Submitting for reviews/reports
Congratulations!
You have a unique opportunity to test your skills and compare them against
thousands of players from all over the world. You have a chance to evaluate
your strength, find out areas you need to focus to improve. And all will be
relative to other players (Unrated to Grandmaster) who took the test.
I
have very carefully selected 200 challenging questions (100 positions) that I
have successfully used during my 20+ years career as a top-level player
(Highest USCF rating 2640) and coach. Each position tests your understanding,
knowledge and ability to
calculate
the best choice as well as to eliminate the bad ones. Strategy and Tactics,
Middlegame and Endgame, Attack and Defense, etc…. – all the essential
components of the chess will be tested!
I
expect you to find this positions very challenging, but they will surely
identify your problem areas and help you to focus your training on them. This
test should be taken by anyone from Unrated (but experienced player) to
Grandmaster. Upon completion, you will be able to see how you did comparing to
players of your level as well as to players from other levels.
How
cool would it be to find out that you have higher score on the "Pawn
Endgame" topics than 50% of players with 2400+ rating! On the other hand,
if you know that your score on "Tactics" is less than 90% in your
group level, you know that this is where you will need to improve! I will also
suggest books/materials that should help you improve in these areas!
Because
positions are not easy, I suggest you to set up each position on the real
board. Give yourself 10-30 minutes per position. Since you want an accurate
evaluation I strongly suggest that you do not use any advise (human or PC).
Even if you have no idea, take your best shot! In some instances, you are awarded
point(s) even for less than best choice!
You
can take a break at any time. The program will keep your answers and when you
come back it will allow you to continue from where you left off.
Once
you have answered all 200 questions (100 positions) you will have access to
unique reports that will analyze your skills by comparing your answers against
thousands of other players who tried the test.
Also
your chess profile and selections that you made will be stored in the TEXT file
ANSWER.TXT.
This
is the fully operational DEMO version. Except for some reporting features
everything else is available.
As
you go through the test, you will have an opportunity to see all of the
features, but some may gradually become unavailable! However, you are entitled
to FREE upgrade! To get FREE upgraded version with most of the features
activated you should submit ANSWER.TXT that will be created once you answer all
of the questions. Please reply to ChessReport@yahoo.com
This
is it! Go ahead try it! Good luck!
IM
Igor Khmelnitsky
P.S.
Remember this is a tool from the coach and not your typical commercial program.
Should you have any problems with running the model due to older Excel version
or bad downloading, I have thought about ways around them. Check the FAQ/ERROR
below or visit my www-site for help.
Please
follow these steps exactly before running the program
As you go through the test some of your work will be
stored and additional file(s) Answer.txt and *.xls may be created. Do not erase
anything!
Any
problems – check FAQ/ERROR
Any
problems – check FAQ/ERROR
To
submit your ANSWER.txt you have two choices -
1.
Compose
e-mail message-attach ANSWER.txt and send me of your e-mail--send me at
ChessReport@yahoo.com
2.
Compose
e-mail message--Open ANSWER.txt in NOTEPAD by double-clicking in Windows
Explorer--“Select-All”--“Copy”--“Paste” in the body of your e-mail--send me of
your e-mail--send me at ChessReport@yahoo.com.
Any
problems – check FAQ/ERROR
Please
read introduction carefully. It clearly explains why should you take this test
and how you should go about doing that.
Study
each position very seriously. You can’t change you answers. You don’t want to
cheat and ask PC or human for help as you will be the only one to loose! There
are no prizes here, but you can get an honest evaluation of your skills!
Check
my FAQ for update information from other users –
www.IamCoach.com/chess/test/faq.htm
The
following errors have been reported so far –
Problem
with downloading – you have to be patient. The files with the diagrams are large – 1MB
each. Tried it a few more times. Contact your Internet service provider and ask
for help. If everything else fails – try simplified version of may test.
It is as functional as the main version, but has virtually no automation and
requires some manual work to print diagrams, questions/choices and store your
answers. Visit my www site and try ALTERNATIVE INSTALL.
Problems
with unzipping – you have to have a software that can Zip/Unzip files. 99% of
computers are equipped with one. If you are not that lucky, you can download
fully functional program from www.winzip.com.
My zip files should be stores in C:\Chesstest\test1-3 folder and double-click
each file or right-click and select “Extract to…” or “Open with Winzip”.
Problems
with running the model – three possible problems.
3.
Your
Excel version is not compatible with the Test.xls (written and tested in Excel
2000). This is a tough one. I am a coach and this is just a tool. I can’t
accommodate all of the Excel versions Microsoft will put on the market.
However, I would like to help and have created simplified version where you
don’t need Excel. Visit my www site and try ALTERNATIVE INSTALL.
4.
If
you see “DEMO” label where you used to see score or explanation, this is not an
error. It is a protection and when you receive upgraded version it will be
removed.
5.
Error
#76 – is one of the most common errors – due to improperly installed picture
files.
6.
PLEASE
READ CAREFULLY - the following random Excel Error has been reported - the
Diagram picture doesn't refresh and you can see the same Diagram for more than
1 question, or the Diagrams change, but do not correspond to the questions.
Since this is a bug in Excel, it can't be corrected, but CAN BE EASILY avoided!
As soon as you suspect this Error, immediately Exit out of the test by clicking
<Exit> or <x> and then start it again. The Diagram should re-fresh!
This
is the list of problems that either was reported or anticipated). If you think
your information will help, please report any other problems you encounter!