Don't be misled by the name of the column - it is not just for novices; it could be called "The Improving Chessplayer"

NN Listing Orders: Reverse Cbronology (this is the main ordering, with all the corrections and links) -- Subject Type -- Alphabetical

Looking for a chess epiphany? It is probably found in the articles below

The Thinking Cap - My 10-part series on thought process at IM Jeremy Silman's site (soon to be updated!)

First Novice Nooks to read - Testimonials from NN fans - Non-NN Chess Cafe articles - My Favorite NN's - Fan Favorite NN's

Want multimedia? My chess videos on chess improvement have been released! Watch the first one, Introduction to Counting and Safety, free (the rest are for ICC members but are available even for free one-week trial members). The others include: "Is It Safe?", "Introduction to Time Management", "Common Evaluation Misconceptions", "Introduction to Thought Process", "Learning Tabiyas: The Closed Ruy Lopez"; "Evaluation Criteria", "King & Pawn and ? vs. King", "The Seeds of Tactical Destruction" "The Theory of Chess Improvement", etc. Each is approximately 35 minutes.

Current Novice Nook: Novice Nook 100: The Mind Reading Fish

    A new Novice Nook is available late Tues before the 3rd Wed each month
    Get free Adobe Acrobat Reader to read archived .pdf format columns

    Chess Cafe's compressed file of ALL(!) Novice Nooks in their Archive

 Ordered by reverse chronology

 2009

- June 2009: The Mind Reading Fish

- May 2009: Novice Nook 100: The Best Novice Nook Ideas

- Apr 2009: The Endgame Bind

- Mar 2009: The Improvement Feedback Loop

- Feb 2009: Accidental and Purposeful Errors

- Jan 2009:  The Five Ways to Make a Piece Safe

 

 2008

- Dec 2008: Chess Is Decisions - Part 2 in a two-part series about Making Decisions (discusses the basics on making decisions)

- Nov 2008: The Fun of Pros and Cons - Part 1 in a two-part series about Making Decisions (discusses the need to make decisions) - well received!

- Oct 2008: The Room Full of Grandmasters - a follow-up to The Two Move Triggers

- Sep 2008: The Safety Table - keeping track of basic safety issues

- Aug 2008: Strong Principles vs. Important Principles

- Jul 2008:   Anders' Game - includes a detailed discussion of a position where it is not correct to win the exchange

- Jun 2008:  Bootstrapping Analysis Skills - only the most important skill in chess

- May 2008: Similar Positions, Different Evaluations

- Apr 2008: The Fundamental Theorem of Safety and Activity - would you believe they are cousins?

- Mar 2008: The Three Types of Reasonable Threats

- Feb 2008: Acquiescing - a time management error where you just lose without taking time to try to save yourself

- Jan 2008:  The Inadequately Guarded Piece - extending GM Nunn's concept of Loose Pieces Drop Off (LPDO)

 2007

- Dec 2007: Critical and Principal Variations - you don't always have to anticipate your opponent's best move

- Nov 2007: The Margin for Error - a key concept showing how much leeway you have to win or draw

- Oct 2007: Getting the Edge - (Hon. Mention, "Best Instruction") by doing the improvement tasks many players don't

- Sep 2007: Don't Allow the Floobly! (Hon. Mention, "Best Instruction")- a key idea to help you avoid loss or draw when way ahead

- Aug 2007: How to Use MCO-14 - pretty much the same for any opening encyclopedia

- July 2007: Trading When Ahead or Behind - (Hon. Mention, "Best Instruction") an instructive game

- June 2007: (My) Beginner Misconceptions - (Hon. Mention, "Best Instruction") things that you may think are true that may hold back your improvement

- May 2007: Novice Nook Quiz - a great review of many of the concepts found in these articles

- Apr 2007: The Two Types of Counting Problems- 4th in the"Counting" series (A Counting Primer, The Most Important Tactic, and Is It Safe?)

- Mar 2007: Criticality Quiz

- Feb 2007: Slowing Down - a must read for those who play too fast. See also Breaking Down Barriers

- Jan 2007: Trading Pawns When Ahead - "Make even trade of pieces when ahead" does not always apply to pawns...

 2006

- Dec 2006: Chess Principles and Common Sense

- Nov 2006: The Most Common OTB Mistakes - the over-the-board version of The 10 Biggest Roadblocks to Improvement  

- Oct 2006: Breaking Down Barriers email: "Dan it is without question one of the most important, eloquent, beautifully crafted articles on chess improvement ever written. Honestly". Companion NN: The 10 Biggest Roadblocks to Improvement

- Sep 2006: The Four Homeworks - and don't forget your personalized study book: Hall of Shame

- Aug 2006: Making Chess Simple - Thought Process

- July 2006: Odds and Ends - lots of good stuff here! - Misc #4 (also: Techniques; A Fistful of Lessons, Examples of Chess Logic) - includes "don't pawn grab when ahead" game.

