Perhaps the most frequent question I see and get from chess players is, “how do I get better?” That question comes in many forms, such as, “how do I go from a 1500 rating to 2000”, etc. Below is a plan for serious improvement. The plan could be broken down by certain ratings sections but I don’t want to get into that. This plan will work for anyone who follows the guidelines and puts the time in.
1. Study Casablanca’s chess primer. It’s a small book with excellent chess basics. Work through the positions on a physical chess set, not a digital one.
2. Stop playing speed chess for the next few months. Speed chess is a lot of fun but you MUST rewire your brain first or SC will just give you a lot of bad habits. Trust me. I’m speaking from experience.
3. Study chess tactics by setting them up on a real board. DO NOT MOVE THE PIECES when calculating. Find the winning or drawing sequence before you ever touch a piece. Write down your sequences on paper. This process alone will significantly improve your game. I strongly suggest buying the following set of books: Test Your Chess IQ Series by August Livshitz. I personally went from 1400 to 1870 with these books alone and the method described above.
4. Study Jeremy Silman’s, How to Improve Your Chess. Go through the whole book with a physical chess board. Highlight and take notes.
5. Play tournaments and then study your games. Don’t let the computer chess engine solve the positions until you have gone through the game again on your own and made notes. Where did you go wrong and why? Where did your opponent get the advantage and how? Once you’ve thought this through on your own AND made notes, then check it with an engine.
6. Study master games, especially masters who play the openings you like to play. Don’t get bogged down in deep analysis at this stage. Just slowly play through the games on a physical chess board and keep asking yourself what the next move might be. Take written notes of how masters position their pawns or pawn breakthroughs. How they control files and expand their territory while suppressing their opponents counter play. Watch how they maneuver pieces, especially knights, to get better outposts. And take special note of the themes and ideas masters discuss in their analysis: where they attack or expand based on which opening they played, which pieces they traded AND WHY, which endgames they say are common based on the openings they play, etc. It’s best to play through the moves first on your own and take notes BEFORE you read the masters analysis. Then you compare your thinking with theirs. Consistently doing this will dramatically improve your game - over time.
7. Study Jeremy Silman’s endgame course. Seriously study it on a physical board. Also, setup the positions against a strong computer engine and play to win or defend. This will score you a lot of wins in tournaments. You will beat or draw masters by studying this well.
8. Know the main lines and ideas for the openings you play. Don’t spend too much time on openings until you’re over the 1800 mark. It is the least productive area of study for beginners and intermediate players.
That’s it in a nutshell. Might seem like a lot but do it in the order I laid out and take your time. Give yourself 6 month or a year before you judge your progress. Chess is immensely complex and it takes time to absorb the ideas. Don’t get your expectations too high and then give up studying when you lose a bunch of games in a tournament. Just study those loses, be patient and watch your rating slowly begin to climb.
Good luck!
And you are an unrated who joined today and came straight to the forum to share this wisdom?
Perhaps the most frequent question I see and get from chess players is, “how do I get better?” That question comes in many forms, such as, “how do I go from a 1500 rating to 2000”, etc. Below is a plan for serious improvement. The plan could be broken down by certain ratings sections but I don’t want to get into that. This plan will work for anyone who follows the guidelines and puts the time in.
1. Study Casablanca’s chess primer. It’s a small book with excellent chess basics. Work through the positions on a physical chess set, not a digital one.
2. Stop playing speed chess for the next few months. Speed chess is a lot of fun but you MUST rewire your brain first or SC will just give you a lot of bad habits. Trust me. I’m speaking from experience.
3. Study chess tactics by setting them up on a real board. DO NOT MOVE THE PIECES when calculating. Find the winning or drawing sequence before you ever touch a piece. Write down your sequences on paper. This process alone will significantly improve your game. I strongly suggest buying the following set of books: Test Your Chess IQ Series by August Livshitz. I personally went from 1400 to 1870 with these books alone and the method described above.
4. Study Jeremy Silman’s, How to Improve Your Chess. Go through the whole book with a physical chess board. Highlight and take notes.
5. Play tournaments and then study your games. Don’t let the computer chess engine solve the positions until you have gone through the game again on your own and made notes. Where did you go wrong and why? Where did your opponent get the advantage and how? Once you’ve thought this through on your own AND made notes, then check it with an engine.
6. Study master games, especially masters who play the openings you like to play. Don’t get bogged down in deep analysis at this stage. Just slowly play through the games on a physical chess board and keep asking yourself what the next move might be. Take written notes of how masters position their pawns or pawn breakthroughs. How they control files and expand their territory while suppressing their opponents counter play. Watch how they maneuver pieces, especially knights, to get better outposts. And take special note of the themes and ideas masters discuss in their analysis: where they attack or expand based on which opening they played, which pieces they traded AND WHY, which endgames they say are common based on the openings they play, etc. It’s best to play through the moves first on your own and take notes BEFORE you read the masters analysis. Then you compare your thinking with theirs. Consistently doing this will dramatically improve your game - over time.
7. Study Jeremy Silman’s endgame course. Seriously study it on a physical board. Also, setup the positions against a strong computer engine and play to win or defend. This will score you a lot of wins in tournaments. You will beat or draw masters by studying this well.
8. Know the main lines and ideas for the openings you play. Don’t spend too much time on openings until you’re over the 1800 mark. It is the least productive area of study for beginners and intermediate players.
That’s it in a nutshell. Might seem like a lot but do it in the order I laid out and take your time. Give yourself 6 month or a year before you judge your progress. Chess is immensely complex and it takes time to absorb the ideas. Don’t get your expectations too high and then give up studying when you lose a bunch of games in a tournament. Just study those loses, be patient and watch your rating slowly begin to climb.
Good luck!