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The
Saint Emilion
Chess Club
The Contruction of this Site Was Started on Jan 15, 2003
This web page is best viewed With your IE set at 1280 x 1024
WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk - A very pretty Grand Master
Alexandra Kosteniuk -(Sasha) ELO 2515
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Web Site: http://www.kosteniuk.com
How To join The Saint Emilion Chess Club
There is a Mini Poll and a Vote Caster at the bottom of this page
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Home Page
Do not click on home page unless you have the Password
NOTICE OF NEW POLICY ON JOINING
Because of the selfishness of so many applicants the new policy will now be, that to join my
club you must first bring another new player who will agree to become a member as well.
Please don't tell me you can't get any one to join because you have no friends to ask. A few
years ago I had a member who was able to get 6 new members in less than two weeks because
he advertised our club in shouts telling people what a fine club it was and because after every
game he played he asked his opponent to join our club.
Remember that it is in the best interest of those you ask because they can't join either with out
someone else to join with them. Consider this thought. Suppose I told you that I would buy you a
Chess CD or Chess book of your choice for every new member you got to join our club. I bet then
you would have no problems finding others to join in no time at all.
I am really fed up with selfish people who want to join my chess club for free but don't give a
dam about giving anything in return, or show any gratitude for all that they will receive for free.
I have put in hundreds of hours into developing the training materials you see here and if you are so
selfish and inconsiderate as to not want to give anything back for all of this free valuable training
materials that will improve your chess skills, then I don't want you in my club, go pay at some other
site then.
The least you could do is to enthusiastically agree to want to help my club grow and get new members
to join, but from most of the new applicants that are applying now that seems to be asking too much.
They all are cheapskates and appear to only want whatever they can get for free. Maybe that is why
they join FICS because its free. Good luck to you in the workplace of real life, for in the real world
there is no longer any free rides anymore, and now the same has happened here. As of now there is
no longer any free low hanging fruit to pick anymore either.
It you think that there are a lot of free real bargains to be found in chess training on the internet just
Google free chess training and see what you get? You may find a few tidbits here and there but certainly
not quality materials are you going to find for free that will compare with what you find on my site.
Furthermore your not going to find anything even close to the advanced and unique materials that in
many cases took me many months in research and the purchase of CD's, books, extensive internet
research, etc to find out about advanced chess concepts that are so high level or so unique that if
you wanted to know about such material you can't even buy the information anywhere.
In many cases this is why I titled those pages secrets of. For example do some research on chess
compensation and see what you get.
At some sites you will get a demo or a few examples of what is available, but then they tell
you that to access the rest you must either pay for it or pay a monthly fee for the good stuff.
The majority of any lessons you may find at these free and pay sites the so called academies
or chess training sites are not really lessons at all but simply tactical problems that you may
find for free on the internet at Chess Tempo.com or Chess.emrald.net, for example.
URL's of a few of the more popular Chess training sites
http://www.totalchess.com/cost.htm
http://chessville.com/
http://www.chessebook.com/such_voll.php
http://www.chessopolis.com/tutorials.htm
http://www.janmatthies.info/chess/cvt/cvt.htm
Some tell me well there are a lot of free chess videos to be found that can show you how to play chess.
Have you looked at those videos? I have and for the most part they are extremely boring excerpts of games
that some high level player has played and they attempt to show you how this position or opening should
have been played by going thru variation after variation until your completely lost in the maze of
convoluted notations and their opinions of what should have been played. Do you think that kind of
lecture is really going to help you very much at your level of play?
Your going to soon find that it is extremely difficult if not impossible to take notes or go back to
review something you don't quite understand. Another problem with videos is they don't give you problems
to solve and then explain the ideas or concepts you need to solve such problems. Its just some guy boring
you to death in explaining how someone played a chess game not very well and how they should have
played, or how you should play this position. Do you think your going to remember all that?
