TheChessWorld.com
TheChessWorld Facebook TheChessWorld Twitter TheChessWorld Pinterest TheChessWorld YouTube
  • Start Here
  • Play
  • Learn
    • Training Techniques
    • Openings
    • Middlegame
    • Endgames
    • General Information
  • Tournaments
  • Academy
  • 21-Day Course
  • Store
    • TheChessWorld
    • TCW Academy
    • Chess-Teacher
    • Modern Chess
    • Roman Chess Lab
    • Foxy Chess
    • Grandmaster Magazine
    • ChessLecture
    • ICC
    • Rules Chess Strategies
    • Others
  • Contact
TheChessWorld.com
Close

5 Tips to Improve Your Calculation

WGM Raluca Sgîrcea, IM Renier Castellanos
WGM Raluca Sgîrcea, IM Renier Castellanos
02.02.2019
Category: Training Techniques
Tags: calculation, candidates, chess, middlegame, middlegames, solve, variation, winning games
5 Tips to Improve Your Calculation

Improve Your Calculation: The ability to calculate is crucial in every chess player’s journey to improvement. There’s no such thing as a completely positional game where no calculation is needed; no matter how calm and quiet things have been going, there’s always a moment where you’ll need to see more than your opponent.

The bad news is that good calculation doesn’t happen overnight; you have to invest many hours of training and this type of training should never end, only increase in difficulty. No matter how high the level of a player is, their calculation has to be trained always. You can do this even when you are watching a game online; the more you train it, the better and easier will be during your tournament games.

In this article we will give you a few tips that you can apply during your game and home preparation in order to improve your calculation skills:

1. Improve Your Calculation – Know when

While the good calculation is very important, it is not always necessary. Learn to differentiate those moments during your game and not waste time trying to figure out long-line positions where this is totally useless.

For example, there are positions where you’ll only need to use your positional sense and the basic concepts of strategy. In such cases, starting to calculate long lines will only get you tired and leave you with no time on the clock for the truly difficult moments. Check for immediate threats and make sure you’re not going to hang anything, though!

2. Know how much

One mistake that many aficionados make is that they want to “solve” the game from an early stage of the game, see the lines until mate even if the position is not of that character.

This usually happens when playing a lower-rated opponent, but it normally only leads to early tiredness. Play the variations that keep the position balanced and complicated, and set traps. Also, keep your eyes open for any mistake your opponent might make.

3. Improve Your Calculation – Don’t stop it too soon

One famous piece of advice is to calculate one move more from the moment you’d normally stop in your calculation. It often happens that this is the moment where we miss something; how many times haven’t you played a line because you thought it didn’t bring anything good only to discover at home that it was the right way to go had you looked for one more move?

It is something that happens to every chess player, but if you train yourself to calculate a bit further you’ll see a lot of improvement in your games.

4. Include all candidates

Sometimes the candidate’s moves in a position are obvious, sometimes you have to look a bit harder to find the right way to go. Train your brain to look for hidden possibilities, moves that you wouldn’t normally think of.

These are the trickiest and easiest to miss during a game, but including such positions in your training routine will make the moves easier to spot in practice.

5. Improve Your Calculation – Look for active moves

The first things you have to always check in your lines are checks, captures, and other strong threats that force you to take action against them.

One of the most common mistakes involves automatic decisions. For example, when you capture a piece. And then think that your opponent is forced to take it back, without considering any other option. Intermediate moves are tricky, but usually very powerful. Search for them in your calculation and avoid any unwanted catastrophes!

These are a few practical pieces of advice that you can use not only when training calculation, but also during your game. We hope you’ve found them useful and they will help you improve this important skill.

Want to know more about Calculation? Look at 7 Reasons to Start Working on Yours as well as 5 Steps to Doing It Like a Grandmaster.

We also recommend reviewing Motivation in Chess: Top 3 Ways to Keep It and Journey to the Chess Kingdom.

Thank you for reading!

Find this post useful? Share it?
Become a Chess Player You've Meant to Be!
TCW Academy is the fast, fun & convenient way to become a MUCH better chess player.
Join Academy Today!

Related Posts

  • Equal Chess Positions: Playing ThemEqual Chess Positions: Playing Them
  • 8 Questions to Ask Analyzing Your Own Games8 Questions to Ask Analyzing Your Own Games
  • Top 10 Mistakes Club Chess Players MakeTop 10 Mistakes Club Chess Players Make
Related Products
5 1 vote
Article Rating
Login
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Join the FREE Road to 2200 Masterclass (and learn how to Attack Like a Chess Master)
We value your privacy
Supercharge Your Chess in 21 Days!
Join Academy Today!
TheChessWorld.com
http://pogonina.com/
Company
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • F.A.Q.
  • Partnership
  • Blog
  • Grandmasters
  • Jobs
Chess Resources
  • TCW Academy
  • The Store
  • 21 Day Course
  • Play Computer
Top Resources
  • Opening Lab
  • Mastermind
  • Chess Mastery Series
  • Academy
100% Secure Purchase
Money Back PayPal SSL Comodo
Customer Support +1 (410) 656-9104
Email Us [email protected]
Contact Us
Facebook Twitter Mail Pinterest Youtube
Copyright 2007-2023 • TheChessWorld.com • All Rights Reserved
Cookie Policy | Acceptable Use Policy | Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of all the cookies.
Cookie SettingsAccept
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional11 monthsThe cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance11 monthsThis cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy11 monthsThe cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytics
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.
Others
Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.
SAVE & ACCEPT
wpDiscuz