The Road to 2200 Program

 Evgeny Bareev: ‘It’s clear that now talent alone, even the most brilliant talent, isn’t enough for victory, but what’s demanded is professional, intelligent work that’s done over many years…’ And yet, we can see chess players of all levels trying to get quick results and neglecting some parts of their chess education in the process. Here are some examples:

1.       Choose opening systems that focus on proficiency in the middlegame or even the endgame would serve a player better in the long run;

2.       Having a reliable opening repertoire that you understand deeply and in which you can make small adjustments depending on your opponent and tournament situation is a wiser long-term approach. You can always change your opening after a couple of years if you would like to play something completely new;

3.       Devoting enough time to study classical model games of strong players. This is not a popular study method for people with a short-run outlook, because it does not seem to yield immediate results. However, omitting this fundamental element of chess education gets to haunt them sooner or later.

 

Some things in chess simply cannot be learned quickly, and desired results cannot always be achieved immediately, so we need to be patient if we want to gradually master different aspects of this game. The accumulation of skills and knowledge, as well as their manifestation in the form of tournament results and coveted rating increase, are quite unpredictable and very rarely follow a straight line. Most chess players face periods of stagnation before making observable leaps in playing strength. It is, therefore, best to keep a long-term perspective on things.

 

Tournament practice is extremely important in chess, of course, but balance is the key, as in everything. If you notice yourself slipping into this category of players, then I suggest two things:

1.       Periodically, make at least a 1-month break between the tourneys, even the blitz/rapid ones; and

2.       Avoid playing three back-to-back tournaments.

This way, you make sure that you have time to recuperate physically, conduct a serious training session or two in between the tournaments, and be mentally fresh for the next stop on your busy calendar.

Despite a distinct individual element in learning chess, certain learning processes apply to virtually everyone. I would like to list them here (with typical examples in brackets):

1.       Memorization of exact positions and variations (opening variations, theoretical endgames, model games, etc.); [BASIC]

2.       Gathering knowledge and skills (tactical and positional themes, strategic methods, endgame techniques, etc.); [BASIC]

3.       Basic pattern recognition (typical combinations, typical maneuvers, typical plans, etc.); [BASIC]

4.       Complex pattern recognition (less typical patterns, recognizing when a typical device or pattern does not work, ability to apply or combine typical devices and patterns in atypical situations, etc.); [DEEP]

5.       Developing intuition (‘feeling’ for the initiative, sense for piece coordination, feeling for which position might be dangerous, which endgame could be held, etc.). [DEEP]

Basic and deep learning processes

The first three learning processes from the list above (let’s call them basic) are familiar to every chess player – they take place while we memorize an opening variation, read a book on chess strategy, or solve a tactical puzzle with a well-known pattern. Of course, these are the foundational blocks and every chess player needs to devote a fair amount of study time to them, to create a large storage of useful ideas, patterns and basic skills that can later be applied in games. Usually, when we learn something this way, we use primarily our conscious mind – we consciously study something and we can see a cause and effect between the learning effort (e.g., memorizing an opening variation, drilling a tactical pattern, learning a specific positional rule, etc.) and its result (acquiring a concrete knowledge or skill). As essential as they are, basic learning processes are relatively ineffective when it comes to building your own advanced mental library that consists of complex patterns and intuition, the products of deep learning. Unlike the basic ones, the deep learning processes take place in the subconscious mind to a large degree and shape you as a unique chess player. Moreover, experience shows that study methods which stimulate deep subconscious learning help build chess strength more than any amount of the basic ones.

 

I had carefully studied two books for several months: Typical Middlegame Positions by Boris Zlotnik (replaced with Chess Structures by Rios) and Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky. When I say: ‘studied carefully’, I want to clarify that it means that I analyzed on my own every single example from the book on the board and reread certain chapters several times.

 

To conclude, I think that we could take away several things from the examples above:

1.       Enrich your intuition with regular and careful study of new material and try to make connections between things that you have learned before.

2.       Use your own mind in the analysis first – an interesting idea like 24…g5!? 25.g4 ♖xf4 would have hardly occurred to you if you had turned on the engine – it is not even in its top 5 choices!