Your not going to find anywhere opening materials such as I have that gives you the understanding you
need behind the ideas of the openings, which is far more important then trying to memorize opening moves.
At your level of play the memorization of opening moves is what patzers do, and then when their memorized
opening moves play out they don't have a clue of what to do next or how to play chess. At my site I fully
explain in great detail in a variety of training pages exactly what to do and how to do it and how to make
plans based on basic chess principles to ensure that you wont be at a loss of what moves you should
play next.
Other things you don't find at other free or pay chess sites are the unique idea pages on my site that are
completely different from the basic principles of openings, tactics, strategy and endings found at other sites.
These powerful ideas present to you a whole new way on how to play chess using ideas that will give you an
immediate advantage over your opponents who will never have such knowledge. Here are a few examples.
The secrets of key concepts, Secrets of Dynamic Power Playing, My Method, Progressing Up The Ladder
and Dynamic Planning.
If you don't think that my site is now one of the best free chess training sites in the world then just take
a look at what some of my members have to say about the quality of my training materials in my Testimonials.
Testimonials
Why You Lose at Chess
Do you think you have what it takes to join our Chess Club?
What is of prime importance to winning games?
How to increase your chess skills
How to increase your motivation Incentives
How do you achieve happiness
Monitoring Your Game
The Curriculum
Reserved
How Interesting Is My Site To You?
Understanding The Openings for White
Understanding The Defenses for Black
Understanding The Reti Understading The King's Indian Attack Understanding The English
Miscellaneous Openings
Understanding The Unorthodox Openings
The Alapin Opening
Training for Category Five Members
Welcome to Saint Emilion's Chess Club
How To join The Saint Emilion Chess Club
You have just discovered a Chess Oasis in the middle of the
Internet, and like a oasis it offers a life line for those in
need of succulent nourishment, chess material which feeds and
supports the mind and spirit.
Our Goals
The Saint Emilion chess club is a totally free project to help
in the development of people interested in improving their chess
skills in standard games through the reading and study of our
unique chess training materials and team member help.
There are many people who have the potential to become much better
players than they are now. But for one reason or another they just
keep plodding along with out much improvement. Often if these people
join a club and find others to inspire them and help keep them on
track, the motivation develops for their improvement.
It is my hope that others will do the same in forming new clubs like
this one and then maybe some day we will say, I bet our team can beat
the crap out of your team! Just imagine the camaraderie that would be
produced in such a fellowship.
Other than play chess, what have you done lately to improve your
chess skills? My goal is for every one who joins this club to see
a quick and significant improvement through the use of our unique
training materials.
Its generally, but erroneously, assumed that the best teachers are
the best players, and that the best players can easily communicate
the secrets of the game. Actually, the best teachers are often just
interested amateurs who need only a teaching plan and some source
material to activate true talent.
GM Andrew Soltis. The New York Post
There are many strong chess players who know how to play chess
very well, but most of them are simply incapable of teaching you
the chess skills that they possess. Be careful of what you pay for
either in time or money from them.
Please note this disclaimer, that I make no such clams to be a great
chess player just because I am teaching others here how to improve
their game. My teaching skills are based on the classes I had taught
for Amature Radio and electronics for several years. Through this
experience I learned how important it was to lay a clear solid
foundation of the basics before going on to more advanced material
and that is what I attempt to do here.
It is a anomaly that many players who in spite of getting the best chess
books, Chess CD's, and other training materials, and having others's help
them to analyize thier games, just can not improve their game significantly
however much they want to.
I have found that one of the hardest problems towards one's improvement
in any endeavor to accomplish something, is to stay focused and stay on
track. That is another purpose of this club to help in keeping you on
track using our motivation study pages. The demands on one's time can
be another big problem. Knowning what to study and in what order to study
is another. For this problem we have two pages that give you a complete
study plan to advance up to the Masters level if you wish.
