Three Ways To Learn Chess Strategy

By Mark Beljaars

Many of us, we play a game of chess now and then, we really enjoy the game, but we never really took the time to sit down and actually learn chess strategy. It's not that we're not passionate, it's just... Well, maybe we've got too much going on or we never really knew where to look, so the inner Sun Tzu stays dormant. If this is you, if you really want to know how to think and play like a pro, here are three things you can do that should help you to hone your strategic thinking and really know what you're doing on the checkered board...

Get a Teacher

Join a chess club or group in your area, play a few games, and see if anyone there is willing to show you the ropes. You can learn a lot on your own, but chess is... Like Karate. You don't become a black belt by punching a heavy bag forever, you need to get a sensei and actually learn what it's all about. The same goes for Chess. You can learn a lot being self taught, but having proper guidance will really help you.

Play Every Day

Start a chess club at the office, play online during your lunch hour, find some people at the park to play with, teach your wife or roommate how to play. Just make sure you get a game in every single day, even if it's you vs. You. If you don't play every single day, you won't remember what you've learned. And remember, you learn more from losing than you ever do from winning, so try to go up against people at a skill level slightly higher than your own.

Read Up

Get some books from the library, read online, and learn all the standard tricks and tactics. Obviously, the strategies you learn won't, alone, be enough to always guarantee a win, but having a good vocabulary of the common strategies, and their counter-strategies, will be a big help in getting you on your way and helping you learn how to think like a chess master. - 31483

About the Author:

Learning Chess Strategy is not as difficult as you might think. Learn how to play for free at beginnerchess.org.

Old Fashioned Board Games

By Tim Frazier

Board games are a great source of entertainment on days when kids cannot play outside, yet often teach valuable skills. Think back to the board games you played as a child and may still play now. Scrabble is an incredibly popular board game and now you can give your children, grandchildren or even your students a chance at playing with Bananagrams. It is simple and easy for young children to enjoy all of the fun of combining letters into words without worrying about points or such.

When you see the package for Bananagrams you quickly realize where the name comes from. The tiles come in a banana shaped and colored bag. The game is really simple to learn. It is just like Scrabble in that you have to use the tiles you have to create words in a crossword puzzle shape. It really does help kids learn to think quickly and creatively.

It is the ability to see random letters and form words that is so important. It teaches the mind to quickly see correlating letters. The more your child plays this game, the faster he or she will learn to put words together. It is absolutely fantastic for teaching them new words as well. The quicker they complete the game, the more points they win. It really is simple to master and the rules are incredibly easy to follow.

Another great thing about this game is that even adults can play. One user wrote a review and made the suggestion that if adults are playing with kids, they should change the rules about getting new tiles a bit. Let the child draw one time but when it comes your turn and you need to draw from the tile pile, draw two instead. This game can provide countless hours of fun or it can be used for a small distraction such as at the doctor's office. It is very portable and can be played quickly. That is definitely a plus when you consider that games such as Monopoly can take hours to finish.

Let's face it...there are a lot of board games on the market these days. Some are exclusively for small children and some are for older kids. Bananagrams is a game that is for any age group. You and your adult friends can have as much fun playing this game as your children do with their friends. When you play this game with your children you can help them increase their vocabulary and even improve their spelling skills. Add in the fact that it is really inexpensive and you have a winning combination. - 31483

About the Author:

Want to find out more about educational toddler toys, then visit Another Concerned Parent's site on how to choose the best baby and infant educational toys for your needs.

Text or Not to Text with the LeapFrog Text and Learn

By Tim Frazier

If you own a cell phone, then you may have heard of text messaging. Text messaging has really become a popular way for many people to communicate with other people. You can even get weather updates, Facebook updates and notifications about bills through text messaging. By far the largest user group is teens. Teens easily send thousands of text messages each month. It is natural for small children to want to experience that as well but you do not want to hand them a cell phone. You can try the LeapFrog Text and Learn.

The LeapFrog Text and Learn is not a cell phone nor is it a real texting device. The truth is that it is a hand held gaming device that allows small kids to pretend to text. It even features a QWERTY keyboard just like your own cell phone has provided you have a newer model cell phone that is designed for texting. Your child gets to pretend to text.

The games your child can play on the Text and Learn are primarily focused on them learning the alphabet, improving their typing and learning rhyming. Those are beneficial as long as they do not pick up the "text talk" that is so prevalent among text users. An example of texting language is "U R gr8" which translates to: you are great. It may not seem like a big deal for some but for many it really does hamper spelling skills.

A huge downside of this toy is that it is specifically designed to communicate with the LeapFrog My Pal Scout. Scout is a stuffed puppy that receives the texts and the child can have online adventures with but you have to know up front that the Text and Talk does not come with this pal. You will have to pay an additional $20.00 to own him.

Another downside is that you cannot download or buy any additional games. So this makes this toy pretty much a one shot wonder. It is not expensive, though, which is the bright side. You can easily find this toy for around $24.00 which makes it pretty inexpensive as far as electronic gadgets are concerned.

It really is a toss up on whether the LeapFrog Text and Learn is truly an educational toy. Granted it does have games that teach your child his or her alphabet but truth be told...there are a lot of educational toys that do the same thing. Leap Frog has a wide assortment of toys that may be better suited and far more practical than pretending to send text messages. Your child will have ample enough opportunity when he or she gets older to send plenty of text messages. - 31483

About the Author:

Learn more about Educational Toddler Toys. Stop by Tim Frazier's site where you can find out all about board games and what it can do for you.