3.       Engine evaluations, especially the initial ones, are not always correct. In fact, in rare instances they can be misleading; and

4.       Trust your intuition, unless proven otherwise!

 

 

Chapter 1 summary

Mastering a complex game like chess takes

·         time (quantity); and

·         intelligent study (quality).

·         There is no substitute for study time.

·         Talent is only a multiplier of the hours you put into study and not a decisive factor on its own.

·         The compounding effect of chess study allows those who invest more time into their studies to assimilate new and increasingly more complex things more easily and more quickly.

·         Learning chess is not a linear process; rather, increasing amounts of chess study tend to accelerate one’s learning curve.

·         The underlying foundation of quality work is the right study mindset. It is the understanding of why you are doing what you are doing and how it will translate into you becoming a better chess player.

·         When you are ‘process-oriented’ and study without the need for immediate gratification of your study efforts in terms of fleeting pleasure, recognition, score, rating, etc., you tend to reap the greatest benefits from your study.

·         The ‘selfish’ quest for self-improvement should not interfere with a selfless desire to learn the secrets of chess.

·         When one develops a mindset that places ‘chess’ in the primary role and ‘self’ in the secondary, one can achieve objectivity that is conducive to the deepest and most productive kind of chess learning.

·         Taking the path of least resistance is one of the biggest enemies of learning.

·         A study approach that minimizes superficial practices and focuses on systematic and patient efforts to understand chess better brings much more benefit in the long run.

·         The accumulation of skills and knowledge, as well as their manifestation in the form of tournament results and rating increases, are quite unpredictable. Most chess players rather face periods of stagnation before making observable leaps in playing strength.

·         Playing and studying go together hand in hand, forming a positive feedback loop.

·         ‘Chess cannot be taught. Chess can only be learned’ – Mikhail Botvinnik.

·         Study methods that stimulate subconscious learning (most notably – analysis) help build chess strength more than any amount of the basic ones.

·         The more you can rely on your subconscious suggestions in the game, the stronger player you become.

·         The development of intuition is the deepest learning process in chess. It is basically trusting that your brain will figure out the right solution without you consciously thinking about it.

·         To get to a new level, sometimes we need to let go of and ‘unlearn’ what we already think that we know to make space in our mind for more advanced knowledge or a new paradigm.

·         The best way to unlock your learning potential and get out of your study comfort zone is to ‘get comfortable being uncomfortable’.

·         When something is objectively difficult no matter how hard you try, and you care about it deeply, the solution is to get immersed in it, i.e., study it twice or more than you normally would.

·         When it comes to learning in chess, it matters much less where you are right now in terms of chess knowledge and skill, than where you are going, i.e., what your study mindset and habits are.

 

In the table below is an overview of the 15 most common study methods, together with their brief descriptions and three quality criteria: practical relevance; study intensity; and long-term learning potential.

 

Reading:

The most important part of reading is the process, not the result; in other words – what you have learned from reading the book (both consciously and subconsciously!), and not the fact that you have finished reading it. Here are some tips to get the most out of your reading:

·         If there is a passage that you do not fully comprehend, reread it a few times. If you feel like it, reread the whole book once more! I have reread each of my first couple of chess books probably about 5-6 times over the years and some parts of them even more than that.

·         Make your own notes as you read or add post-it-notes in the book (e.g., important examples, noteworthy concepts, favorite quotes).

·         If game continuations of interesting positions in the text are just below the diagram, cover them with a sheet of paper or your hand and try to solve them before looking at the moves in the book.

·         Challenge the author’s assumptions.

Light Analysis:

·         “Chess Informant” Style;

·         David Bronstein’s Zurich International Chess Tournament 1953

Deep Analysis: solving mode vs. analysis mode

When you are in the solving mode, your thinking narrows down as you are trying to find a single solution. Because you need to focus all your attention on the right, usually a relatively long and forced variation, you are not interested in exploring any other interesting alternatives nor the opponent’s ideas that are not a part of the solution.