My advice here is to do like the Russians do. They start their chess studies
with the end game. The analogy is that like going on a long journey one must
first know where the designation is for the shortest route or risk going around
in circles. But the biggest deterrent is simply that most just do not study
in a organized manner and keep at it on a regular schedule as they did when
in high school or in collage. As a consequence most players chess knowledge
is chaotic, disorganized and fragmented. Simply put if you want to succeed you
must read, study and understand the material and do so on a regular basis.
We make no claims that by joining this club that this will ensure that
any one will progress quickly up to the Masters level just because of
our teaching methods. That type of skill level will require a much more
exhaustive program of study than can ever be provided by our limited
curriculum here. Our focus of study is merely to improve on and instill
the importance of those basic Chess skills needed to build on in order
to progress up to those upper levels beyond the average playing level.
However through the collective and shared group interests, its members
will be motivated to be constantly improving their game and chess skills
far beyond what they would have done on their own if they had not joined.
Mindless memorization is harmful not only in the case of opening
variations but also in the case of all the principles of play and
other material that the student is taught. What is needed is to
understand the principles and the reasons underlying them. Once
a student has done this, he will remember the material almost
effortlessly. Chess books usually tell you what to learn but
almost nothing about how to learn it. Experience has shown that
the best way to study the material is with a series of step by
step exercises, asking questions and forcing one to think, and
finding the subtleties of positional play, etc. It is very
important to master the various basic weapons of chess to be able
to make combinations, find hidden possibilities in positions,
understand the opponent's plans, and play creatively. A chesplayer
can make progress only if he coordinates his study with practice.
How We Teach
What is it that makes a strong chess player? Is it a knowledge of
opening theory, as many people seem to believe or perhaps being able
to calculate more moves ahead than their opponent? A quick eye perhaps,
fierce will to win or just patience? There are all sorts of theories
as to what it is that makes someone good at chess, not all of them
very sound. As a result it is quite difficult for an amateur player
with a limited amount of time to know exactly how to improve.
With these thoughts in mind this chess club has set about developing
a training program which would target the main areas in which stronger
players distinguish themselves. The first is the sound platform of
basic chess fundamentals and basic concepts necessary to build on from
this base of knowledge. The second is to develop good judgment and
creativity through modern teaching methods. A technique of programmed
instruction has proven very successful and led to new areas of
self-instruction and automatic teaching that overcomes the disadvantages
of text book learning. The third is through the motivation of belonging to
a club like this that will inspire one to improve and ensure that each member
keeps on track to maintain a slow but steady progress in his chess skills.
However, merely joining this club will not improver your chess. Only those
who persevere and work systematically through the curriculum will show an
upswing in their results, and maybe even showing a dramatic improvement
beyone their expectations.
How Can You Be Accepted as a Member?
To join this club you must meet our standards of acceptance.
You will find these standards given in our link of
"We don't want you if....."
You must be at least 24 years old.
Because of problems in the past with those under 24 we now must restrict
the age limit. It seems especially so with many younger people today that
lying is not considered as doing anything wrong. Neither is not keeping ones word.
For many it appears that their moral compass is broke and being irresponsible
and inconsiderate is the norm. For some this stage of immaturity will last
until they get to at least 24 years old and some will never mature.
Also those under 24 don't seem to have the maturity to stay with something once
they promise to undertake it. This tough tenacity of being able to stick through
something to completion when apparent overwhelming problems occur is lacking.
They are too fickle, change their mind and give up at the first onsite of adversity.
They are just to young to have experienced many hard times and misfortunes.
We need people who are persistent, tough and have the patience, tenacity and
maturity to get tough when the going gets tough!
Your Basic Chess Area to Choose
Although this is not a college, it is like any institute of learning. In those types
of schools if you are not spending your time to study the materials available to you,
then you just will not be improving.
Also just as in college you must major in a subject so must you do the
same here. You will be asked in what single basic chess area of chess do
you wish to study and excel in? There are four areas that
one can specialize in.
Basic Chess Areas you wish to major and excel in. Pick one.