- June 2006: Is It Safe? - the 3rd in the important "Counting" series (A Counting Primer and The Most Important Tactic); See also this Thinking Cap

- May 2006: The Principle of Symmetry - advanced, one of my best and most original

- Apr 2006: Activity is the Real Goal - not "space" or "development"; At the end is a "four parallel lines" chart about criticality. See also this similar but shorter Thinking Cap. 

- Mar 2006: The Most Common Opening Inaccuracies - starts with 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6(?) Marshall variation

- Feb 2006: The Two Move Triggers - one of my favorite and most important Nooks - Great testimonials from two experts!

- Jan 2006: Breaking a Slump

 2005

- Dec 2005: Initial and Final Candidate Moves - honorable mention, Best Web instruction 2005-'06

- Nov 2005: The Most Important Strategic Decisions - helps one decide which non-tactical decisions are also critical

- Oct 2005:  The Principle of Tactical Dominance - Positional and strategical aspects are not that important if the move is not safe! GM Soltis on this issue (and studying endgames)

- Sep 2005: When is a King Safe? "Personally I think this is one of your classics."- Postman,Chessville - (tie)Best Web Analysis 2005-'06

- Aug 2005: Quiescence Errors

- July 2005: The Theory of Chess Improvement - CJA first prize, Best Web instruction 2005-'06 - check out GM Nigel Davies on Enhancing Performance

- June 2005: Opening Principles - Reader posts takeoff off my opening advice in this fictional dialogue. Also, email: Dan, It REALLY WORKS, not only that I don't need to waste my time to complicate problem, mobilizing your pieces early is simply the best option:) combine with some opening principles you taught me, I have not yet lost a game on ICC ... Thank you very much!!

- May 2005: Time Management Tales - Don't let these happen to you!

- Apr 2005: Evaluation Quiz- see also Evaluation Criteria

- Mar 2005: Reviewing Chess Games - both yours and those in books

- Feb 2005: Every Good Chessplayer - Alternate title: The 10 Best Things to Improve your Chess! see also Traits of a Good Chessplayer  

- Jan 2005: A Guide to P-R3 - Honorable Mention, "Best Web Instruction" 2005 Click here to see the correct final diagram on p. 7

 2004

- Dec 2004: The Big Five - the 5 basic skills to master first (in the problem, White's correct 7th move is 7.Qb3)

- Nov 2004: Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur - sample games with lots of lessons

- Oct 2004: Improving Analysis Skills - the most important chess skill!

- Sep 2004: A Defense Primer

- Aug 2004: Chess, Learning, and Fun - Along with Nov 2003, a great predictor of how good you will be!

- July 2004: Enhancing Your First Tournament Experience - includes addendum to K&P vs. K on p.6 - House of Staunton sets and equipment

- June 2004: Examples of Chess Logic - includes my best-ever (but advanced) problem on page 5. Misc #3

- May 2004: The Case for Time Management - includes info on creating an instructive Personalized Study Book ("Hall of Shame"). The diagram on the bottom of page 7 is White: Kg2, Qe2, Rc1, Rd1, Ne7, Pa2, c3, d3, e4, f2, g3, h2. Black: Kg7, Qa4, Rd8, Re8, Na5, Pa7, b6, c5, f7, g6.

Here is a link to a free electronic tool that can turn a PGN study book into an electronic study book: Chess Hero

- Apr 2004: A Planning Primer - p.3: bottom diagram 1st rank is Ra1,Re1,Kg1; Final diagram p.5: no additional pieces on the 1st rank. Final diagram p.6 is reached from initial position by following moves above it. Another author's planning article

- Mar 2004: Is There a Win? - problems that all look like they have solutions, but...

- Feb 2004: Learning Opening Lines and Ideas "...One of the things you taught me is to look at the openings for all my games using NCO, Winning Chess Openings, etc. and learn the openings I play little by little. I just want to attest to how well this is working for me! I have had several opening books for quite awhile, but not until I started looking at every game did the information in those books really start to sink in. I just wanted to help encourage your students that this method does work and it doesn't take hours and hours of effort to see results." - Jay Arendt - Tim McGrew's article: picking openings

- Jan 2004:  The Goal Each Move - You must know what this is! In the final paragraph addressing the problem in Ward's The Improver's It's Your Move Black's 8th move and subsequent analysis is incorrect. Correct is " 8.Kg6 Ke6! 9.Kg5 Ke5 10.Kh4 Kd4 11.Kg3 Ke5 The diagonal opposition is OK here since White cannot get behind Black’s King 12.Kf2 Kd4 13.Ke1 Ke5 14.Kd2 Ke4" with a draw.

