Chess improvement

Home recipe for improvement

I have read tons of articles about improvement in chess and developed my own improvement plan taking into consideration what I've read. Four years ago I was cca 1300 rated and I got that rating after great amount of games played against Chessmaster personalities. So I think it's representative. I did CM tutorials and it helped me a lot. I was very consistent in my playing, reading and analysis. I played chess since I was a kid and decided I want to be better. After reading many ridiculous posts on usenet and FAQs on the Internet where people ask questions "How can I become a GM?" I found out from the answers that I have to set myself some reasonable goal. For example, set a goal to reach 1400 rating. And take one step at the time. Well, this is easier said then done. I set my goal to 2000!!!

Now, this is not imposible at all as my currnet rating proves. But you have to work hard, it's time consuming, sometimes you're not in the mood for chess analysis etc. Maybe someone can't believe this but at cca 1900 rating I'm still not in a chess club nor do I play tournaments!! And I've never been in a club. I thought analysing GM games is dumb and boring. And it was for me. So I never analysed one single GM game!! What I did was analysing my own games. I couldn't posibly understand one bad GM move but understanding your own mistakes is crucial for improvement.

One more thing I've read about is lost match analysis. Yes, we are all happy when we win but you learn the most from your own mistakes! Always analyse the game you lost. It's hard but it helps you a lot in your chess play. Ok. How can you analyse your games? Well, I use several programs that help me in my analysis. I use Chessmaster X for opening analysis and Fritz 8 for the whole game analysis (Fritz 9 is out!!). If you know the basic principles of the game look for them in your games. For example, you have pawn majority - how can I take advantage of that fact? Try to think about every single move. Why you made it? What was the plan? Always have a plan. Don't just play whatever. Don't just move a pawn because he can never go back. Maybe you won't understand analysis suggestion by Fritz but sooner or later you'll start slaping your forehead, you'll start seeing things you didn't see before.

So, I said I never analysed GMs. I analysed my own games. Now here's another tip. The opponents you play... Don't play a guy way bellow your rating. Playing against much weaker opponents doesn't enrich your play. Your brain won't be alert enough because you know he's gonna make a blunder. And you also make substandard moves. The only way playing much weaker opponent can help you is learning how to win a won match - not leting the opponent back into the game.

Well, don't play guys way beyond your rating either. They'll crush you like a worm and you won't even know what went wrong! You won't be able to see at all the ideas behind most of their moves so it can't help you much. My suggestion - play slightly stronger opponents! This way you're going to use your brain! I didn't take it seriously at first but when I tried it.... It was like magic wand. I played i.e. 1350 rated players. I was torturing myself. It was hard. Every single game was hard. After couple of months I was playing 1350 rated players and I was winning most of the games. So now my torture was 1400. And things were going in that direction. Nowadays I'm around 1900 but I don't have that much time as before.

To answer that question about becoming a GM... You can't become a GM by accident. You have to put much energy to complete your quest. You must WORK! Chess must become almost a job. No pain, no gain. It's that simple.

One more thing about openings. I've read questions where people ask - what to do if my opponent plays a move in the opening line that ends that line that I know? Well, I think you shouldn't memorize opening lines. I never did it. Eventually I memorized some lines (French, Sicilian) because I was playing against it many times. Try to see what's Fritz suggesting after that move that ends the line you know. Set up a board and try to play from your opponents side. Was that a good move by Fritz? What does it do? Try to think like your opponent. What would be the ideas against "your" line? So, you won't be memorizing openings but you'll understand the ideas behind those openings. There's no point if I know 24 moves of one line in the Grunfeld defense if my opponent leaves the book at move 2!! So, your opponent leaves "your" line, you analyse the game and you find the best move to play and you remember that move next time your opponent leaves the book with the same move. You are prepared and it goes on and on.

Resume
- analyse your defeats
- set reasonable goals
- play slightly stronger opponents
- learn openings gradually
- put some energy into your improvement

I hope this blog can help a lot of intermediate players. Check frequently (1-2 weeks) for updates.

PS I would appreciate any comments so I can see these suggestions are not written for no use :)

posted by Bark! @ 11:20 PM