First thing you have to accept is that you'll have to be in this for the long haul.
There's no quick shortcuts to improving, no "brilliancy" you can perform to make you great. At least I haven't read of anyone that has done that. In fact I've read a post on these forums that claimed Fischer spent some 7 years in an OCD craze over Chess (from when he picked up the first set at a candy store) and had only improved to about 1720. Or something like that.
It takes a long time to get better. Chess is a highly specialized skill. It's my opinion that the "thought process" needs to be fixed first, it is like the foundation of everything you do when you are playing. I still haven't worked on it enough myself, but I think the goal is to have a good thought process before every move. Before doing anything, you must evaluate the board, which means noticing all checks, captures, threats, tactics (pins, forks, skewers, remove the guard, etc) from both players. If you can't do that consistently, you just won't be able to improve, no matter how much tactics and strategy you study.
Also, it looks like you aren't 1200.... you are 1429 on live-standard, which is leaving the beginner stage and getting into "intermediate" land...
First let me answer your title:
1). Play a lot of long games.
2). Lose a lot of games.
3). Analyse a lot of those games.
4). Analyse master games / talk to stronger players / read books.
1, 2, and 3 are absolutely necessary. 4 is very useful also but only if you're doing 1 2 and 3.
My first question is about psychology. I've always had the problem of being over-competitive in sports and games. When I play chess, I lose many more games than I win, and each loss gets me incredibly frustrated. It hurts to try as hard as you can at something and to lose, almost every time. Any game I win is because my opponent has blundered and I've managed to "win a won game" (although, many times, I still can't win those). So, my first question is, how do you guys handle this? It's getting to the point where the "cons" of the frustration outweigh the "pros" of enjoying the game. Is it time for me to quit chess?
I hated to lose too, and to make it worse, when I first began chess still had that intellectual mistique so losing meant I was also not very clever. But after my first 100 losses or so I got over that. The fun of problem solving and learning a little bit every game was exciting enough to keep me going. Looking at your rating and number of games you seem to be progressing the same pace I did. It took me maybe 3 years before I was breaking even IIRC. Now if you're going to OTB tournaments often and have a coach for example, then this progress is slow. If you're just playing online like I did and reading a book here or there then I think your progress is normal.
As for winning due to a blunder... well that's what we all have to wait for :) Also winning a won game is never easy, when your opponent is losing they get resourceful and you might get lazy. If you feel frustrated about not feeling in control of the game I'd pick up a strategy book. Winning Chess Strategy or Pachman's Modern Chess Strategy. For me it was learning a little bit each time and being a little bit better each game that made it fun, so maybe this will help you too?
I've never had a personal chess coach because I usually can't afford them.
What do I do?!
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Seems you're having a very similar problem I had. My difficulty was that I almost exclusively played 3 minute chess and nothing else. To practice new knowledge you need long time controls. Also long games are where you make useful mistakes. Instead of saying to yourself "I blundered because I had 1 minute left, either memorize that pattern or chalk it up to speed chess" in long games you can review your thought process and start to correct misunderstandings and bad habits.
When playing long games try to make the best move possible... when you make a move it has to have your seal of approval as the best move on the board. If someone were to come up after the game and say it was a bad move you should be ready to argue all the reasons you thought your move was best. Not just an adequate move, that's blitz thinking, find the best move you can.
I started slow, I found a local club (where their games were longer than 3 minutes) and not too long after they took me along to some tournaments which were definitely longer than 3 minutes :) At one point I took 3 months off speed chess and only worked though books / looked at games. When I came back I was seeing lots of new things I hadn't considered before. All this to say, breaks from playing help too, even if playing long games and analysing them is the most reliable way to improve.
You're getting some good advice above, I have a free video program on YouTube set up on my website, linked here in my profile. It explains how I became a chess master and I lay the steps out for others to duplicate my success by maximizing your time. Over 3,000 people have started it since it launched 9 months ago and I am getting constant feedback my methods work!
Howdy,
Here is what helped me improve...on another site im about 1860...I went from about 1250 to 1860 in 2 full years of play...playing daily..sometimes for a few minutes but often for an hour or more.
I even wrote a book on it called "I Stink at Chess". Which basically describes the same frustrations you are having. First as far as psychology goes...I was a baseball player...and baseball players deal with failure well..I was a great hitter and still failed 60% of the time. It is the same with chess...one great game a week totally makes my week. Focus on the good.
