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Chessville
From the
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The international trainer academy of the World Chess Federation organized a further seminar for the training of FIDE-trainers and FIDE-instructors from 1 to 7 April 2005. For six days nine trainers from three continents met for daily lectures and exercises on the historic site of the recently modernized Olympic Stadium in Berlin, where the final game of the World Football Championship 2006 will take place. Besides having the chance of being active as expert chess trainers or chess teachers in associations, clubs or schools, the main goal of the seminar was to enable the participants to teach young trainers in their respective countries. As the exchange of existing experience showed such an approach had not been implemented everywhere as yet. Thus, the objective was to learn a large amount of theoretical as well as practical knowledge. Training activities also require a particular motivation and psychological expertise. Teaching chess trainers of varied levels of chess education, with different experiences, of varying playing strengths and different ages demands a high degree of didactic and methodic skill and psychological empathy from the lecturers and the head of the training course. It is thus very remarkable to note that all lecturers managed to accommodate for diverging levels of chess knowledge and commands of language as well as playing strengths ranging from 1800 ELO to International Master level. The cooperative and open approach of the experienced grandmasters GM Juri Razuvaev and GM Uwe Bönsch (head of the seminar) helped in eliminating any initial shyness of the participants and in establishing an atmosphere of friendly cooperation which enabled all participants to reach their individual goals. The high technical standard of the trainer academy including state-of-the-art computers, new software, permanent high-speed DSL Internet access, webcams, overhead projector, flip-chart, demo board and video projector, combined with the ample scope of the lecturers‘ lessons guaranteed for a chess training course of an elevated level. Overview of the seminar: On Friday evening Horst Metzing, General Secretary of the European Chess Union and Secretary of the German Chess Federation, and GM Juri Razuvaev, Chair of the FIDE Trainer-Committees, welcomed the participants of the seminar coming from six countries. H. Metzing mentioned the initial problems encountered when setting up the trainer academy in Berlin. J. Razuvaev emphasized the importance of the academy for both the practice of international trainers and the recognition of the profession of chess trainers as a whole. Then the head of the course, GM Uwe Bönsch, gave an overview of the programme of the six-day seminar. This was followed by an introductory session which highlighted the diversity and the expectations of the participants. The first training unit was a lecture of Horst Metzing on the activities and tasks of the World Chess Federation and the European Chess Union. He communicated facts as well as insider knowledge to the seminar, which he acquired in 30 years of active participation in various committees of FIDE. The participants were given a number detailed hand-outs on officials, institutions, committees and events.
The real thread of GM Razuvaev’s lecture was: How to teach chess? For all trainers of children and of beginners he stated the credo: It is eminently important to play tactically in the beginning. He emphasized even more: A child that does not love tactics has no future!“ The logical consequence of this thought is to have children play 1.e4 in the first phase of chess education since this move aims at tactical play. Any trainer should have a collection of opening traps which on many occasions will help enlivening the lessons taught. GM Uwe Bönsch continued with topics from middle game theory which were predominantly tailored to the needs of players with an advanced level of understanding. He taught particular methods for studying chess strategy. At the centre of attention were strategies for positions in which central structures dominate. Basic for this lesson was the pawn structure of the exchange variation of the Queen’s Gambit or Carlsbad variation.
