sqmorr

Hello! I am Graham Morrison from Scotland. Scottish Champion 1981. FIDE Master since 1983. I have played for the Scotland team in 4 Olympiads , 9 European Team Championships, World Junior Championship and World Championship, as well as numerous smaller tournaments. In Jan 2013 FIDE approved my IM title "conditional on rating" so I now "just" have to cross the 2400 barrier to get to this next level. I am also currently participating in the Preliminaries of the World Correspondence Chess Championship, which I took up in the past year.

I have just been selected for the 2023 European Team Chp in Montenegro (in November), so am very much looking forward to it!

Don't believe those that say that chess these days is purely a game for kiddies. We fuddy duddies can still improve! I have coached dozens of students on the internet (only in English I'm afraid) in the last 20 years. The first "lesson" is usually a "get to know you" session where we explore some of the games of the student, his/her perception of the major strengths and weaknesses, and both ask any/all questions. We then form an initial plan for the next few sessions, so where we go very much depends on our findings. 

The crux of what I offer is to compare and contrast how you think about chess issues with how I (and I suggest most master level players) think about the same issues, and bring to bear various training and learning methods and resources that have served me well over the last 4 decades. Self-improvement is difficult, but having a master-level advisor who can watch current capability, advise and assess progress, and inspire (!), is very helpful!

My fee is $40/hour, so give me a shout if you want to take this up. My email address is sqmorr@gmail.com. In addition to the lesson (in Zoom), I also offer a video of the lesson so you can go over all of the key points as often as you like!

You can see a few videos that I made at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/sqmorr/videos 

A few general tips based on my experience of what makes good players good:

1. Be sharp. Lots of practice to the build up of an event helps a lot, as does daily tactics exercises (eg, CT-ART, puzzles in the magazines, etc). My own personal favourite is to heavily concentrate on solving endgames studies (eg, Studies 2.0) in the build up to an event since it develops skills in precise calculation, imagination and resourcefulness.

2. Prepare well. The usual tip of analysing your games thoroughly is always helpful. Given limited time (which all us amateurs suffer from) it also makes sense to play fewer opening systems - but prepare them very well. I find that Solitaire Chess is very powerful for deeply understanding classic games and developing my intuition and thinking skills. Dvoretsky's books are also very powerful and demand a lot of effort and humility! Also, if you can afford it, hire a Russian (or ex-Russian) coach - I have used three Russian coaches and I gained a great deal of chess wisdom, chess culture and self awareness from all of them.

3. Play the strongest possible players. You really have to be constantly stretching yourself against the best that you can get access to. The lazy habits you develop that suffice to beat much weaker players do you a severe dis-service when facing tougher opposition.

4. Have energy. These days I only play in events where there is one game a day, and try to have a little nap before a game. I will NOT play when I'm tired (eg, at the end of a day's work) and I travel the day before I play. Also, some energy supplements for a long game are handy - that's why people always see me with my bottle of Sprite and bag of bananas!

5. Have self confidence. Techniques like self hypnosis, and performance psychology can help develop this and really persuade your unconscious self that you can and will cope, whatever the challenge. Give yourself chances to be lucky!