5 ms·

Hijacking the comments to ask: what is the best way to get better at chess? (other than “just” playing matches, I’m already doing that)

brrrrrm 4y ago
Puzzles + learning openings. I highly recommend lichess for this
- genghisjahn 4y ago
  Learn end games before opening s. Learn k+q against a k. Learn k+pawn against k (how to advance a pawn to promote to q). K+r against K. There are others but get those 3 down.
- slm_HN 4y ago
  Puzzles are great for learning tactics, but eventually you need to learn some strategy and positional play. You'll need to read a book or two for this. And don't forget endings!
- shric 4y ago
  And don't forget to study end games too. I don't think you need a strong grasp of opening theory until you reach around 2000 (lichess).
- vikingerik 4y ago
  Make sure you do defensive puzzles as well. I'm fairly decent at spotting a tactic to win material a few moves ahead, but terrible at seeing one coming from my opponent early enough to avert it. I'm not sure what lichess has, but definitely look for puzzles where you have to avoid a knight fork or some pin or incoming checkmate.
vishnugupta 4y ago
Study and practicing openings. By this I mean you should memorise all the lines of an opening; not just the main lines. A vast majority of matches are won/lost within 30-35 moves by a few botched up opening moves. I don't recommend puzzles that much. They give you mental satisfaction. However, it is one thing to think of a good move knowing before hand that there's such a move possible but entirely different to recognise that you are in such a situation in the middle of a game.
- tosh 4y ago
  I tend to agree (& thought similar about puzzles) but I think they are effective at training your pattern recognition so you more easily find tactics when you play.
- chongli 4y ago
  Studying openings is a waste of time, even counterproductive, if you’re a beginner who hangs pieces all the time. This advice is much better suited to someone hoping to get over the 2k rating milestone. If you’re below 1k or even mid teens then your best bet is just to play a lot (longer time controls against better opponents) and study your games to look for your blunders, mistakes, and inaccuracies.
- jmulho 4y ago
  After you have learned all lines of 1.e4 out to 35 moves, I suggest learning all lines of 1.d4 out to 35 moves.
tosh 4y ago
* train various endgames (undervalued) (e.g. Naroditsky’s videos on endgames: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT1F2nOxLHOfQI_hFiDnnWj4lb5KsviJ_ https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT1F2nOxLHOfQI_hFiDnnWj4l...) * puzzles for tactics & mates * learn 1 “easy to execute” opening for each color
- tosh 4y ago
  also: go through your games with an engine and reflect on the good moves and blunders of yourself but also your opponent
have_faith 4y ago
That depends on how good you are already. Beginners progress most by learning not to hang pieces. Up to the ~1000 elo level you will win by simply not blundering with little to no opening theory. After that the breadth of scope opens up a lot. I got to ~1750 over the board almost completely ignoring openings beyond move 4 or 5. Watching videos on strategy, how should I be arranging my pieces / where do they "belong", and simple tactics will take you far. Openings are important, I study them more now, but I wouldn't get bogged down by them. Picking up an intuition for analysing a position and it's thematic ideas is key.
thefourthchime 4y ago
I liked these tips: https://mbuffett.com/posts/chess_improvement_thoughts/ https://mbuffett.com/posts/chess_improvement_thoughts/
10xDev 4y ago
Reached 1600 chess.com within a year starting from 600 and 2000 Lichess. What I believe to be more important is how you do something rather than what you do. What I mean is, someone can play many puzzles or games but if you are just blitzing out moves in puzzles even when you haven't calculated to a guaranteed advantage then you aren't learning anything. You are just exploiting what you have learnt over exploring by trying to look for patterns you wouldn't normally look for. Constantly even in complex positions people blitz out moves only to blunder. This is why I don't recommend bullet to anyone.
jjbinx007 4y ago
Aman Hambleton has an EXCELLENT although very long series on Youtube called Building Habits. He starts at a very low ELO and follows a set of basic rules. He loses several games but his win ratio is high. Once he gets to a higher Elo he has to introduce new rules, and again it doesn't mean you'll win every game but you build good habits by practicing over and over again. And so it continues. Here's the full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8pZbhjL-fQ&list=PL8N8j2e7RpPnpqbISqi1SJ9_wrnNU3rEm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8pZbhjL-fQ&list=PL8N8j2e7Rp...
- bachonk 4y ago
  I tried Aman's videos but found Daniel Naroditsky to be far more helpful in terms of explaining advanced theory and tactics in a way that's easy to understand and practical at any ELO. Here are some of his playlists: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielNaroditskyGM/playlists https://www.youtube.com/@DanielNaroditskyGM/playlists
cglace 4y ago
I’m ~2000 online and got there by training tactics/puzzles and becoming really good at a few openings. I would suggest learning an opening or two for white and an opening or two for black. Kings Indian, modern defense, Sicilian defense, and danish gambit are some of my favorites.
nextaccountic 4y ago
If you are a beginner, studying tactics and doing puzzles. Always keep your pieces defended, even if there aren't immediate threats: undefended pieces may become tactical themes (which means, your opponent might be able to explore this two or three moves ahead). Always consider checks first, then captures, systematically. A level up, studying openings. Always go into a position with a plan (which generally means, which squares you want your pieces to occupy). A bad plan is better than no plan at all. The plan must be continually checked with calculation (and here is where tactics is useful), and you must be ready to change plans if things don't go well. You need also to study strategic concepts like weak squares, pawn structure, pawn majorities. This helps you to quickly identify what should be your plan even in a unfamiliar position. If you have trouble winning a game that you should have won, study endgames. Specially, if you are ahead of material, try to simplify the position (trade pieces to give your opponent less chances to come back), and specially simplify into an endgame where you're sure you will win.
AndreLock 4y ago
I was a competitive chess player in my youth and am currently ~2300 on Lichess. Here are key aspects of any training regimen: * Tactics - I did thousands of tactics puzzles using a program called CT-ART while under a time limit. I would have to complete 25 puzzles within 5 minutes while making 0 mistakes. If I made a mistake I would have to start from the beginning. * Core positional concepts - Understanding pawn structure (double pawns, isolated pawns, passed pawns, pawn majorities, etc.), control of central squares, open files, king safety, and so on. * Endgames - Many players neglect endgames. Master the basics: common rook-and-pawn and pawn-only endgames, how to checkmate with 2 bishops and bishop + knight, etc. Read Silman's Complete Endgame Course, Basic Chess Endings, and Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (for advanced players) to improve your endgame play. * Openings - Many people have mentioned learning openings, but it is generally a mistake for beginners and intermediate players to focus on this aspect of their game. It is not especially useful for a ~1000-rated OTB player to learn 15+ moves of theory in the King's Indian Defense only to end up in a position where there are slightly better according to theory but have no understanding of their position. It is better to center your opening repertoire around easy-to-learn openings and focus on improving other aspects of your game until you are strong enough to handle positions outside of opening theory.
BurningFrog 4y ago
The trap to avoid is memorizing openings! It takes a ton of time and brainpower, and doesn't make you a better player once you're outside your memorized moves..

