Chess Classes w/ Dima Barash

Dima Barash – International Grandmaster, the Champion of the USSR (1983-86) by chess correspondence.

I started learning chess very late – at 7th grade, and all my life I took breaks in chess – to obtain my Masters at University, and then for work. Accidentally I found convenient for me a specific type of chess – correspondence chess. I worked hard for 7 years to win the championship of the U.S.S.R. by correspondence, which I won in 1986. Following this I became a grandmaster and had the 6th highest rating in the world (2665) for correspondence chess in 1991. With the development of chess engines, I stopped playing correspondence chess. Over the board I won the Maryland championship in 2000, and then quit playing over the board chess as well.

As a person and as a chess player I would not have been where I am today without the love and help of my dad, Felix Barash, a wonderful person and an expert in chess.

Chess – an amazing activity, developing in a child the following characteristics:

• memory, concentration, creativity, patience
• the ability to devise plans, compare different possibilities, think ahead, think abstractly, prioritization
• attentiveness, persistence, objectivity, independence
• the ability to think in your head
• and others

And all of these are learned by the child in the most natural way – by playing the game!