Barden Leonard. Play Better Chess

Octopus Books, 1980. — 144 p. — ISBN13: 978-0706409673.Improving one's ability as a chess player is not an easy task.The physical development of muscles on arms or legs can be easily achieved by training with weights. Training will also help improve speed at running or swimming. But how much time and effort must be spent at chess to have any effect? Thousands of people play chess regularly but never improve their game at all.At one time I studied the text-books of Lasker, Capablanca and Euwe. I admired Euwe's lectures for their consistent and logical approach, but I particularly remember Lasker's manual. He was a real optimist, writing that in just 1 20 hours he could teach a novice to such a high standard that he would be able to stand up to a master. I don't know how many players have followed Lasker's advice but, frankly, there is still a great distance between those who know how to avoid blunders and those who think independently, who can play openings, who appreciate the subtleties of chess strategy - I mean masters.' One does not have to be a grandmaster to tutor young chess players successfully. The ability to teach is something quite special. I never really managed to teach my own son to play chess. He would pester me to play, but I would point to a book on the shelf and say 'First, read this book and then we will play.' For a ten year old like him, chess was a game, like an electric train, but for me it is a profession, my work. I could not understand his attitude to chess, nor could he understand mine.The task of a teacher is to discover talent in a pupil, to rouse his enthusiasm and only then to make him an expert by keeping him regularly occupied with new and increasingly complex problems.I would like to introduce the author of this book- well-known as a teacher of British juniors. In 1972 money was made available for chess education for j unior players in London, and it was Leonard Barden who worked with them. In 1976 I had an opportunity to become an inspector of this 'kindergarten'. I played a simul­taneous display with London schoolboys on 30 boards. The dis­play lasted over seven hours and was exhausting, although enjoyable, work. I was held to a draw by no less than ll players and lost to one. In 1979 Boris Spassky also put Leonard Barden's
work to the test. Spassky won 13 games, lost five and drew the remainder!In 1978 and 1979 the young generation of British chess players, tutored in part by Leonard Barden, received the highest accolade, winning the World School boys' Championship.I do not want to intrude into Leonard Barden's field of teaching, for in education he is a respected expert. But as a leading chess player I am often asked the same questions. At the risk of repeat­ing the contents of this book, I will attempt to answer some of them.