brrrrrm 4y ago

Puzzles + learning openings. I highly recommend lichess for this

genghisjahn 4y ago
Learn end games before opening s. Learn k+q against a k. Learn k+pawn against k (how to advance a pawn to promote to q). K+r against K. There are others but get those 3 down.
slm_HN 4y ago
Puzzles are great for learning tactics, but eventually you need to learn some strategy and positional play. You'll need to read a book or two for this. And don't forget endings!
shric 4y ago
And don't forget to study end games too. I don't think you need a strong grasp of opening theory until you reach around 2000 (lichess).
vikingerik 4y ago
Make sure you do defensive puzzles as well. I'm fairly decent at spotting a tactic to win material a few moves ahead, but terrible at seeing one coming from my opponent early enough to avert it. I'm not sure what lichess has, but definitely look for puzzles where you have to avoid a knight fork or some pin or incoming checkmate.

vishnugupta 4y ago

Study and practicing openings. By this I mean you should memorise all the lines of an opening; not just the main lines. A vast majority of matches are won/lost within 30-35 moves by a few botched up opening moves. I don't recommend puzzles that much. They give you mental satisfaction. However, it is one thing to think of a good move knowing before hand that there's such a move possible but entirely different to recognise that you are in such a situation in the middle of a game.

tosh 4y ago
I tend to agree (& thought similar about puzzles) but I think they are effective at training your pattern recognition so you more easily find tactics when you play.
chongli 4y ago
Studying openings is a waste of time, even counterproductive, if you’re a beginner who hangs pieces all the time. This advice is much better suited to someone hoping to get over the 2k rating milestone. If you’re below 1k or even mid teens then your best bet is just to play a lot (longer time controls against better opponents) and study your games to look for your blunders, mistakes, and inaccuracies.
jmulho 4y ago
After you have learned all lines of 1.e4 out to 35 moves, I suggest learning all lines of 1.d4 out to 35 moves.

