IntroductionThis is the first book in the Select the Move series.. You need a chess set and board to read this book. You do need to know how to read standard chess notation.

Playing through master games is a proven method of improving. One method is to take one side, usually the winning side, and try and guess the next move. With practice you will correctly predict more moves. Doing so helps develop chess fluency.

When I was a junior I played through many master games, in many cases guessing the moves. It helped me to become national Junior champion.

One suggested approach was not to take too long on the moves, say about 10 seconds or so. You could score correct guesses. If the move was totally unexpected, then it would be a good time to see if you could understand why the move was played. Every move should have a clear idea behind it. If you cannot see the idea, there is a learning opportunity there.

Some books contained similar exercises as well as some columns in magazines etc. The exercises here are a little different.Instead of having to look at all possible moves, you will be given between one and four choices. This is similar to a multiple choice exam. This makes the task easier than having to look at all moves and may mean you examine some moves you would not have normally considered.How to ScoreChess rater consists of a collection of 20 old master chess games. You may simply play over the games for their own sake if you wish. To use this program to the fullest you will choose one of the games and play over them and take the role of the winning player.The winning side will always be playing up the board.

There are some advantages to using games from the pre-computer era. The games are not so theoretical and not cases of players relying on deep computer assisted opening pre-game preparation. They are a selection of games which demonstrate a lot of positional ideas.

Initially all the details of the games will be displayed.

For a number of opening moves you will not need to guess the move. The number will vary from game to game and will generally be between 8 and 12 moves (for each side).

After these opening moves have been played, you will then try and predict your players moves. Your choice will be selected from a number of candidate moves. In a few cases you will only have one move to choose from. In this case you shall get the correct answer. In most cases you will be presented with the maximum number of options which is 4. In same cases there will be 2 or 3 options.

If you guess correctly you will score points which will range from 1 to 6. This depends on the approximate complexity and difficulty of the move. If you score incorrectly you will not score for that move. Regardless of whether you are correct or not the correct move will be played. You can either write down or otherwise keep track of your total score and see what category you reach.

RATINGThe score for each game will always be out of 50.Scores may vary from game to game so to get a consistent rating average your score over 10 games.

These are based on the FIDE (The international chess federation) rating system developed by Professor Elo.

The rating of 2400+ is only an approximation of the strength needed to be an international master.

• 46-50 International master (2400+)
• 41-45 (2200-2399)
• 36-40 (2000-2199)
• 31-35 (1800-1999)
• 26-30 (1600-1799)
• 21-25 (1400-1599)
• 16-20 (1200-1399)
• 11-15 (1000-1199)
• Below 10 (below 1000)