me?

help needed. thx

I can't say what book would be best, but I'd highly recommend Chessmaster XI.  It's got chess lessons you can follow, so you probably wouldn't need a book.  Just follow the lessons and it will teach you basic strategy.

where can i find such lessons?

training mode, ranked play? there are many modes in the main menu but none of them points directly to lessons... is it the chess coach you're talking about?

Look under the "Learn" tab

When the program starts you have 3 buttons to choose from.   Learn, Play, or Fun.  Choose the Learn button.   Brings up another menu.  Choose Academy.  You now have your choice of 3 different courses on chess-all worth learning.  Enjoy.

Submit yourself to Josh Waitzkin and he will take good care of you. Complement that with tactics training either here or at chesstempo and you'll start beating those 1000 rated guys without much effort.

thx a lot for the advice mates. i got a few hours free starting now and i'll go with josh, it seems very interesting :)

Let us know what you think!

Where can you get Chessmaster XI. Is it free or if not what would it cost to buy??

Any help here would be grateful has all comments say it is excellent.

Thanks

I suppose you can order it from almost any CD/DVD/Games store. It is getting a few years old and you can buy it in sweden for about 10GBP.

If I remeber correctly, both the two latest editions needed a big patch file to be downloaded.

the chessmaster XI is a paid software but i don't think it's expensive because it was released in 2007. i don't know how much it costs because i got it as a gift. there is a patch to be downloaded indeed but its optional and even if you choose to download (which i recommend) it it won't take long, at least in a 15 mbps connection.

i just finished the josh waitzikin's academy strategy chapter and i found it to be very enlightening but not thoroughly in what comes to openings.

there is still a lot of academy stuff for me to go trough both from josh's and the other two academies. i think i'm going to start the bruce pandolfini opening moves. i think i'll have better in-game chances of applying josh's tips if i manage no to let stronger players to mess up my pawn structure and piece development right in the first moves hehe.

i believe i will get a lot more from josh's academy upcoming chapters if i get more openings knowledge before

I recommend http://www.amazon.com/Bobby-Fischer-Teaches-Chess/dp/0553263153

If/when you start studying other books, do yourself the favor of checking if the level of the book suits your own level. Many have read 50+ books and can't get past 1400 or so.

Just like a GM wouldn't read the above mentioned book so shouldn't you read books that aren't intended for your level. It will fill your head with ideas and concepts that aren't very useful because you will rarely get into positions where you can actually use them.

I also recommend reading Dan Heisman's colomn: http://www.chesscafe.com/archives/archives.htm#Novice%20Nook

Its free but he has also written books and made videos if you prefer those medias. Good luck!

thx!

Thanks