 

 2003

- Dec 2003: The Most Important Tactic - Learn what this is...[After 6.Bg5, in the game it should be 6...c6 7.h3?? not 7.e3??"]

- Nov 2003: Traits of a Good Chessplayer - It's not just IQ! See also Every Good Chessplayer and this Scientific American article! If you want to know more about the "chunking" discussed in Scientific American, you might like my Everyone's 2nd Chess Book; I should have included "If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs..." (Kipling)

- Oct 2003: Excerpt: Looking for Trouble

- Sep 2003: Chess Exercises - for additional exercises, see my Exercise Page

- Aug 2003: Novice Nook's Chess Lists (includes a Guide to prior Novice Nooks!)

- Jul 2003:  A Fistful of Lessons - instructive sample positions and what you can learn from them. Misc #2

- Jun 2003: Learning From Dr. de Groot - CJA 1st Prize, Best Web-based Instruction 2003-2004!

- May 2003: A Tactics Quiz A. Torrecillas: "I tried; 93 seconds for all 12 correct results, that means 2394; actually I'm 2389"

- Apr 2003: Evaluation Criteria - see Evaluation Quiz and IM Larry Kaufman's award-winning article The Evaluation of Material Imbalances

- Mar 2003: King + Pawn vs. King (A follow-up to this NN starts on page 6 of the July '04 NN)

- Feb 2003: Using the Computer to Improve (Mig Greengard's article on Fritz overnight mode and Steve Lopez'...Lopez' article on analysis). All archived computer articles: ChessOK...ChessBaseCafe

- Jan 2003:  Revisiting the Seeds of Tactical Destruction

 

 2002

- Dec 2002: The 10 Biggest Roadblocks to Improvement - includes an addition to my book Elements of Positional Evaluation; (after reading The 10 Biggest..., see Breaking Down Barriers)

- Nov 2002: K&P&? vs. K - This is NOT about King and one pawn vs. King - instead see Mar 2003
- Oct 2002: Finding A Good Instructor
- Sep 2002: A Positional Primer
- Aug 2002: An Improvement Plan - updated link for online slow games

     Similar subject: Michael de la Maza's 400 Points in 400 Days article Parts 1 and 2. Jeremy Silman's review of de la Maza's book Rapid Chess Improvement and download a forks and skewers tool

          Best Basic Tactical Sets: 1.My book Back to Basics: Tactics 2.Bain's Chess Tactics for Students 3.Coakley's Winning Chess Strategy for Kids

- Jul 2002:  It's Not Really Winning a Tempo! - possibly the most underrated Novice Nook
- Jun 2002:  Break Moves: Opening Lines to Increase Mobility - first move after diagram on p.4 should be 3.cxd5, not 3.cxd4.
- May 2002: The Road to Carnegie Hall - about the importance of practice, balancing it with theory!
- Apr 2002: A Counting Primer - Click here to see the correct first diagram on page 3. Also, in the 2nd diagram on p.3 the White King is on g1.Introductory video on Safety & Counting.
- Mar 2002: A Generic Thought Process
- Feb 2002: When You're Winning It's a Whole Different Game - e-mail from a student: "During the games somehow I managed to be up a piece by the mid-middle game (in each game) and then I really relied on your list of five things to do when you’re winning.  It worked very well. I did catch myself several times wanting to ignore the 5 rules, but I stuck to the list and won every game. "
- Jan 2002:  Analysis and Evaluation

 

 2001
- Dec 2001: Techniques - K&P endgame tic-tac-toe explained; bishop pair; Tempo Count; Misc #1
- Nov 2001: Real Chess, Time Management, and Care: Putting it All Together - In the Saavedra problem at the back, Black's first move is 1...Rd6+, not 1...Rc6+
- Oct 2001: The Six Common Chess States CJA 1st Prize, Best Instruction 2001-2002!
- Sep 2001: The Underrated Removal of the Guard
- Aug 2001: The Most Common Opening Tactics - typo: In the Riga variation line showing the Phantom Pin, after 7.Re1 the moves 7...d5 8.Nxd4 are missing before "7...Bc5", which thus should be "8...Bc5" etc.
- July 2001: Chess Books and Prerequisites - A popular download article
- June 2001: The Seeds of Tactical Destruction - see also this interesting link on helping find tactics
- May 2001: A Different Approach to Studying Tactics
- Apr 2001: Going to Sleep in the Endgame
- Mar 2001: Understanding Improvement and Elements of Chess Strength-7 aspects of improvement; 3 problems
- Feb 2001: Helping You Through the Jungle - introduces safety and activity

Novice Nooks by Subject (T=Theoretical/new ideas about improvement!)

