Many chess players are struggling to improve. They spend countless hours researching different “effective” ways to study, finding coaches, reading books, courses, etc. etc. Chess improvement is a straightforward process, especially for those rated under 2200 FIDE. Nevertheless, majority of players struggle to achieve any improvement and if it happens it is a very slow and unpredictable process. What’s going on here? Why is it the case? In this article, I will share a simple 3-step approach that you can use to improve your game.
Chess is mostly about tactics. That doesn’t necessarily mean complicated combinations, but simply minor operations that take place at every instance of the game. The positional ideas and concepts often have to be backed up with accurate calculation or in extreme cases they can only be enforced by precise and well-calculated variations. Therefore, the calculation is the muscle of every chess player.
One of the most frequent questions I get from chess students and friends is “How did you become an International Master?”
Especially those who are starting often ask this question; as if there was a formula they could follow in order to do the same.
Understanding the game of chess is not something exclusive to the world top players. Chess can be understood by all chess fans and enthusiasts who are willing to learn new things about the game every day. In this article, we would like to explain to you how you can improve your level and get closer to the mind of a Grandmaster.
Improving at chess has to be one of the most mysterious things in all sports. The training of the mind is not as easily measured as the physical training, for example. While running, lifting weights or swimming will transform you and you will see results in a short amount of time after doing it, it is not that simple with chess.
There is one phrase by the great Viktor Korchnoi that can resume this: “Chess you don’t learn, chess you understand”!
There are several ways for chess players to find their own ways of maintaining or even improving their level to a higher degree.The most common ways of training used by semi-professionals to club players is basically going over the chess games played around the world in the strong tournaments, play a lot of blitz online, review the openings of interest using a chess program.
Regardless the level of play or strength, there is one thing that every dedicated player can achieve and that is the ability to “think like a GM”. Very often we struggle with problems such as poor calculation skills, lack of opening preparation, little endgame knowledge or even handling the time pressure that prevent us from reaching a higher level.
Making steady progress in chess is something every chess player aims for through his whole career no matter what level he is. It is always nice to be improving one’s own weaknesses and therefore become stronger. For advanced players this task is still difficult, but at least they have an idea of what they should be doing.
We always hear strong players talking about the importance of recognizing chess patterns. What do they mean by that? What are these magical chess patterns we need to know and recognize? If you’re confused don’t worry, after reading this article you won’t be. You will understand exactly what chess patterns are and will learn 10 very important chess patters that every chess player should know.
Many chess players are asking what they should do right before an important game to help their performance. There are many different things to take into consideration but I’m focusing only on the most important ones. I’m giving you an outline of 7 things you should do just few hours before the round to positively influence your game. Here we go!
