A lot of people are asking the same question over and over again, how
to improve in chess? So, I have decided to write this whole thing once
and for all. First of all it is important to know at what level you are
playing now. It would really depend what to study and how to improve
from the player's current (estimated) rating. Here is a chart that gives
an idea on what should players work on at different levels of their
chess career:
- Below 299: Learn basic rules of chess, how pieces move, and special rules (en passant, castle etc).
- 300-1000: Learn basic chess ideas such as checkmate, simple attacks, etc.
- 1000-1199: Learn basic opening ideas. It's recommended to
play 1.e4 as white and sharp variations as black. Learn basic checkmates
(King + Queen vs. King, Queen + Queen vs. King, Rook + Rook vs. King,
King + Rook vs. King). Practice them until you are completely confident
and can checkmate anyone (even a GM) in these positions.
- 1200-1399: Study more openings, but do not stick with "rarely
played variations". It is a huge mistake that a LOT of chess player
make while studying openings, to study rarely played/unusual lines which
most likely would never come up in real life tournaments. Studying
standard opening lines would yield a lot more results!
Spend maximum
of 20% of your study time to study openings. Until 1800 level openings
aren't very important. Concentrate more on middle game and tactics.
- 1400-1599: Endgame is the key on this level. Only imagine
the advantage you get against your opponent if you know how to play
endgame well and your opponent does not. The odds are that your opponent
will loose the endgame almost immediately. Study basic endgame schemes:
King + Pawn vs. King, King + 2 Pawns vs. King, King + Pawn vs. King + 2
Pawns and so on. Besides the endgame do tactics problems (puzzles).
Play as much chess as possible especially in real life over the board
tournaments with a long time control (that's where you learn the most).
- 1600-1799: If you got on this level it means you are already
strong, very solid chess player which knows a lot about all stages of
the game of chess. Keep working on your middle game, strategy and
tactics. Try to play blindfold chess. It is easy these days, since
programs like Chessmaster 10th offer really nice options of blindfold
chess. You are basically only see the chess board with no pieces on it,
but you can move these empty squares and play chess (because you know
that knights are on b1 and c1, bishops are on c1 and g1 and so on).
During the game you have to keep all the pieces in your head, since they
are invisible which is hard in the beginning. Play really weak players
first.
Blindfold chess helps to develop player's visualization
ability and eliminates most blunders. All GMs are able to play blindfold
chess well.
- 1800-1999: Wow, you are ready to become an expert. Now it is
a good time to systemize your opening repertoire. Ideally, you should
know very well 2-3 openings for white and 2 for Black. The key to
advancing to the expert level here is to analyze your own games. After
the game, sit down with a chessboard, paper and pen and go over the game
move by move writing down thoughts on your own and your opponent's
moves. Only then you may check your game with an engine (Rybka, Fritz,
etc). The number #1 mistake chess players make, they either do not
analyze their games at all or analyze them by using chess program right
away. This is a big mistake which slows down chess progress.The main
idea of analysis is not to look at what computer thinks was a good move,
but to look for that move yourself! Would it make sense to solve chess
tactics puzzles by plugging them into a chess engine? Probably not.Also
it is great idea to go over GM games and think them over. The best way
to go over these high level games is to first go over all the moves
without author's comments and only second time read the comments and
annotations. This works great with the openings too. Remember that when
you read your opening book tomorrow.
- 2000-2199: Congratulations, you are now an Expert. Keep
working on chess and I'm sure you'll be able to make at least a Master
sometime soon and when you do, please, send me a message saying "Hi! I
am a Master now!"
Follow up on this article: Chess self improvement guide |
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