If I had to pick one thing that improved my play most. I would say it was tactics. Try chesstempo.com...or tactics trainer for apple and android systems on your phone, ipad, etc. I do atleast 5 tactical problems a day..in the morning..before bed..waiting in line..and I dont move until I really think I have solved it. I would start with tactics and after a few months you'll see improvements then hit a wall again...from there idk what to tell you cause im stuck myself haha.
If you hit .400 why aren't you in the league?
Get the book "The Mammoth Book of the world's greatest chess games" by Emms, Burgess and Nunn.
Did you know that Fischer played several simuls in Spain? In Madrid and Seville, to be precise. He lost only one game to a man called Eugenio Gómez, an amateur chess player. The simul was played in my neighbourhood, at a prestigious club known as Círculo de Labradores. This happened roughly one year before he became WC, in 1970, to be precise. Now, that must tell you something!
As a bonus, let me tell you that he had a baguette and a coke and was eager to finish the simul. He drew other game that evening, the man he drew with says Fischer was pushing him to move as quickly as possible, and when Fischer was down to 4 opponents he was fast like lightning. This man had a winning position, and normally wouldn't have allowed anyone to pressure him, but he says "it was Bobby Fischer, when he pressures you, you feel the heat".
After the simul, they took him to dinner and to a Flamenco show with the most beautiful dancers. After a while, he took out something like a cloth chessboard and began to play positions.
I might have omitted or forgotten some details but this is pretty much what happened that evening.
I agree with those advices, it's good totry to look for a consistent approact to playing - to try to think more thoroughly and calmly about each move, because you don't know where you'll make a mistake until you make it, and to play longer time controls (over 45 min) and analyze them.
(P.S. Actually, it was Bobby Fischer's sister, Joan, who bought the chess set.)
Chess. com tactics trainer will improve your game
I'm a 2000+ player but I used to be around 1100 a few years ago. Things I did at your level to improve:
-Save every game you play, and then play through it later, trying to find improvements--and especially trying to find your mistakes, to correct them.
-Get a book that teaches positional concepts (understanding these will help you figure out what the best move is, based on the arrangement of your pieces), such as "My Sytem" by Nizmowitsch, or the more modern version, "Reassess my Chess" by Silman. (THIS STEP, LOOKING AT YOUR GAMES, SEEMS LIKE IT WILL HELP YOU)
- Choose certain openings to focus on, and stick with them. "Everyman Chess" books have good books dedicated to specific openings.
-Play play play. Don't worry about losing. Losses are good, because it means there is something in each lost game that you can LEARN from to IMPROVE. :D :D
- Don't forget to review each game after you play it!
- I was coached by a National Master for a short time, and he recommended playing 5/0 (five minute) games. He stressed these because you are forced to think quicker and, as a result, you will improve. Long, slow timer games are good every now and then, but it was blitz games that gave me the most improvement (as long as you study each game after to find better moves).
I think one of the hardest things with chess improvement is that everybody gives contradictory advice. Capablanca said to start with the endgame first, and then work your way to the middle-game. Fischer said, lesson one: play through all the variations, subvariations and notes in Modern Chess Openings. Lesson two: do it again. Some people say play slow games to improve your thinking process, others say play a lot of blitz to learn to think faster!
I strongly suspect that (1) most people rapidly rise to a natural rating plateau corresponding with their aptitude to visualize and calculate, and after that, progress becomes very slow; and (2) it doesn't so much matter what you study as it does the effort applied towards playing better moves at the board.
Ask yourself questions before each and every move!
Questions like:
A.) If I move this piece here, am I in any danger whatsoever? Can anything capture me without me being able to capture it back?
B.)If I move here, am I ignoring something else that is already in danger?
C.)Can I be put in check on the next move? If so, how can I prevent it? Do I need to prevent it?
And a fourth, very, very ,very incredibly important question to ask every single move, no doubt about it:
D.) If I move here, can I be checkmated on the next move? If so, I need to avoid it by doing anything I can.
Watch out for check threats at all times. When you first start playing chess, they will be very tough to spot. Give it time, you will learn.
A logical move will always beat out an egotistical move.
Hey there. I've got some general chess questions for everyone. As some background, I started playing chess two years ago. I read a book or two and am rated at about ~1200 on this site.
My first question is about psychology. I've always had the problem of being over-competitive in sports and games. When I play chess, I lose many more games than I win, and each loss gets me incredibly frustrated. It hurts to try as hard as you can at something and to lose, almost every time. Any game I win is because my opponent has blundered and I've managed to "win a won game" (although, many times, I still can't win those). So, my first question is, how do you guys handle this? It's getting to the point where the "cons" of the frustration outweigh the "pros" of enjoying the game. Is it time for me to quit chess?
