Chess Improvement

Written by Barry Hymer and Peter Wells, Chess Improvement: It’s all in the mindset is an engaging and instructive guide that sets out how the application of growth mindset principles can accelerate chess improvement.

With Tim Kett and insights from Michael Adams, David Howell, Harriet Hunt, Gawain Jones, Luke McShane, Matthew Sadler and Nigel Short.
Foreword by Henrik Carlsen, father of world champion Magnus Carlsen.

Twenty-first-century knowledge about skills development and expertise requires us to keep such mystical notions as fixed ‘talent’ in perspective, and to emphasise instead the dynamic and malleable nature of these concepts.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in chess, where many gifted players fall prey to plausible but self-defeating beliefs and practices – and thereby fail to achieve the levels their ‘natural’ abilities predicted. Happily, however, the reverse can be true too; through learned dispositions such as grit, risk-taking, strategic thinking and a capacity for sheer hard work, players of apparently modest abilities can achieve impressive results.

Blending theory, practice and the distinct but complementary skills of two authors – one an academic (and amateur chess player) and the other a highly regarded England Chess Olympiad coach (and grandmaster) – Chess Improvement is an invaluable resource for any aspirational chess player or coach/parent of a chess player.

Barry and Peter draw on interviews conducted with members of England’s medal-winning elite squad of players and provide a template for chess improvement rooted in the practical wisdom of experienced chess players and coaches.

They also include practical illustrative descriptions from the games and chess careers of both developing and leading players, and pull together themes and suggestions in a way which encourages readers to create their own trajectories for chess improvement.

Suitable for any chess player, or coach or parent of a chess player.

Professor Barry Hymer is one of the country’s foremost authorities on cultivating a growth mindset and a much in demand speaker who has worked closely with Carol Dweck on several UK mindset conference tours. He is interested in helping schools with practical ways to foster growth mindsets in their pupils.

Grandmaster Peter Wells has over 30 years’ professional experience in the chess world and has authored or co-authored nine well-received chess books. He has extensive coaching experience, having worked with the England Open and women’s teams at a total of 16 major events, and now works with the leading English juniors through the Chess Trust’s Accelerator Programme. As a player Peter has won three British Rapidplay titles and is part of a small group of English players to have progressed beyond the zonal stage of the World Championship cycle.