Suppose I wanted to learn to be a chess journalist. Unlike most individuals who might put themselves forward for such a job – knowledgeable chess players who need to learn to write well – I’m a knowledgeable journalist who needs to learn to think about chess in the terms that the chess community wants to read about. Who would be the experienced chess journalists to whom I ought to apprentice myself?
No Guts, No Glory.
Seriously, just write articles about chess.
Study chess history, and get a feel for the more famous players of the past, and get a good idea of the current chess politics. Oh ya, and don’t forget to have good grasp of which chess players are current world champion material, and passing knowledge of which players are top for thier country.
It doesn’t hurt to follow the junior chess circuit either. Never know when a new prodigy will come out of the woodwork.
Otherwise, I don’t think you need any special training to write articles. Start with nice articles about local tournaments/players, maybe some interviews, etc. Then slowly graduate to more serious issues as your knowledge expands.
A great way to really get a grasp of chess, from a journalism point of view, is to help run some mid sized to large tournaments. There is always plenty of stuff to do in a tournament, other than being a TD. I’ve helped run some very large (200+ kids) scholastic tournaments and its pretty fun, even if your not a TD.
What is it you think a ‘chess journalist’ writes?
Articles on chess, for players of chess. Duh.
I know how to tell a good story; the tricky bit is knowing what story to tell, and which details are meaningful and important to the reader. I imagine this demands a degree of “board awareness” – ability to read a position at a glance – that I’m not sure I possess yet. Scratch that: I’m sure that I don’t possess it yet. It’s like, I can watch a baseball game and respond to what I see, but without any certainty that what I see is the same as what a lifelong baseball fanatic sees, let alone what a person who’s played pro baseball sees. So part of learning to write about chess, I’d expect, would be learning to see chess the way a strong player does. Wouldn’t it?
You missed the point. Are the articles you would choose to write ones that explain how to play some aspect of chess well? (Most are.)
If so, you probably need to be a strong PLAYER as well as a strong WRITER. I think this is one of those situations where you really need to be able to do it in order to be able to write about how to do it.
I’d think the first step towards becoming a writer of any type is to read a lot of the type of thing you’re planning to write.
One resource may be: http://chessjournalism.org/index.htm
You would probably be able to write the “Human interest” side of chess stories… Doing interviews and giving feel for tournaments and atmosphere’s without getting in depth about the games. You could get one of the PGN writers to just include game scores and such, or get someone you know that is more knowledgeble to annotate or such.
I agree. Talk to some of the older players in your area and they are likely to have tons of experiences. Some chessplayers can be interesting and colorful people. Of course, the opposite can also be true but you get to choose what stories you use.
There are many very good young writers out there, Jen, Josh, Joel, Greg, Abby, Elisabeth, Irina. Read some of their articles, for a limited guideline.
I always enjoyed fpawn, and Jerry Hankins articles, because they add some human interest, and a dash of humor. Don’t get to technical, if it is not necessary. Human interest is lacking in a lot of articles( I assume because of space). But it is a needed. I am sure many Chess Players (average ratings) enjoy learning something about the person as well as their chess ability. Just a thought from one, who cannot but together a good sentence. 
No, I’m talking about feature stories, tournament coverage, that sort of thing – not a “grandmaster column.”
As the story goes, someone asked Ernest Hemingway what they had to do to become a writer. He answered, “Write.”
I would suggest you first read any and everything you can get your hands on pertaining to chess. Read Hans Ree’s column on Chess Cafe every month. Read his book, The Human Comedy of Chess A Grandmaster’s Chronicles. The King, by GM Donner is a must! King’s Gambit: A Son, A Father, and the World’s Most Dangerous Game by Paul Hoffman, is a recent book writen by an accomplished author (He wrote: THE MAN WHO LOVED ONLY NUMBERS: THE STORY OF PAUL ERDOS AND THE SEARCH FOR MATHEMATICAL TRUTH). Russian Silhouettes by Genna Sosonko is another in this vein. Order a subscription to the best chess magazine ever, New in Chess immediately!
This is a start…
The other aspect, if one is aspiring to be a professional… one can read poor writing, as well. This way one learns how not to write. 
Though one runs the risk of learning bad habits by accident. And one could also read and make judgement calls about whether one likes the writing or not - to focus individual style.
I’m trying to learn brevity, as I find I tend to ramble on much more than I need to.
For example, I could have just said, “I’m learning brevity.” 
Or I could have left the last sentence out.
Or that one. :mrgreen:
But one can learn by critiquing what one reads - as long as one does write, as well.
When the Vulcan stops Laughing, he will, hopefully, learn to NOT end a sentence with a preposition.
Doubtful, as I would then not know what to end a sentence with. Hence my sentences would run on forever, sleep nothwithstanding. It would be nothing but drivel throughout. (Not that this present screed isn’t, though.)
But I shall keep your sage advice in mind. (No, seriously.) In my defense I was taught that not ending sentences with prepositions is not absolutely sacred. Nor the occasional double negative. They do actually have a place in this world. I do it too much, though.
(bolding added)
I see a no-no, and LV didn’t write the post it is contained in. (there must be an easier way to get a preposition out on the end of that sentence!)
Write a chess blog. There are many out there written both by grandmasters and patzers. Some people write about their own experiences, others write about tournaments they’re following. Some people do instructional pieces, or chess improvement pieces.
Just find something chess wise you want to write about, and post on your blog. Read other people’s chess blogs, and comment on their posts. At first you may feel like nobody is reading, but if you comment on others blogs, and reference their articles if they tie into what you’re writing about, you’d be surprised to find out who is reading. If you’re a good writer and have interesting articles people will come back.
A friendly tip about blogging. Don’t go onto every chess blog and leave a comment like “Hi I like your blog. Please add my blog to your link list, and I’ll do the same for you.” If you like a blog, add it to your link list. People will add yours if they like it.
It is perfectly fine to end a sentence with a preposition.
For some people ending a sentence with a preposition is something up with which they will not put.
I read something interesting last night. If an ending preposition (or any prepositional phrase) can be deleted without changing the meaning or intent of a sentence then delete it. It is similar to the rule of thumb that if an adjective can be deleted for being unnecessary then delete it.
My phrasing might be attributable to typing in a stream-of-consciousness mode. I may be ending with prepositions because of conjuncting one sentence to the next in my head. (And not doing much self editing before typing, nor refining my draft text.)
But I digress.