My second question is about improving ones chess game from beginner level (knowing how the pieces move, basic strategy) to intermediate (coming up with competant plans, recognizing weaknesses and exploiting them, etc). I've read books, watched videos on this site, spent significant time with tactics trainer (~1500 rating), and played many games on Live chess, but I've seen *very* little improvement in the past two years. Some people say, "play more!", but that hasn't proven helpful. Some people say, "study more!", but the approaches I mentioned above to study haven't sunk in at all. I know what I'm theoretically trying for, but I can't seem to apply that knowledge to any actual games. How do you study and actually *apply* what you've learned? I like to avoid memorizing if possible, but it's clearly not... what specifically do I memorize?
**EDIT: I also meant to ask, what is the best time control to develop skills? Clearly 1minute is too short, and if I don't set a timer, each game takes several hours.**
I've never had a personal chess coach because I usually can't afford them.
What do I do?!
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Well, first and foremost, you have to have some patience. It takes time to improve, and everyone improves at different rates and often you find that you will plateau and not improve for a while. You need to set realistic expectations and not give up on chess because you are not instantly a grandmaster.
An analogy would be if a kid reads a Wikipedia article about quarks or particle physics, and decides she wants to be a particle physicist. She starts reading a bunch of books on physics and cosmology, and after 6 months is frustrated because she has not won a Nobel Prize in physics and has not figured out how to detect relic neutrinos. How would you advise this aspriing physicist if she came to you for advice on how she "improve" in physics faster? I bet that you would advise her to calm down a bit and be a little more patient.
Improving in chess, like improving one's skills in any sport or game, is a function of innate ability, motivation and time. You seem very motivated. I can't judge your ability. And my guess is that you have at least a moderate amount of free time, as you are a student. So I think that you have a good chance of achieving your potential (i.e., whatever your maximum playing level is based on your innate abilities/limitations).
You also need a game plan for improving and access to resources (books, coaches, study materials). To establish a game plan, you need to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. The best way to do that is to have a coach or a stronger player (at least 400-500 points higher rating) to review several of your games to see where your mistakes are. Are there particular types of tactics you are missing? Do you not understand endgame theory? Do you not understand pawn structure or other positional concepts? Are you just being careless and moving too quickly?
In any event, once you have identified your areas of weakness, you should establish a study plan to focus on improving in those areas through a combination of exercises/problems, studying books on the topic, and review of your own games.
By the way, it also helps if you can find a partner who is approximately the same playing strength as you (and has the same motivation level for improving). You can play games with this partner, study together and discuss what you have learned, review games together and provide moral support to each other. It is important that you be well matched in terms of temperament and motivation level. It won't work if one of you wants to play every day and the other only wants to play once a week, for example. It is also motivating to try to keep up with each other. As your partner improves, you will want to match his/her progress.
Hey there. I've got some general chess questions for everyone. As some background, I started playing chess two years ago. I read a book or two and am rated at about ~1200 on this site.
My first question is about psychology. I've always had the problem of being over-competitive in sports and games. When I play chess, I lose many more games than I win, and each loss gets me incredibly frustrated. It hurts to try as hard as you can at something and to lose, almost every time. Any game I win is because my opponent has blundered and I've managed to "win a won game" (although, many times, I still can't win those). So, my first question is, how do you guys handle this? It's getting to the point where the "cons" of the frustration outweigh the "pros" of enjoying the game. Is it time for me to quit chess?
My second question is about improving ones chess game from beginner level (knowing how the pieces move, basic strategy) to intermediate (coming up with competant plans, recognizing weaknesses and exploiting them, etc). I've read books, watched videos on this site, spent significant time with tactics trainer (~1500 rating), and played many games on Live chess, but I've seen *very* little improvement in the past two years. Some people say, "play more!", but that hasn't proven helpful. Some people say, "study more!", but the approaches I mentioned above to study haven't sunk in at all. I know what I'm theoretically trying for, but I can't seem to apply that knowledge to any actual games. How do you study and actually *apply* what you've learned? I like to avoid memorizing if possible, but it's clearly not... what specifically do I memorize?
**EDIT: I also meant to ask, what is the best time control to develop skills? Clearly 1minute is too short, and if I don't set a timer, each game takes several hours.**
I've never had a personal chess coach because I usually can't afford them.
What do I do?!
Thanks in advance for your advice.