How Do U People Study Chess ??

Hi to all ! flipping through pages of chess.com, ive seen some geniunly dedicated people here. In some forums, there are people (non-professional) who say they study chess for 3-4 hours daily. I am awestruck, what i do is just come to chess.com and play. Sure u all must have some chess books, but after u have absorbed the ideas nd solved the positions, how do u go deeper, i mean i haven't studied nething for 4 hours daily all my life !

I wanted to ask u people how do u guys go about your study of chess. I myself learnt from my dad, know some opening lines,studied a few chess books frm my dad's lib nd some other things here and there, but thats about it. I m sure people can help me improve with their prescribed methods, cause i have a geniune interest nd all the time in the world ! (people always have time to do what they love)

much love,

Ryana

It really depends on what your current playing level is.  It's generally accepted that the more novice a player is the more important playing actual games is and the less important book study is.  For example a grandmaster will spend many more hours studying than playing, while a beginner should spend most of their time playing and little (if any at all!) on study.

So if you came to me asking how to begin a study program first I'd ask you to estimate for me the number of games you've completed to date.  If you think less than 1,000 then I'd suggest setting out to complete 100 games before diving into a book.  Why 100?  I have no reason for that specific number, it's just that many people who describe themselves as "learned from a family member and play for fun only" have hardly played at all.  I believe it's important not only to feel familiar with the 64 squares and 32 chessmen before trying to crack open a book, but also breaking the false social stigma that losing at chess has anything at all to do with intelligence.  Just ask me, or some of the more veteran and advanced players on here how intelligent chess players are and you'll get a big laugh :)  The upshot for you or any beginner is jumping right in and getting your first 100 or so losses under your belt means seeing losses as a learning opportunity instead of something to feel bad about.  Chess is a skill just like any other out there, and no one starts out knowing it all.  It would be like going in for your first day of piano lessons and feeling dumb when you can't manage a Liszt concerto.

If you want to / are ready to jump right into study, telling you to drill tactical puzzles is easy because this is important for everyone, especially beginners.  The 2nd bit of advice here may sound simple, but I suspect many chess players find it hard to follow.  Buy one book.  To find one you can research it on Amazon or I answered one forum topic with a list of my own here , but the important thing is getting just one book and not skipping to any other text until you have finished it cover to cover.  First of all it saves you money -- ask any chess player, including me, if they've read even half of their chess library, 9 out of 10 haven't (I'm one of the 9).

Secondly this is important because many players read the first 1, 2, or 3 chapters of a book then never pick it up again or they try to work out of multiple texts at once skipping back and forth without completing either -- but my advice is again, to simply get 1 and not move on until you've read it in it's entirety.  Even the chapters that don't interest you at first will have important lessons in them.

'nd' ? btw welcome to chess.com

You asked something else that I didn't answer, but I find interesting:

Keeping in mind I'm not a professional player, but I was told this by a master... so to me "going deeper" means serious study of your games without a book.  Just you, your games, and a board, where you set out to thoroughly map the game.  It's guaranteed that in 100% of your games you've misunderstood or overlooked something.  So now it's like you're a topographer, and you approach your game like it's an alien world.  It's time to be brutally honest, and none of your best moves are sacred :) the only thing you're interested in is the true evaluation of what was going on, on every move, through the entire game.

After you've researched it thoroughly, get a stronger player or peer to go over it with you, (again you'll be open to new moves, evaluations) and try to pick up on anything you missed.  After this you'll understand maybe 80% of what was really going on... then it's time to dig deep one more time and push it to 90% or more... then you can finally be done with that one game.  In a year or so, you'll come back to that game and do it again.

Obviously you'll be doing this with serious tournament games... nothing like blitz or anything, and you couldn't do it with every game (short draws, quick mates, etc).  I haven't started in on my most recent games yet because... frankly that's a ton of work... although when I'm done with my current book I want to start in on this process.

The question is, why do you study chess? It seems like such a waste of time to me. You learn the game as you play. Chess should be made for fun, not an obbsession.  

People studying anything to learn more is neither an obsession nor a waste of time. One can appreciate their chosen endeavor more, by learning more about it.

 I have a book on endgames, checkmating problems and quizzes and even have the Bobby Fischer complete games book. Also reading articles on here plus studying in Chessmaster X also helps. But it always depends on skill level and how much you actually want to learn along the way. In the end, just playing chess on here or even joining a small group of people in a coffee shop that play helps. You can never learn too much about chess, there's always something more.

I started off by buying a bunch of books and actually got overwhelmed.  I stopped reading them altogether, and just started playing games with only one or two different openings.  Doing this has helped me understand how the defense of the openings directly influences the offensive side as well.  I am now getting a lot more comfortable playing a game now, and I'm slowly but steadily getting better at seeing certain combos of moves that will lead to check forks, pins, etc.

I'm not saying that this will work for everyone, but it has worked for me drastically. 

I'm actually having fun now!

 I totally agree. Often times studying or at least learning terminology or anything related can enhance your ability to understand whatever it is you're doing. I know I need to learn SO much, having just gained a sincere (becoming a bit obsessed!) interest in the game! :)

I hate to change the subject, but I changed my photo in honer of Spain. Go Spain!!!!!

I'm not so sure I can say that there is any time where you shouldn't study a little (if you are serious about improving). If you're an absolute beginner maybe 5-10 games starting out to get a feel for the game, then you should get some more knowledge. The problem with, as a beginner, only playing, is that having no prior knowledge of the game itself, it's harder to learn. I think it's better to first get the knowledge, then try to execute it in actual play. That way if you go wrong you will better understand why, and can correct any misconceptions in your knowledge.

That's probably one of the only things I don't do to improve my chess.... I hate reviewing my old games. I'm perfectly content to look at master's games and stuff but the only time I'll look at my own games is to quickly throw down some annotations before sharing them...

I know I should probably do it, but then again I should probably spend less time playing chess and more time doing something productive

thank u all fr taking yr time nd giving valuable suggestions.

You learn by doing

... and studying.

I also play solitaire chess against myself, like Fischer used to do. I have about 2 or 3 active games right now where I record every move that's made. I play both sides equally hard and fairly. Group that with the studying and playing, whether on here or IRL, it's been a big help.

playing bullet chess, i believe, helps me.

I think you're the 1st person I've ever heard say that. The consensus seems to be that playing too much bullet can harm your long game...

Seems like solid advice has been offered. If one wants to improve, they could not go wrong with a balance of playing, studying master games, and tactical training (I highly recommend the software CTART 3.0, but there is a newer version that is probably better). There is no need to study unless a person enjoys the game enough to want to gain a deeper understanding and higher strength.

I enjoy playing blitz, but I question its value as a tool to improve strength, especially for beginners. I think a person needs to take time to think things through until the develop a deeper feel for positions. Playing junk games will not improve ability...it's best I think to play slower games against stronger players. Study the game afterwards to try to learn where mistakes were made.