tosh 4y ago

* train various endgames (undervalued) (e.g. Naroditsky’s videos on endgames: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT1F2nOxLHOfQI_hFiDnnWj4lb5KsviJ_ https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT1F2nOxLHOfQI_hFiDnnWj4l...) * puzzles for tactics & mates * learn 1 “easy to execute” opening for each color

tosh 4y ago
also: go through your games with an engine and reflect on the good moves and blunders of yourself but also your opponent

have_faith 4y ago

That depends on how good you are already. Beginners progress most by learning not to hang pieces. Up to the ~1000 elo level you will win by simply not blundering with little to no opening theory. After that the breadth of scope opens up a lot. I got to ~1750 over the board almost completely ignoring openings beyond move 4 or 5. Watching videos on strategy, how should I be arranging my pieces / where do they "belong", and simple tactics will take you far. Openings are important, I study them more now, but I wouldn't get bogged down by them. Picking up an intuition for analysing a position and it's thematic ideas is key.

thefourthchime 4y ago

I liked these tips: https://mbuffett.com/posts/chess_improvement_thoughts/ https://mbuffett.com/posts/chess_improvement_thoughts/

10xDev 4y ago

Reached 1600 chess.com within a year starting from 600 and 2000 Lichess. What I believe to be more important is how you do something rather than what you do. What I mean is, someone can play many puzzles or games but if you are just blitzing out moves in puzzles even when you haven't calculated to a guaranteed advantage then you aren't learning anything. You are just exploiting what you have learnt over exploring by trying to look for patterns you wouldn't normally look for. Constantly even in complex positions people blitz out moves only to blunder. This is why I don't recommend bullet to anyone.

jjbinx007 4y ago

Aman Hambleton has an EXCELLENT although very long series on Youtube called Building Habits. He starts at a very low ELO and follows a set of basic rules. He loses several games but his win ratio is high. Once he gets to a higher Elo he has to introduce new rules, and again it doesn't mean you'll win every game but you build good habits by practicing over and over again. And so it continues. Here's the full playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8pZbhjL-fQ&list=PL8N8j2e7RpPnpqbISqi1SJ9_wrnNU3rEm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8pZbhjL-fQ&list=PL8N8j2e7Rp...

bachonk 4y ago
I tried Aman's videos but found Daniel Naroditsky to be far more helpful in terms of explaining advanced theory and tactics in a way that's easy to understand and practical at any ELO. Here are some of his playlists: https://www.youtube.com/@DanielNaroditskyGM/playlists https://www.youtube.com/@DanielNaroditskyGM/playlists

cglace 4y ago

I’m ~2000 online and got there by training tactics/puzzles and becoming really good at a few openings. I would suggest learning an opening or two for white and an opening or two for black. Kings Indian, modern defense, Sicilian defense, and danish gambit are some of my favorites.

nextaccountic 4y ago

If you are a beginner, studying tactics and doing puzzles. Always keep your pieces defended, even if there aren't immediate threats: undefended pieces may become tactical themes (which means, your opponent might be able to explore this two or three moves ahead). Always consider checks first, then captures, systematically. A level up, studying openings. Always go into a position with a plan (which generally means, which squares you want your pieces to occupy). A bad plan is better than no plan at all. The plan must be continually checked with calculation (and here is where tactics is useful), and you must be ready to change plans if things don't go well. You need also to study strategic concepts like weak squares, pawn structure, pawn majorities. This helps you to quickly identify what should be your plan even in a unfamiliar position. If you have trouble winning a game that you should have won, study endgames. Specially, if you are ahead of material, try to simplify the position (trade pieces to give your opponent less chances to come back), and specially simplify into an endgame where you're sure you will win.

AndreLock 4y ago

I was a competitive chess player in my youth and am currently ~2300 on Lichess. Here are key aspects of any training regimen: * Tactics - I did thousands of tactics puzzles using a program called CT-ART while under a time limit. I would have to complete 25 puzzles within 5 minutes while making 0 mistakes. If I made a mistake I would have to start from the beginning. * Core positional concepts - Understanding pawn structure (double pawns, isolated pawns, passed pawns, pawn majorities, etc.), control of central squares, open files, king safety, and so on. * Endgames - Many players neglect endgames. Master the basics: common rook-and-pawn and pawn-only endgames, how to checkmate with 2 bishops and bishop + knight, etc. Read Silman's Complete Endgame Course, Basic Chess Endings, and Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual (for advanced players) to improve your endgame play. * Openings - Many people have mentioned learning openings, but it is generally a mistake for beginners and intermediate players to focus on this aspect of their game. It is not especially useful for a ~1000-rated OTB player to learn 15+ moves of theory in the King's Indian Defense only to end up in a position where there are slightly better according to theory but have no understanding of their position. It is better to center your opening repertoire around easy-to-learn openings and focus on improving other aspects of your game until you are strong enough to handle positions outside of opening theory.

BurningFrog 4y ago

The trap to avoid is memorizing openings! It takes a ton of time and brainpower, and doesn't make you a better player once you're outside your memorized moves..