The more I studied the worse I have become
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I have been studying puzzles and analyzing my games with chess engines but one thing I have noticed is that instead of improving, my game has got worse.
I am not able to focus on simple tactical position, losing from obvious threats which I could have avoided if I hadn't studied so much of chess, I think.
Is it just me or anybody else who's gone through this process of improvement?
What is the right way to "study chess"? Please help with your suggestion.
Jun 6, 2020
0
#2
absk-kr-singh wrote:
I have been studying puzzles and analyzing my games with chess engines but one thing I have noticed is that instead of improving, my game has got worse. I am not able to focus on simple tactical position, losing from obvious threats which I could have avoided if I hadn't studied so much of chess, I think. Is it just me or anybody else who's gone through this process of improvement? What is the right way to "study chess"? Please help with your suggestion.
Give the chess engines a rest and use your brain more. Study a book? I recommend Simple Chess by Stein.
Jun 6, 2020
0
#3
There are a lot of people these days on chess.com just telling beginners bad advice I think for the shear enjoyment that they get from leading someone astray. For example if I tell you that most people that actually teach chess say that for the most part if your a beginner, you shouldn’t be using a chess Engine to check your results until you first at least at the bare minimum gone over the game for yourself. IM Jeremy Silman I know has said to turn off your chess Engine results when analyzing games. Depending on what your experiences are with chess Engines you may believe me, or you may just think I’m a total bullshiter and will side with the next troll that is going to say after I write this that the road to mastery is with chess Engines. All I can tell you is what I know. And that is what I know. Believe it or not. That’s up to you.
In summary, Engine moves are totally different than what a human would think of. So it’s more beneficial to get your ideas from a stronger rated chess friend rather than an Engine, or a coach.
Some people that play chess find it very hard not to improve. They improve after every game, even if they only play bullet. Then they will start going in tournament after tournament and become GM later in life. Other people however, when. They first start playing chess, improve some, but eventually hit a plateau, and will stay there for the rest of their lives, no matter what they do, even if they study 10 hours a day. A lot of it is just Genetics with chess. Somethings can be learned by anyone, but it seems like chess is discriminatory in that a lot of people who play it no mater how hard they try can’t get any better after a certain point.
I want to be a marathon runner. I ran Cross country in high school but I never had the drive to do anything with it. I kept up with running later in life however, eventually I started running so much that I found out my feet are not built to run marathons. Just like someone that finds out they can’t become higher rated at chess I found out that I just can’t be a Marathon runner. Part of life is learning what your limitations are and learning to live without. However, a friend of mine said I should wait on coming to any conclusions until I get down to a more healthy weight. He may be right. So I am saying just because you hit a plateau for a while doesn’t mean you will not get better. It’s possible you just aren’t doing the right things to improve.
I started playing chess at around age 8 but didn’t really start playing at a higher level until 17 years ago at the ripe old age of 22. It’s possible to get better at a later age it just doesn’t go as fast for obvious reasons. That, and the fact that I only played blitz for most of that time lead me to not really improving that much over the years. I don’t remember what I read from your profile, but if you are only playing blitz then I got to tell you, that is not the way to learn how to play chess and improve a lot. It will only be slight improvement if any. Well, depends on the person, but most people don’t get good by playing blitz only. I know someone that got good by just playing blitz. That’s why I can say with confidence that there are some people that can get better by just playing blitz, but, they are rare.
I know most people can’t afford a chess coach, but if you want my opinion, I think you should, if you want to improve, invest in at least 1-3 lessons with a good coach to kind let them decide whether or not if it’s possible for you to improve, and give you some point of ball park figure, along with an improvement plan. You would have to tell them in advance that you only want a certain amount of lessons, and then they can give you problems and see how you do and assess you, and make a plan for you to improve on your own. This site has a lot of coaches. Just go to the appropriate tab.
Most people that absorb new chess information often get worse at first and then get better later. That might be what is going on with you. But I looked at your chart and it seems you are actually getting better. So, ???
So, in conclusion, there are no answers. Only you can decide to keep playing chess or not. I have played at my rating for a very long time and do not mind much at all that I didn’t really improve at all for a number of years. It’s just not my priority to improve in chess, or it hasn’t been, but now I’m trying to improve again. I play chess for fun. Regardless if I get better or not, I will still play chess, because I enjoy it. Just because you don’t get better, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to quit. Again we all at certain points hit plateau’s at different ratings depending on the individual, and it’s up to that person to either just make the necessary adjustments, or just accept that they can’t get better and deal with it. I’m not saying you will never get better. I’m saying nobody here will be able to answer that for you. You will have to figure it out for yourself, hopefully, with the help of an expert. I get enjoyment out of chess because I like teaching chess to my friends at Starbucks. They never get better because the only time they play is when we are at Starbucks, they never practice on their own, but I keep giving them tips no matter what, along with my friend. Everyone has limitations. I have a lot of limitations, but I know there is room for improvement for me. There may be room for improvement for you to, but only you are the one that can figure that out. Good luck!