1. Thought Process (see also The Thinking Cap articles!)
The Secrets to 'Real' Chess^T; Applying Steinitz' Laws^T; Real Chess, Time Management, and Care: Putting it All Together; Analysis and Evaluation; A Generic Thought Process; Evaluation Criteria^T; Learning From Dr. de Groot^T; Excerpt: Looking for Trouble; The Goal Each Move; Improving Analysis Skills; Evaluation Quiz; Quiescence Errors; The Principle of Tactical Dominance^T; Initial and Final Candidate Moves^T; The Two Triggers^T (also time mgmt); Making Chess Simple; Critical and Principal Variations; Bootstrapping Analysis Skills; The Fun of Pros and Cons; Chess Is Decisions

2. Time Management:  
Real Chess, Time Management, and Care: Putting it All Together; Time Management During a Chess Game^T; The Case for Time Management^T; Time Management Tales; The Two Triggers^T (also thinking process); Slowing Down; Criticality Quiz; Getting the Edge (Primarily the reader question at the end); Acquiescing^T ; The Room Full of Grandmasters

3. General Improvement: 
Helping You Through the Jungle; Understanding Improvement and Elements of Chess Strength; Chess Books and Prerequisites; An Improvement Plan; The Road to Carnegie Hall; Finding A Good Instructor; Using the Computer to Improve; Novice Nook's Chess Lists; Chess Exercises;  Enhancing Your First Tournament Experience;  Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur; The Big Five;  Reviewing Chess Games; The Theory of Chess Improvement^T; The Four Homeworks; The Most Common OTB Mistakes; Novice Nook Quiz; Beginner Misconceptions; Getting the Edge; Anders' Game; Accidental and Purposeful Errors; The Improvement Feedback Loop; Novice Nook 100: The Best Novice Nook Ideas; The Mind Reading Fish

4. Shorter Subjects, Helpful, Lesson/Tip-Type Material (these Novice Nooks are very instructive!): 
 Techniques; A Fistful of Lessons; Examples of Chess Logic; Odds and Ends;

5. Skills and Psychology:
The 10 Biggest Roadblocks to Improvement (mostly non-psychological); Traits of a Good Chessplayer; Chess, Learning, and Fun^T; Every Good Chessplayer; Breaking a Slump; Breaking Down Barriers (psychological); The Fun of Pros and Cons

6. Endgame:  
Going to Sleep in the Endgame^T; K&P&? vs. K; King + Pawn vs. King; (also: Enhancing Your First Tournament Experience includes addendum to K&P vs. K on p.6); Trading Pawns When Ahead; Trading When Ahead or Behind; The Endgame Bind

7. Openings:
Opening Principles; Learning Opening Lines and Ideas; The Most Common Opening Inaccuracies; How to Use MCO-14

8. Tactics (*=These NN's enhanced in my book Back to Basics: Tactics): 
A Different Approach to Studying Tactics; The Seeds of Tactical Destruction*; Revisiting the Seeds of Tactical Destruction*; The Most Common Opening Tactics; The Underrated Removal of the Guard; A Counting Primer*^T; A Tactics Quiz; The Most Important Tactic*; Is There a Win*?; A Defense Primer; When is a King Safe?; Is It Safe?; The Two Types of Counting Problems^T; The Inadequately Guarded Piece; The Safety Table' The Five Ways to Make  Piece Safe

9. Strategy/Positional Play: 
The Six Common Chess States^T; Techniques; Break Moves: Opening Lines to Increase Mobility; It's Not Really Winning a Tempo!^T; A Positional Primer; Evaluation Criteria^T; A Planning Primer; A Guide to P-R3; The Most Important Strategical Decisions; Activity is the Real Goal^T; The Principle of Symmetry^T; Chess Principles and Common Sense; The Three Types of Reasonable Threats^T; The Fundamental Theorem of Safety and Activity^T; Similar Positions, Different Evaluations; Strong Principles vs. Important Principles^T

10. Winning Won Games ("technique"):

When You're Winning it's a Whole Different Game^T; Trading Pawns When Ahead; Trading When Ahead or Behind; Don't Allow the Floobly; The Margin for Error^T 

...Skip the ad for the book at the start - the real article starts at the bottom of the page.