When you are in the analysis mode, you think about a broader range of issues than just the best move in the position in front of you. In this mode of thinking, you are free to explore various possibilities for yourself and the opponent, and as a result, you learn how to evaluate the opponent’s resources more objectively and consider non-forcing variations more seriously than you would in the solving mode.

Analysis mode is the correct way to analyze a position deeply.

GM Lev Psakhis from his book Advanced Chess Tactics could also be applied in an analytical setting: ‘Don’t go out of your way to calculate long variations. A capacity for precise calculation to a depth of 2-4 moves is usually quite enough’. Of course, this is just a rule of thumb, but a good one.

Computer-Assisted Analysis:

The best way to analyze with an engine is to use it as a partner in the analysis, rather than the leader. This is best done by feeding it your own suggestions when you see an interesting option in a position that you are analyzing. If you manage to resist the inevitable temptation to let the engine suggest most of the moves, you could conduct a productive analysis session.

The engine will usually provide accurate evaluations, but it is important to understand that these evaluations are forward-looking. This means that the engine does not evaluate the position that you see on the board as -0.43, but rather some position that arises 10, 15 or more moves later after both sides have played the best moves.

Find the Best Move (FBM):

·         Chess Life Magazine, “Solitaire Chess”

·         FBM routine while watching live games online

·         Move by Move series by Everyman Chess

·         Lessons with a Grandmaster by Boris Gulko and Joel Sneed

·         Game fragments

This is an interesting format that I have first encountered in a book published by FIDE called 64 Lessons, if I am not mistaken.

Differences between FBM, Simulation, and Solving

Simulation

To get the most out of this method, you should remove all possible distractions and schedule an hour or two to think deeply on your own without interruptions except for essential breaks. It is easy enough to do it on a computer (ChessBase has even added a function called ‘Replay training’ which helps you practice simulations with hints), while old-fashioned folks can use the good-old ‘cover the next move’ technique when reading the game from a book and playing it out on the chessboard.

Another variation of the simulation practice that you can try out is with well-annotated games of strong players. When I was younger, I used to do this a lot using annotated games from Chess Informant. Here is how it goes:

·         Pick a well-annotated game from a chess book or a publication;

·         Find the same game without any annotations in a game database (raw game score);

·         Do a simulation using the raw game score;

·         Once you are done, jot down your calculations and thoughts (as in the italicized part of the Tomashevsky-Dubov commentary above);

·         and Compare your notes to annotations from the chess book/publication.

It is not a bad idea to make notes with mistakes that you have made in a simulation, in the same way you would make a ‘List of mistakes’ when analyzing games that you played (to be discussed in Chapter 3). When you do enough simulations, you can identify patterns in your thinking and discover typical mistakes. For example, here is a list of simulation mistakes that I have compiled for a dozen recently completed simulations.

List of simulation mistakes

Simulation is a good method to anticipate typical mistakes that you could make in your games and point to the areas in your game that could be improved. Overall, I find simulation to be one of the practically most useful study methods, especially if you do it right before tournaments, since it also prepares you well for the mental intensity of the actual game.

Reviewing (Chess Position Trainer Software; Openings, Endgames)

This is obviously one of the most important study methods in chess. Reviewing an important opening line or a theoretical endgame can make a big difference in the outcome of the game, so every chess player needs to devote a fair amount of study time to this, sometimes rather uninspiring, but necessary activity. However, once you have reviewed important material, you have done only part of your homework. The second part – memorizing what you have reviewed – is just as important and often trickier. First of all, the passage of time doesn’t help our odds of remembering the details. Secondly, if you have reviewed something superficially or your memory is not that great to begin with, the chances that you will be able to reproduce it in an actual game become quite slim. There are many memorization techniques that can be used to improve these odds: spaced repetition, making associations, visualization, muscle memory, etc. I believe that the key to retaining the reviewed material for a long time is to memorize ideas, rather than only the moves. When you try to memorize variations in terms of ‘I play this, he plays that’, your brain stores them as temporary data in your short-term memory. On the other hand, when you try to give variations that you are reviewing a deeper meaning and connect them to your previous knowledge, your brain stores them as ideas – meaningful information – in your long-term memory.

