5 Study Habits All Chess Players Should Follow: Top Blogger Edition!

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my blog! Before I start talking about 5 Study Habits All Chess Players Should Follow, I have a very special announcement:

As you may know, I recently (5 hours ago at the time of writing) got Top Blogger Status! Thanks so much to all of my supporters and followers, I couldn't have made it here without you! I'm going to try to post more consistently, hopefully on a weekly basis .

With that being said, let's start looking at the best ways to study/improve at chess. Obviously, there is no "best way" to study, you have to try different methodologies and see what works for you! Here are 5 study habits that I believe will help you be more efficient at studying chess! (or anything, for that matter. But this article is still geared towards chess ).

1. Consistency > Amount of Time Spent

The basic idea here is that it's much better to spend 15 minutes a day working on improving at chess than it is to spend 120 minutes, but all crammed in on one day. Although technically if you multiply 15 x 7 = 105 minutes weekly, which is less than 120, things you learn stick better in your brain when you learn on a consistent basis. Therefore, work on setting up a study schedule that involves consistency on a daily (or regular) basis.

2. Figure Out Your Weakness

Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in both chess and in life overall. In order to improve efficiently, you must identify what you're bad at, and put more emphasis on improving that aspect of your game. Just because a GM or IM spends the bulk of their time on tactics doesn't mean that'll be the best for you. 

3. Change it up every once in a while

Well... this is awkward. I just told you to focus your time and energy on what you're the worst at, and now I'm telling you to work on a variety of topics??? Here's the point: Even if you are bad at let's say... tactics, you don't want to spend all of your time on tactics. Eventually, the rate of improvement will decrease if your mind is so focused on just one thing. Mix it up every once a while. No matter what, don't spend 100% of your time on one aspect of your game. You can spend more time on something you're weak at, but work on other things, too!

4. Everyone has BAD DAYS

Accept it. There are some days where you're just not feeling up to it, or maybe you're just tilting and not in the mood for studying chess. Don't force yourself to continue studying! Take a day off. Play some bullet/blitz for fun. Go read a book. Go outside for a nice jog. Whatever you want to do with that time, make sure that you let your mind rest and focus on something else. Everyone needs a break sometimes

5. Stay Focused

No matter what you're working on, stay focused. If you find yourself thinking about something else, looking at something else, talking to someone else, or doing anything but studying chess in the time you've reserved for chess, THAT's NOT GOOD. Everyone has 24 hours a day. It's up to you to maximize your efficiency and to make the most out of those 24 hours every day. If you're studying chess, study chess. If you're playing a game, focus on that. Work hard, play hard!

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this blog post! If you did, make sure to comment down below what other studying techniques you use to improve your game. Thanks again for Top Blogger folks, until next time!

                                                      Check out my other blog posts!

                                                           Check out my YT Channel!