We all want to get better at chess. However, we often find ourselves stuck and just don’t know what we’re doing wrong.
How to improve at chess?
Table of Contents
What does it take to get better at chess?
“Improving at chess is similar to improving as a human”
It requires conscious effort as well as patience!
Chess is a game of creativity, accuracy, time management, psychological warfare, technique, etc. The more knowledge you gain about chess, the more you realize the depth of concepts the faster it is to improve your chess.
Today I present an article on how to improve chess fast! Yes, there are a few things which if you do seriously and regularly, will help you get better at chess.
Tactics are like the skeleton of chess. You need to be alert tactically. To implement tactics your calculation skill gets tested every time. This calculation requires visualization once you face stronger opposition.
Even after gaining an advantage, you need a technique to wrap up the game. That technique comes in Endgame. To monitor your overall progress in chess, we have a rating system.
How to improve tactics
Tactics! Chess is 99% Tactics. Tactics are the soul of chess. All the strategies of chess are based on tactics. If you see a game of top-level players, in those games the GMs don’t defend directly, they defend with tactics. Also, another strength of top players is they rarely miss tactics. So if you aim to be a top player you must be strong with tactics.
So what do tactics exactly mean? Tactics are specific patterns that occur due to the specific placement of pieces. When a player disturbs the balance of the position by making an error, it is punished with tactics. And if you want to punish your opponents for their errors, you need to be quick on spotting tactics, which can be possible only if you solve tactics.
Learn more about how to improve chess tactics.
How to improve calculation
Once you are well versed with tactical patterns, you need to improve on your skill of calculation. Chess is a game of details and each and every detail matters. So when our opponent makes a mistake we feel that there must be a tactical solution to it. Once you spot the “Achilles heel” in your opponent’s camp, it is important to find the correct sequence of moves. If you mess up the move order you might end up falling into your own trap.
The calculation also helps in keeping your brain active. It improves one’s way of thinking about a situation and also builds a habit of comparing between the available options. Such as, which one would be a good one and which one would be insufficient to win because it involves a long process.
Learn more about how to improve chess calculation.
How to improve visualization
Visualization is an essential skill in chess. Initially, we are allowed to move pieces while calculating. But once we get better at chess, to level up we should learn to visualize. While calculating variations you must be able to visualize the correct locations of the pieces. Visualization also needs sincere training and it is possible to get better at it with regular efforts.
A basic way to improve visualization is to never move pieces while solving positions. The more you move pieces over the board the more it will lead to making you impatient. Visualization is a slow process as it requires more accuracy than speed.
Learn more about how to improve chess visualization.
How to improve endgame
You have used the tactics, calculated long lines, and visualized the scenarios perfectly. Now comes the time when you have to land the final blow. The Endgame! The place where maximum swindles occur. Endgame requires precision. That’s the reason why every coach includes the techniques of Checkmate with a Queen + King v/s King and checkmate with two rooks v/s King in the initial part of the training.
If you have passed that stage then you can start with one rook checkmate and two bishop checkmate. Also, the endgame has a lot of positions that are theoretical in nature, which means they have already been studied and the final result will remain the same with precise play from both sides! So naturally, if you are well versed with positions you know are leading to a specific evaluation, you will take decisions whether to enter the variation or not.
Learn more about how to improve chess endgame.
How to improve your rating
FIDE has a rating system to keep track of the progress of players. It is called as ELO Rating system. The rating begins from 1000 with a player needing to score specific points in specific rounds. In short, if you need to level up in chess, you need to improve your rating. This rating is also useful for achieving norms like IM’s, GM’s, etc.
In Chess there are these titles that define your level, starting in ascending order, Candidate Master, Fide Master, International Master, and Grandmaster. There are also the same Titles for Women. For details regarding these titles read more.
So, to achieve these titles, you need to improve your rating. There are a lot of ways to improve rating, the easiest one is to solve 100 tactical puzzles every day. This will definitely improve your game and let you reach a good level. But this won’t be sufficient enough for all-around progress. There will be other aspects which you will have to improve.
So to conclude, I hope you keep practicing chess and solve tactics, improve your calculation, train your visualization, work on your endgame technique and finally achieve your desired rating with all the efforts you put in.
“Consistency is the key to whatever efforts you put in for your dream goal to turn into a reality.
Learn more about how to improve chess rating.
How to Improve Chess Openings
Improving the opening in chess is a very straightforward process.
One has to choose the opening according to his style of play and start learning various theories regarding the same opening or start learning the starting moves to get better at the openings one has chosen.
The openings are the only part in the chess game where the outcome is predictable and players who have prepared well in the opening most of the time get a very good middlegame position.
No matter which opening you play in chess it follows some guidelines and principles. To get better in the opening part you have to follow this basic principle and most of the time you would get better positions.
Learn more about how to improve chess openings.
How to Improve Chess Middlegame
Improving your middlegame is not as straightforward as the openings.
This is the stage where a lot of chess players struggle with and rightly so as there are various things one has to consider regarding the position, different types of questions have to be asked, different types of plans have to be considered and played out in the allotted time.
This can create a lot of confusion in one’s head and chances of mistakes are higher in the middlegame.
Being said that if you think in the systematic order and asked the right question and identified the right plan you can get a good position in the middlegame. So what are these questions and how should one evaluate the position?
Learn more about how to improve your middlegame.
Keep good habits for your brain
No matter how hard you study chess, you need to stay healthy and especially keep your brain in good shape.
This will boost your progress because you retain more of what your studied and can keep more focused for a longer time.
Learn more about how to boost your brainpower.
Try nootropics
Talking about boosting your brain power, there’s a special way that few are willing to acnowledge publicly: nootropics.
These supplements are scientifically designed to make you think clearly, keep focused, visualize, calculate, etc.
Learn more about nootropics for chess.