In summary, Engine moves are totally different than what a human would think of. So it’s more beneficial to get your ideas from a stronger rated chess friend rather than an Engine, or a coach.
Some people that play chess find it very hard not to improve. They improve after every game, even if they only play bullet. Then they will start going in tournament after tournament and become GM later in life. Other people however, when. They first start playing chess, improve some, but eventually hit a plateau, and will stay there for the rest of their lives, no matter what they do, even if they study 10 hours a day. A lot of it is just Genetics with chess. Somethings can be learned by anyone, but it seems like chess is discriminatory in that a lot of people who play it no mater how hard they try can’t get any better after a certain point.
I want to be a marathon runner. I ran Cross country in high school but I never had the drive to do anything with it. I kept up with running later in life however, eventually I started running so much that I found out my feet are not built to run marathons. Just like someone that finds out they can’t become higher rated at chess I found out that I just can’t be a Marathon runner. Part of life is learning what your limitations are and learning to live without. However, a friend of mine said I should wait on coming to any conclusions until I get down to a more healthy weight. He may be right. So I am saying just because you hit a plateau for a while doesn’t mean you will not get better. It’s possible you just aren’t doing the right things to improve.
I started playing chess at around age 8 but didn’t really start playing at a higher level until 17 years ago at the ripe old age of 22. It’s possible to get better at a later age it just doesn’t go as fast for obvious reasons. That, and the fact that I only played blitz for most of that time lead me to not really improving that much over the years. I don’t remember what I read from your profile, but if you are only playing blitz then I got to tell you, that is not the way to learn how to play chess and improve a lot. It will only be slight improvement if any. Well, depends on the person, but most people don’t get good by playing blitz only. I know someone that got good by just playing blitz. That’s why I can say with confidence that there are some people that can get better by just playing blitz, but, they are rare.
I know most people can’t afford a chess coach, but if you want my opinion, I think you should, if you want to improve, invest in at least 1-3 lessons with a good coach to kind let them decide whether or not if it’s possible for you to improve, and give you some point of ball park figure, along with an improvement plan. You would have to tell them in advance that you only want a certain amount of lessons, and then they can give you problems and see how you do and assess you, and make a plan for you to improve on your own. This site has a lot of coaches. Just go to the appropriate tab.
Most people that absorb new chess information often get worse at first and then get better later. That might be what is going on with you. But I looked at your chart and it seems you are actually getting better. So, ???
So, in conclusion, there are no answers. Only you can decide to keep playing chess or not. I have played at my rating for a very long time and do not mind much at all that I didn’t really improve at all for a number of years. It’s just not my priority to improve in chess, or it hasn’t been, but now I’m trying to improve again. I play chess for fun. Regardless if I get better or not, I will still play chess, because I enjoy it. Just because you don’t get better, doesn’t necessarily mean you have to quit. Again we all at certain points hit plateau’s at different ratings depending on the individual, and it’s up to that person to either just make the necessary adjustments, or just accept that they can’t get better and deal with it. I’m not saying you will never get better. I’m saying nobody here will be able to answer that for you. You will have to figure it out for yourself, hopefully, with the help of an expert. I get enjoyment out of chess because I like teaching chess to my friends at Starbucks. They never get better because the only time they play is when we are at Starbucks, they never practice on their own, but I keep giving them tips no matter what, along with my friend. Everyone has limitations. I have a lot of limitations, but I know there is room for improvement for me. There may be room for improvement for you to, but only you are the one that can figure that out. Good luck!
Jun 7, 2020
0
#4
I will also say that people at around our rating are actually very good at playing chess. I don’t know if it’s just me and you, but I, just like you, run into the same problem of playing a lot of games, and winning a lot, but also losing a lot in positions where I was winning. For each player the reasons may be different on why they constantly lose games in won positions, but, for me, it’s because I usually don’t think when it comes down to the point where you have to decide to trade pieces. Usually only a Master can give these insights, as WGM Adriana gave me mine, you can look her up on my friends list. That comes with the fact that I normally play blitz and I should be playing games with longer time controls, but I’m addicted what can I do? I’m playing some 10|5’s now and the occasional 15|10, and every time I play games with longer time controls I end up not using most of my time so I am trying to bridge the gap first with those time controls I just mentioned.
