Chess players are constantly on the look for new “recipes” in their quest of getting better at chess. Some players think that they should give a lot of importance to the opening, others to tactics and so on. Truth is, working on only one aspect of the game won’t help you get better overall; you have to study all of them equally. Suppose you only solve tactics; it will be very difficult to find a correct plan in a static position.
No matter what your level is in chess, there is one thing every chess player wants: to become better and better. Every chess personality is different and everybody has a different approach. In order to improve you have to find a self-balance and try every possible method until you discover what works best for you. Remember that not only do chess players differ on the playing style, but also the circumstances around everyone are different. You must be realistic about your goal, but most of all about your capacities. In other words, make a plan according to your available time, your style of play and go ahead with it without changing it.
For many years chess has been perceived as a “nerdy game”, but lately it has gained a lot of popularity.
The chess scene is full of strong youngsters who are not afraid to fight the more experienced top Grandmasters. More and more parents become interested in the game and want their kids to learn chess, whether it is in order to start competing or just for fun.
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 grandmaster”. 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.