My book review of Survival Guide for Parents by Tanya Jones

This article won CJA tie-1st Prize, Best Web Review 2003-2004

  My other book reviews

   The Secrets to 'Real' Chess - a must for all adults - One of the best and most original articles I ever wrote (until the Novice Nooks, of course!).    Honorable Mention "Best Web Article 1999-00" by the Chess Journalists of America. - note my email address at the end of this article is my old email that no longer is valid. For further writings on this same subject see the Novice Nook Real Chess, Time Management, and Care: Putting it All Together and Thinking Cap 4

  Time Management During a Chess Game
  - recommended by "Searching for Bobby Fischer" coach Bruce Pandolfini:
                    "Dan, Good column. I'm going to refer it to all my students.
                    Best Regards, Bruce Pandolfini" - e-mail from Bruce, Nov 16, 1999

                    See also the Novice Nook The Case for Time Management

  Applying Steinitz' Laws - The basis for all planning and positional play. Don't know what to look for on a move?  Read this! (Steinitz' Laws)

The following should be the first diagram on page 3 of Apr 2002: A Counting Primer.

The following should be the first diagram on page 7 of Jan 2005: A Guide to P-R3

My Favorite Novice Nooks (based on originality and content)

1. The Two Move Triggers

2. The Principle of Symmetry

3. It's Not Really Winning a Tempo!  

4. The Theory of Chess Improvement

5. The Six Common Chess States

6. When You're Winning It's a Whole Different Game

7. Examples of Chess Logic - specifically my best-ever (but advanced) problem on page 5.

Novice Nooks by Alphabetical Order:

A Counting Primer

A Defense Primer

A Different Approach to Studying Tactics

A Fistful of Lessons

A Generic Thought Process 

A Guide to P-R3

A Planning Primer

A Positional Primer

A Tactics Quiz

Accidental and Purposeful Errors

Acquiescing

Activity is the Real Goal

An Improvement Plan

Analysis and Evaluation 

Anders' Game

Applying Steinitz' Laws

Beginner Misconceptions

Bootstrapping Analysis Skills

Break Moves: Opening Lines to Increase Mobility

Breaking a Slump

Breaking Down Barriers

Chess Books and Prerequisites

Chess Exercises  

Chess Is Decisions

Chess, Learning, and Fun

Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur

Chess Principles and Common Sense

Critical and Principal Variations

Criticality Quiz

Don't Allow the Floobly

Enhancing Your First Tournament Experience

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation Quiz

Every Good Chessplayer

Examples of Chess Logic

Excerpt: Looking for Trouble

Finding A Good Instructor

Getting the Edge  

Going to Sleep in the Endgame

Helping You Through the Jungle; 

How to Use MCO-14

Improving Analysis Skills

Initial and Final Candidate Moves

Is It Safe?

Is There a Win

It's Not Really Winning a Tempo!

K&P&? vs. K

King + Pawn vs. King

Learning From Dr. de Groot

Learning Opening Lines and Ideas

Making Chess Simple

Novice Nook 100: The Best Novice Nook Ideas

Novice Nook Quiz

Novice Nook's Chess Lists

Odds and Ends
Opening Principles

Quiescence Errors

Real Chess, Time Management, and Care: Putting it All Together

Reviewing Chess Games

Revisiting the Seeds of Tactical Destruction  

Similar Positions, Different Evaluations

Slowing Down

Strong Principles vs. Important Principles

Techniques

The Big Five

The Case for Time Management  

The Endgame Bind

The Five Ways to Make  Piece Safe

The Four Homeworks

The Fun of Pros and Cons

The Fundamental Theorem of Safety and Activity

The Goal Each Move

The Inadequately Guarded Piece  

The Improvement Feedback Loop

The Margin for Error  

The Mind Reading Fish

The Most Common Opening Inaccuracies

The Most Common Opening Tactics

The Most Common OTB Mistakes

The Most Important Strategical Decisions

The Most Important Tactic

The Principle of Symmetry

The Principle of Tactical Dominance 

The Road to Carnegie Hall  

The Room Full of Grandmasters

The Safety Table

The Secrets to 'Real' Chess

The Seeds of Tactical Destruction

The Six Common Chess States

The 10 Biggest Roadblocks to Improvement

The Theory of Chess Improvement

The Three Types of Reasonable Threats

The Two Triggers 

The Two Types of Counting Problems

The Underrated Removal of the Guard

Time Management During a Chess Game

Time Management Tales

Trading Pawns When Ahead

Trading Pawns When Ahead

Trading When Ahead or Behind

Trading When Ahead or Behind

Traits of a Good Chessplayer

Understanding Improvement and Elements of Chess Strength

Using the Computer to Improve

When is a King Safe

When You're Winning it's a Whole Different Game

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