In short, people at our general rating are actually pretty good, and we have to be able to make problems for them to solve with every move to get them to think so we can actually beat them. It just so happens that I have the same problem as you, I lose in positions where I should have won, due to making a few blunders, and bam, your losing. If you give people at our rating a chance to win, they will find it, and win. Perhaps the key to our improvement is to just subtract the negative of losing games in won positions. I gather that I could start stoping the game and just thinking more about my move when the position becomes tactical or trades are going to start happening. But the answer could be different for you, and you can’t always find the answers to your problems by yourself without a coach. For example, Sometimes I think it’s okay to trade my bishops for a knight, but my coach told me in those positions it would have been better for me to keep my bishop. In another position, it was the opposite. I would have never had known that, had I not had a coach, and I would have never been the wiser. So at least get someone to analyze your games, someone higher rated than you. I still stand by the idea of you getting expert advise, and getting at least 3 lessons or more (up to what you can afford) and in the time you have with them have them analyze as many games you played as they can, and they will eventually be able to give you some insights to your play that you would have never figured out on your own. A GM once told me to never let your bishops be traded for a knight, especially in the opening game. Food for thought. I don’t know why I have different ideas sometimes to this day. I wish you the best of luck!
In short, people at our general rating are actually pretty good, and we have to be able to make problems for them to solve with every move to get them to think so we can actually beat them. It just so happens that I have the same problem as you, I lose in positions where I should have won, due to making a few blunders, and bam, your losing. If you give people at our rating a chance to win, they will find it, and win. Perhaps the key to our improvement is to just subtract the negative of losing games in won positions. I gather that I could start stoping the game and just thinking more about my move when the position becomes tactical or trades are going to start happening. But the answer could be different for you, and you can’t always find the answers to your problems by yourself without a coach. For example, Sometimes I think it’s okay to trade my bishops for a knight, but my coach told me in those positions it would have been better for me to keep my bishop. In another position, it was the opposite. I would have never had known that, had I not had a coach, and I would have never been the wiser. So at least get someone to analyze your games, someone higher rated than you. I still stand by the idea of you getting expert advise, and getting at least 3 lessons or more (up to what you can afford) and in the time you have with them have them analyze as many games you played as they can, and they will eventually be able to give you some insights to your play that you would have never figured out on your own. A GM once told me to never let your bishops be traded for a knight, especially in the opening game. Food for thought. I don’t know why I have different ideas sometimes to this day. I wish you the best of luck!
Sometimes it's not relating to technical skill or training. Vishy Anand said in an interview after playing in the 2004 Chess Olympiad something that seems a very simple and throw away remark, but I think it's important and it's something that made an impression on me:
"In general, I think if you look forward to playing something and enjoy it, then it works out well. "
What is profound about that you might ask? What I personally learned from that is you have to examine your motivations and passion. Do you just want to win, or do you genuinely enjoy playing and studying chess? If you are in a game and you find yourself thinking that you just want to get the game over with and win already, if you are not enjoying being there and playing the game in the moment, then you cannot focus and play to your full potential.
Therefore my advice would be to take a break. Chess isn't a duty. Find some cool position or amazing attack that makes you smile. When you are enjoying chess and looking forward to a battle, only then start to train again.
Jun 7, 2020
0
#6
Argente wrote:
Sometimes it's not relating to technical skill or training. Vishy Anand said in an interview after playing in the 2004 Chess Olympiad something that seems a very simple and throw away remark, but I think it's important and it's something that made an impression on me:
"In general, I think if you look forward to playing something and enjoy it, then it works out well. "
What is profound about that you might ask? What I personally learned from that is you have to examine your motivations and passion. Do you just want to win, or do you genuinely enjoy playing and studying chess? If you are in a game and you find yourself thinking that you just want to get the game over with and win already, if you are not enjoying being there and playing the game in the moment, then you cannot focus and play to your full potential.
Therefore my advice would be to take a break. Chess isn't a duty. Find some cool position or amazing attack that makes you smile. When you are enjoying chess and looking forward to a battle, only then start to train again.
I have heard something similar, although it was about other competitions like running a race, or boxing.
The saying was "if you want to know who will win, look for the person who is happiest to be there."
Argente wrote:
Sometimes it's not relating to technical skill or training. Vishy Anand said in an interview after playing in the 2004 Chess Olympiad something that seems a very simple and throw away remark, but I think it's important and it's something that made an impression on me:
"In general, I think if you look forward to playing something and enjoy it, then it works out well. "
What is profound about that you might ask? What I personally learned from that is you have to examine your motivations and passion. Do you just want to win, or do you genuinely enjoy playing and studying chess?
[edit]
Very thoughtful!
👍
Hello,
In my opinion, chess has 4 main territories: openings, strategies, tactics and endgames. You should improve all these territories at the same time, that's how you could increase your level faster. Tactics is just one area (but of course, it is important). At beginner level, it is also very important to analyse your games deeply and learn from your mistakes. You can do it with chess.com enginges but it is not enough. It can tell you if a move was good or bad, but can't explain why (and which is the good plan behind the moves). You need to do it with a stronger player or a coach. I am an official coach, who can help you with all these territories. If you are interested in working with me, please, check my profile and if my conditions are suitable for you, you can send me a private message. 
Here, you can find some feedbacks about my coaching services: https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-lessons/feedbacks-from-my-services I am looking forward to your message.