Tactics, Strategy, Openings, and Endgame.
Choose wisely and study the training materials to improve
in this area.
We don't expect you to become an expert in this area you choose,
only that you show that you are serious about improving in it.Obviously,
if you are not reading any training materials you are not serious
about improving in your Chess skills.
Why a slow and constant improvment is needed
Advancing in your chosen chess area and improving your chess skills in this field
will not only help you to play better chess but it will be a strong weapon against
other opponents who play against our club's team. When ever we engage in our club's
team play with other FICS teams, we will be able to ask others in our club who have
some expertise in this area for their advice for a candidate move. Also these people
will be able to help others in our club to advance their chess skills in this area as
well. What better kind of asset than this type of person could a club ask for in the
advancement of its chess club?
You may not belong to this club unless you obtain a
Yahoo Instant messengers and a Yahoo email account.
You will need to get this free Instant Messengers for group chat, team play, etc.
You will be expected to activate your messenger and keep it activated whenever you
are on line so other members can contact you and to know if you are on line.
You will be expected to put all our club members on your messenger by clicking on
Contacts and ask all Saint Emilion members (Including me) to accept the invitation
to join your messenger.
Get your Yahoo E-mail and Instant Messenger account here: http://www.yahoo.com/
This Yahoo email account is necessary for our Mailing List program. We know that
this one works for our mailing list. We choose the Yahoo one because we had trouble
with the others.
You need a 1200 FICS Best Standard Rating
The 1200 FICS Best Standard rating is the minimum Club member level to join. Our
requirements demand that you must have a FICS Standard "Best" rating that is
at least 1200 to become a club member.
You will need a Basic Chess Area of chess to study and excel in.
You should improve at a slow and constant rate in this area to become an asset to
our club for team play.
"Why a slow and constant improvment is needed"
Why a minimum of 1200 standard?
Why do we set a minimum of 1200 standard? This is a chess club for intermediate
level players. Not a chess school for beginners or low ranking amateurs. We don't
want our members constantly being bothered with questions or help that these people
will demand. This time would better be spent on our members reading our training
materials or engaging in club team playing exercises. Just like in any school of
higher learning the requirements are such that they expect you to have reached a
certain level of skill before you can be accepted in their school. If these people
want to join our club they should take advantage of all the many available chess
training materials for free on the web and rise up to our minimum requirements.
Probation
Refusing to keep your Yahoo Messenger active when logged on FICS, and not showing
any concentrated effort to play in standard games at least once a week may result
in probation sanctions. Probation sanctions in this case means being placed on
probation for a period of 1 week. If there is not a significant effort to change
your improvement attitude and position with in 1 week your account may be terminated.
Note: Please Read, "We don't want you if.........," before you decide to join.
You may change your mind after you find out who we don't want.
We may not want you to join our club because you don't measure up
to our standards. Reading this may prevent you from being terminated
after you join.
We don't want you if...Click Here---> X <---
If you have decided you want to join our club, your rating should start increasing
by 100 points immediately!. If it does not begin to increase in the next 5 sec,
click on the rainbow
1700 Standard for Administration:
Want to be a administration person in our club?
We need high rated chess players that will help run the
club and be used for administration purposes. Such people will assist in
the training of others, and help to make decisions in the selection of
others who want to join. Be team captains in team play, be available for
questions, be a member of our security department for checking out
applicants, etc. To qualify and apply for a administration position you must
have a Standard rating of at least 1700 and own a copy of a Fritz program.
Because this club is free we are experimenting with ways to find quality people to
join our club. The methods we have developed may seem unnecessary but from past
experience with having to expel members for a variety of reasons we now find it
necessary to include tougher standards of conduct and be more through in checking
out perspective applicants. Unfortunately people do not always tell the truth and
do not always do as they say they will. We welcome any suggestions that you may
have towards this end.
Why must you read the whole web page to join?
People ask why must they read this whole web page to qualify to join the club?