Subsequently GM Bönsch showed how to didactically explain the basic strategic thoughts and which plans are to be taken into account by the first and second player. Numerous practical examples supported his ideas. In a further lecture the DSB-Federal Trainer introduced a new device, that is already being used successfully in other sorts of sports activities. It is the relaxation trainer „iSense“ which features a bio-feedback function. With the aid of a finger sensor and the corresponding software, stress and stressors can be detected and can be converted into positive energy. It is possible to measure the peripheral body temperature and the skin conductivity as well as the present levels of stress by attaching the finger sensor to a finger tip. The exact detection of a stress factor is one issue. But setting up an individual training plan including relaxation exercises is particularly valuable for the purposes of sport. All values measured are processed by a lap-top computer that visualizes them in a curve on the screen. Who does not want to be a successful trainer? A trainer’s ability to deliver is dependent on many factors and influences. Besides the knowledge and skills specific to the particular sport there is especially the human relationships and the behavior in training, chess teaching or in a tournament which the trainer has to take into account with regard to the pupils he is entrusted with. Social psychologist and lecturer for pedagogic psychology PD Dr. Marion Kauke spoke about this varied and challenging topic. Following the motto "train the trainer“ she emphasized the important function of emotions for both trainer and player. Any kind of teaching, any influence exerted on or education given to pupils encompasses a high degree of emotion. How does the trainer behave adequately? How does he master difficult situations in human interaction? How does he succeed in continuously motivating his players and in filling them with enthusiasm for chess? There is no end to such questions since varied psychological and pedagogic aspects govern the daily teaching and training process. The topic of „balance of emotions to enable performance“ is important for trainer and sportsman. Who does not know emotions like joy, fear, anger, fury or disappointment? How do we handle such emotions? And how do we succeed in finding positive motivation from negative experiences? It is essential to keep the balance, for which in the management of emotions well-tested psycho-regulatory methods ranging from relaxation by music to autogenous training or a good sense of humour are used. International Master Michael Richter from Berlin, who successfully teaches chess on the Internet at ChessBase, demonstrated the technical basics of ChessBase 9 and Fritz 8 etcetera to the participants and imparted to them all essential skills to hold an effective chess training with the aid of computers and the Internet. Especially impressive was a training session on chess endings where the trainer sat in a room separate from the computer room in which the „pupils“ received their lessons. In this situation communication was even three-dimensional, i.e. by seeing the chess board, listening to the trainer’s words on the loudspeaker and watching the trainer/lecturer on video recorded by small webcams. Once this method reaches technical maturity it will offer unusual perspectives for training events. The last day of the seminar was reserved for presenting and defending training theses (for FIDE-Trainers) and training examples (for FIDE-Instructors). In seeing the presentations and training examples special attention was paid to pedagogic skills, joy communicating with others, use of language and personality of the speaker. Presentation or defence of theses for the title of FIDE-Trainer:
Training examples for the title of FIDE-Instructor (chess teacher):
At the closing ceremony the head of the seminar GM Uwe Bönsch thanked all participants for their contributions and awarded the international Trainer-Certificates obtained during the courses. It would be very desirable, if this successful seminar were to stimulate interest in participating in the next such event, taking place from 4 to 10 November 2005 in Berlin. Finally, a few personal opinions of participants from three continents: Ms. Saras Palian,tfrom Hong Kong, the only female participant:
Benhadi Aziz Madani from Algeria:
Magister Karl-Heinz Schein, Responsible for training at the Austrian Chess Federation:
Achim Relitzki,
Frankfurt/Main (Germany) wrote the following expression of gratitude in
Grandmaster Yuri Razuvaev, speaking as chairman of the FIDE Trainer Committee, highly commended the professional organization, the successful and smooth course of the seminar and the well-adjusted sequence of the lessons. He stated that having the international trainer academy of the World Chess Federation on the historical sports grounds of the Olympic Campus in Berlin, was extremely desirable from the perspective of sports politics as well as regarding Berlin’s central geographical location. GM Razuvaev expressed his opinion that these two issues could well have a positive effect on the possible inclusion of chess into the Olympic Program.
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Saturday
saw GM Yuri Razuvaev (Moscow) starting his lectures. Already during the
first hour his long experience as chess trainer in various situations became
evident. In an entertaining way, quoting many anecdotes, he reported
of his six-year training activities with former World Champion Anatoly
Karpov and his time as assistant trainer in the chess schools of Botvinnik
and Smyslov. His lectures dealt with the following topics: Elaboration
of an opening repertoire – basic methods (Part I and II); Main principles of
For
background information on the FIDE Training Program, read:
