How to become an expert in Chess?

What should be the effective plan of actions for beginners in chess, who can spend around 7 hours / week so as to improve considerably in the game?

That is, out of this say, 7 hours, how much time they should spend for playing, how much for reading books, analysing games themselves, with the help of others, chess engines, for undergoing tactical training, opening and endgame studies etc.

I perfectly know that there cannot be a perfect answer as this is a very subjective question. But I just would like to share my viewpoint regarding this topic with others so as to formulate some guidelines in this direction. (I will post my view points later. I want to know some of your view points before that. See, I am a beginner. So I can be excused )

Or, let me compress all the above paragraphs into one single sentence:

How can I become the world chess champion (seriously)? LOL  

The best way to improve at chess is to play through the games of masters

and grandmasters.  Playing a lot against humans and strong computers that

can provide feedback is also an important task.  Rigorous physical conditioning

so that you are always a lean mean machine is  an important  and also overlooked

part of training. Finally tactical exercises and chess problems can 

quickly improvr your skill.

p

one thing you need to know is out of the opening middle game and endgame which is your weakest then start study that first

Thanks for both your replies. But my question is how much proportion of time should a beginner devote to playing and how much to "studying+". See, if 7 hours/week is only available, then the effective partitioning of time is important. Yes? Will a 50% of time alloted to playing and remaining 50% of time alloted to "studying" + analysing + do? 

Even if one person "studies" rigorously, he has to definitely spend considerable percentage of time available for playing. Right? Obviously, he has to be in the courts also, regularly. Then only he will able to know whether he is preparing in the right direction as indicated by his change in rating. What do you think?

"In order to improve your game, you must study the endgame before everything else, for whereas the endings can be studied and mastered by themselves, the middle game and the opening must be studied in relation to the endgame."

-- Jose Raul Capablanca, World Champion 1921-1927

World champion Bobby Fischer is extremely good at endgames.

I think you should study that first

 I agree with beardog. Play against players who have a higher rating than yourself, take advantage of chess.com's online training facilities, turn-base chess is where you will gain experience against other players, go for it.

Thanks yimin, but in most of my games, I very rarely come across end games. Most of the games are determined in the middle game - period itself. Plus, even when end game situation comes, either one will be most probably leading by an extra piece.

Having said that, I have to confess that I have a very unhealthy habit of playing with players of considerably lower rating than me so that I win most of the games I play. ( Live chess standard 30 0 games - I have a present rating of 1434; but only an average opponent rate of 1200; but I have started working on that part.)

Thanks chessguy. Playing against higher rated players is a problem for me.  Day before yesterday, I played with people having slighty higher rating or almost equal rating with me for four games consecutively and I lost all four. And then I was DEPRESSED. LOL.  Yes, I want to win always (I know it is very unhealthy for one who wants to improve.) But, what to do? I have a soft heart. Plus, I consider chess as something for entertainment and relaxation also.

And I have strong reservations against turn based chess; nothing personal though. In the case of turn based chess, I can't know for sure how much time my opponent will be spending for each move. He may be spending 1 hour or more per move after referring many books, consulting with an expert etc. On other hand, I may be spending only 2 minutes per move. So that is unfair.

Plus, when I will be playing candidate matches to become the world chess champion, those will be  live games, with a time limit of if I am correct, 140 minutes for first 40 moves (?). So I have to practice in that time frame itself. Right? LOL  

Anyway, playing for 140 0 games in chess.com; even if I have time for that is not 'safe' unless I can trust my opponent after knowing and being friendly with him/her for some time. Even then there are other issues. So I play 30 0 for the time being in chess.com.

7 hours a week to go from beginner to expert? you'll never get there. I spent almost every spare minute between ages 13-19 to make expert. 7 hours would have been one days play at the weekend. You want results? think more in terms of 30 hours a week.

An hour a day is completely worthless for most people.

Don't be afraid of playing stronger players and don't be afraid of losing.  After every game you should analyze the game and come up with at least one lesson to be learned from the game.  Its also good to look up the opening to find where you or your opponent deviated from book lines.

For a beginner I'd suggest 5 hours playing/ reviewing your games. 1 hour studying tactics.  And 1 hour going over annotated master games.  imo

I imagine many who think they can only spare a few hours a week for chess probably watch more TV than they think....... its a matter of priorities. What if you add up all the time you spend on the net and watching TV and cut that time in half to devote to chess ?  How many hours would that give you ? 

#11, #13, prawnseatprawns and seamus1, TRUCE! I was in fact kidding about becoming an expert. But, for the sake of seriousness, let me reframe my question - I may be able to spend only 7 hours/week - may be less, may be more - depending on many factors. How can I make most of this time so as to improve my rating in the best way possible? 

I may never become a chess expert in my entire life. May be will become one in next 5, 10, 20, 40 or 60 years - depending on the time I spend for chess during this time plus other factors. If I can't ever become an expert, let me at least reduce the distance between my present state and expertise, as much as possible, in my life time.

Former British Prime Minister John Major once said that only dreamers achieved anything significant. And there is a saying in my native language meaning that if we desire for and work for a hill, we may be able to get a marble at least.

When I re-started playing chess after a long gap in this August in chess.com, for many days, I was struggling in the 1200s, in the beginning. Now, after 4 months, I am pretty comfortable in the 1400s. But, I am very sure that if I would have spent whatever time I spent in these 4 months in an effective manner, my rating should have reached a considerably higher level. I felt guilty about it. Hence this thread. Also, I hope that others who read or join this thread also will get some useful information.

NM, You definitely have a point there. But, with all respect to you, let me say that the truth is that even spending 7 hours / week for chess is something bad that I may be doing to my career. I want to ace GMAT, TOEFL & IELTS. So, if can spend all the time for that, that much better for my career. But, then, "All day studying and no playing makes Jack  a dull boy." So, for the sake of entertainment, I thought of playing chess.

Yes, true, I waste time for watching movies etc (Even though I stopped dating; thank God for that ) But, those bad habits of watching movies etc. should be avoided (I am working on that LOL) and that extra time I want to use for my GMAT preparation etc. Yes, desire is one thing. Realty in practical life is another.

I am such a crazy guy who even dream of studying all the time available, with no entertainment. But it never works, except sometimes, a maximum for one week. So in my dreams, I want me to play chess only after I get a decent job after completing my MBA. But, what to do, I am addicted to chess and have a soft heart. 

I am so much crazy that I question that quote referring Jack, at times. I will reason that I love studying and it is definitely my hobby and passion (which is true - especially in case of GMAT Mathematics section). So, what is wrong in pursuing my passion on a full - time basis; that is having entertainment full time? Difficult to digest for you. Right?  (But, I do think that way; whether I am mad or not).

I was also thinking the same way that we should play as much as possible. I found that playing games as much as possible is better than undergoing the chess tactics training programme in chess.com.

(Also, I love to play all the time than to study all the theories like you mentioned like my GMAT Mathematics preparation - I always want to take timed tests - in the courts, but I less prefer to study the theories, go into them deep and revising and re revising  them, but those are unavoidable. Come soldier, take your sword, let us fight (sort) it out in the battle field. )

You should study tactics, tactics, and then some more tactics.

I agree to your point buddy. But, I think that, with a good training programme, you might have reached there in less time. If I am right, the youngest GM in the world is from Ukraine and became GM at the age of 13. Surely, he underwent training. Right? 

But, having said that, as you pointed out, to reach a particular level, one need not study a lot of theory or undergo training and watch a lot of videos of master games etc. That is my view point also (Even though I may be wrong as I am a beginner).

Love your post. Thanks. I totally agree.

Thank you ncubbie. That is informative. I always think that I will analyse each game after I play it. Not only that, I even started (but not much progress) classifying my games - on the basis of sacrifices I did and won etc.,listing the common blunders I make etc. But, I always want to play the next game immediately instead of all these, if I have time. Such a tender heart!  Yes, yes, I have to grow a lot. 

I am not afraid of losing. But when I continuously win, it is like my heart singing a sweet song. But when I lose, I want to kill my opponent .

Seamus1 wrote: "I would have thought that you should study and practice openings before turning one's attention to the endgames.

Invariably I find that I'm often down material by the time I reach the endgame, so at that stage I'm on the back foot."

  He he, you have a good point there. But why did the Quote doesn't work properly in your post (#9)?

   This is something I find very important in my chess life - studying and playing. I own a pretty good arsenal of books, but they're not worth the paper that they are printed on if I don't study from them, let alone look at them. I've given up TV, was a die hard sports fan for over 30 years, and have taken all the games off my hard drive, except my chess programs and Civ III to study chess, but yet have still not gone into the books that much.

   My goal in chess is at least 1800, whether on here or OTB, but that won't happen unless I start working at it. I'm not the one to talk but 7 hrs/a week won't get you to where you are now to where you want to be in the near future. 30-35 hrs a week just means you'll get there a little bit faster. Listen to Prawn even more about this. There's no progress in chess without blood sweat and a lot of tears.

   *going to play and study and take my own advice as well for a change*

   -Mark