Its one of our tests to weed out people with limited attentions spans. If they can
not or will not read this web page then we suspect that there is a good chance that
they don't have the patients to study and read our training materials or attend club
training sessions either. Also if they won't read this page then their desire to join
is not that great either. If someone really has a strong desire to join our club reading
this page in its entirety is a small price to pay for the returns they will get. Would
you rather I charge a fee each month like many others do?
How To join The Saint Emilion Chess Club
Joining our club is not hard. All you need to do is to send SaintEmilion
a message at FICS that you want to join. If you fulfill our basic
requirements you should have no problems in quickly becoming a new member.
But first you are expected to read all of our web page to see if you agree or not
with our expected requirement.
We don't really expect a lot, or demand that you show great improvement.
How fast you want to improve is entirely up to you. We know that improving your
chess skills takes a lot of time and trying to keep improving your rating after
you get beyond the average FICS rank for Standard Play keeps getting increasing
more difficult.
We only ask that you make a concentrated effort to try and improve your chess
skills in your chosen chess area so that our chess team for tg bot playing will
be one of distinction that we can all be proud to belong to.
The basic requirements are:
1. Be at least 24
2. Have a FICS Best Standard rating of at least 1200
3. Have a Yahoo Instant Messenger
4. Have a Yahoo Email account
5. Bring a friend who will agree to join as well
You must be a person of integrity and good character. You must not be an abuser.
You should first read our link of " We don't want you if....."
to see if you will fit in with our expected personality and desirable character traits.
We are sure you would not want to join a club where their members are antagonists
and immature troublemakers.
If our requirements seems odd just for joining a chess club, just think about the
members here who will be there if you should join. Would you want to join a club
where its members do not give a dam about the others in the club? Where its members
do not care if you succeed or fail? Don't you want to belong to a group of friendly
people who will go out of their way to make you feel welcome, and then be concerned
about your progress?
The first requirement is that you you are expected to read every thing on
this web page and its links. If you can't take the time to do this then we don't
want you, for the reasons given in our link of "We don't want you if....."
Joining this club is free. However for that price you will be expected to read
the training materials on a regular basis, play at least one Standard game each
week and show a slow but constant improvement in the Basic Chess Area subject
you choose.
"Why a slow and constant improvment is needed"
There are no hidden monetary fees or will there ever be any. As noted above there
are certain restrictions, and of course there are people who for the reasons given
in the article We don't want you if..., may not want to join.
To join the Saint Emilion chess club simply message SaintEmilion at FICS
that you want to become a member of the Saint Emilion Chess Club.
Also state a single basic chess area you wish to major and excel in.
Soon after receiving your request we will check your playing history for
computer cheating and if you are presently a abuser.
We have members who are experts in this field. So if you fall into one of
the above categories do not apply for membership.
If later we find you lied and violated our honor pledge you will be immediately
terminated from the club.
Shortly after receiving your request to join and if you do not fall into any
of the above abuser categories, I will ask for your Yahoo Messenger ID and if
it is activated as required above and for a valid Yahoo E-mail address to send
you a Category two password.
You then have to go to The Saint Emilion Chess Club at
http://www.ez-net.com/~mephisto/ (This Site) and log in with your temp
password to the Registration password gate at the bottom of this page:
"Saint Emilion Category Two Members Log in here". Once there
you must sign the Registry Guest Book, Honor Pledge and answer
a few questions.
If you are accepted, I will change your password to a Category 1 level password
that will accept entrance to the Category 1 Club Members password gate at the top of
this page. This gate takes you to the Home Page where you can now access all Training
materials and other helpful tools for Club Members.
Please be patient, this is not an automatic process, it may take a little time
before you get your password sent to you.
Visitors to this page since Feb. 2004
Saint Emilion Registration Page for Cat 2 members. Log in at the password gate ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->Here --------------------------->
Guests Only Sign our guestbook Here
We can illuminate your horizons for improving your chess skills through study and a little help from your friends at the club