One thing I find interesting in all of my lessons - is the fact that I have to repeat myself so often. As a result I use many metaphors and analogies for students based on sports, movies, common experiences and such to convey strategic chess understanding ...
Never-the-less, I end up again repeating myself.
My strongest student to date, Marc Arnold (now about 2430), has either a great memory or disciplined attention to detail - as far as his game is concerned.
While trying to get him to study for himself seemed nearly impossible, the countless hours we spent together were always rewarded. Often he would question a principle or motif as I would point it out in a master game, that it was not what I had told him previously. Curiously, I would quiz him on the circumstances of our previous encounter with the motif and he would mention the name of the player (i.e. Paul Keres) or the opening to jar my memory ... and I would then simply explain what happened then, what's happening now, and how the current position is an exception or a clarification to the motif of our experience. Marc always seemed to get what I told him the first time it was said - and he would categorize it correctly, with nearly all of the details in order.
If something is important to you, pay attention to detail, whether or not you have such an excellent memory.
-John MacArthur
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