Chess Exam and Training Guide: Rate Yourself and Learn How to Improve!

by Igor Khmelnitsky

This book offers a unique approach to chess self-evaluation and training. It will answer the two most common questions that players ask an experienced coach - what is my true rating (or strengths and weaknesses)? How do I improve?

The readers will find:
100 diagrams & 200 total questions of various difficulty.
Comprehensive answers include diagrams for easy reading away from the chessboard.
Distributions of answers, percentiles...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0975476122
• ISBN13: 9780975476123
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Iamcoach Publishing
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

If you aren't a Grandmaster, this great book will help you

I hesitated for months before buying this book. You shouldn't. You should know that this is not a training manual or a tactics book. Its goal is to identify where your game is weak. If you are not already a Grandmaster, then it's certain that some areas of your game are weak. But which, and how weak are they? If club players, amateurs, even experts can focus their training on their weak spots, they will improve much more rapidly than if they get better in some area where they are already strong. This book does a fantastic job of analyzing your game. Here is my experience. I don't get to play much in tournaments; my rating is in the high 1600's but my last major tournament I had a performance rating of 1820, and in club play that's about how I am doing. What should I work on to go farther? I have done the first 40 problems in this book and scored them. Each has been given to a lot of players with a wide variety of ratings. By averaging how I performed on each of the problems, the author has assigned me an overall rating and a "rating" for how strong or weak I am in each of a dozen aspects of chess. First, the overall estimate of my playing strength is right around 1800 -- consistent with my US Open performance and club play. But the breakdown -- wow! I rate a pathetic 1000 on pure calculating ability, and not much better on sacrifices. By contrast, the book rates me at 2400 on standard positions (like how to win a Bishop ending with only one pawn), reflecting the work I've done on such positions, and grasp of strategy and defense are both almost as high. Interestingly, it rates my openings as the strongest phase of the game and endings as the weakest. Until the last US Open I thought the reverse was true, but in that tournament I consistently got strong middlegame positions against players rated up to 2100, only to collapse in the ending. The book accurately captures this relative weakness. So my new training strategy is clear, and I bet it will work. For the next several months, I will be focusing on complex endings and doing intense practice in calculating them out to completion. That should address both of my weakest areas in one shot. As part of my profession I have extensive training in developing tests to measure aspects of mental functioning. I am very impressed with this book, and would consider it a remarkable achievement for a psychology graduate student's dissertation.

Improve your Chess

There's many chess test books and software out there that rate you on combinations or endgames. This is the first book that rates you on all aspects of the game: middlegame, attack, defense, strategy, calculations, etc. There are 100 positions, 200 questions, many very difficult, to solve. After entering your answers in the charts provided, you can quickly determine your ratings in all areas. As a class A player trying to improve to the next level, the test pin-pointed my weak areas. I knew exactly how to prioritize my limited study time. A very fine book.

Fabulous Time Saver

I can say without exaggeration that if I had to give up all but one chess book of the dozens and dozens in my collection, this book would be the one I would keep, because it leads to maximum, concrete improvement in the shortest possible amount of time. As a currently unrated player who has been away from tournament chess for more than 30 years, I am using this book to assess my game prior returning soon to active play. It is proving to be a very important tool and is saving me hours and hours of time by quickly zeroing in on the things I need to work on most. This is not to say that improvement will be without effort, that's impossible! But the results of the exam ensure that you will focus on your needs and thereby get the best results from your study.

Thoroughly Detailed and Practical

I am a USCF Class B player. Like many competitive amateurs, I desperately desire to improve my chess skill. I have purchased a truckload of chess books in my competitive chess "career", but I have never encountered a test that provides such detailed, practical feedback in all areas ... Attack, Counterattack, Defense, Opening, Middlegame, Endgame, Tactics, Strategy, Calculations, Standard Positions, Sacrifice, and Recognizing Threats... as IM Khmelnitsky's exam. His exam will save you money even if you engage a professional chess coach. A good chess coach can use the results of this exam to tailor a training program to facilitate your improvement. The only caveat I have about his test is that you absolutely should not take it if you are only seeking to have your ego stroked. Your test results may sting a bit but it is good medicine. No pain, no gain. :-)