So, your primary goal when reviewing chess material should be to develop a method of ‘encoding’ the information in such a way that it becomes something that you understand deeply in terms of ideas, rather than something that you need to be recalling consciously, move by move. This way, you create mental shortcuts that allow you to retrieve the necessary information more quickly and reliably. This comes back to our discussion about basic and deep learning methods from the previous chapter.

You can use the memorizing technique based on logical sequences for anything else you would like to memorize: opening variations, chess games, etc. I have found that creating ‘stories’ with multiple stages, intermediate steps, and key positions (images) has helped me absorb and retain chess content quite efficiently over the years. If you have some issues with memorizing and reviewing, you do not have to use this exact method, but at least try to develop your own based on the general advice provided in this section.

In the quality criteria table, I have marked the intensity of reviewing with ‘4*’. This asterisk indicates that there can be some variance in the intensity level due to individual memory strength. For example, I have noticed that club players sometimes struggle to memorize opening variations. For them, this method’s intensity might be closer to 5 because it requires them to put in more mental effort than someone who has a stronger memory (for whom this score would be closer to 3 or even lower). The good news is that reviewing is one of the methods in which the compounding effect of the previous study kicks in; in other words, regular practice tends to strengthen one’s memory, as more efficient memorization techniques are adopted and new mental shortcuts are created.

Solving

Solving is one of the essential study methods. There is hardly a better way to practice specific decision-making skills than tackling thematic puzzles and exercises. This method also keeps us mentally sharp and satisfies our natural curiosity to find a solution to a challenging question. Since much has been already written on this method, I will limit myself to a few practical tips that you might find useful in your solving sessions.

Tip #1: Solve all sorts of puzzles and solve them whenever you can

·         Tactics

·         positional play

·         prophylactic thinking

·         endgame technique, etc.

Tip #2: Solve challenging puzzles to get out of your comfort zone

Ideally, you want to strike a balance between solving puzzles that are neither too easy, nor exceedingly difficult for you. In my experience, a 75% success rate on puzzle solving is an approximate figure that will indicate whether that type of a puzzle is challenging (consistently less than 75%) or not (solidly over 75%). In some cases, you don’t really mind if the puzzles are relatively easy; for example, when you do warm-up sets or solve exercises with the aim of drilling a certain pattern. On the other hand, if your objective is to solve puzzles to improve a skill, such as visualization or spotting the opponent’s resources, then sooner or later you will need to tackle challenging puzzles – many of them.

Tip #3: Record your solutions

The common and sound advice from authors of modern puzzle books is to record your puzzle solutions. This practice keeps you accountable because it is easy to tell yourself things like: ‘Oh, I would have seen it anyway if it was a real game’ or ‘It does not matter if the move order is different, I saw the right idea’ when you miss an important move in your calculations. If you have your solution written down, you cannot fool yourself this way.

Tip #4: Set a time constraint to challenge yourself

Finally, you can add another layer of challenge to puzzle-solving by setting a time constraint. You can time yourself on any puzzles that you attempt to solve, but you can also use modern technology. Many applications were created for that purpose; for example Tactics trainers on most popular chess websites reward quicker correct responses with more rating points, while chess.com’s Puzzle Rush puts you under severe time pressure on every puzzle. Solving puzzles with a time constraint gives your study more practical value, since we are also often faced with limited time to make an important decision in a tournament game. Just keep in mind that the priority should always be to use the proper solving technique rather than rushing to solve the problem.

 

Playing – sparring

Playing sparring games is perhaps the most practically relevant study method. It is the best preparation for what awaits you in tournament games in terms of calculation, decision making and time management. Of course, it takes two to tango, so the prerequisite is that you find someone of similar strength willing to spar with you. Finding a sparring partner where you live is not always easy, but fortunately we have the internet, so there should be no excuse not to try it out. As I explained in the section on mutual analysis, it is best if this person’s rating is within 100 points in either direction – in fact, if he or she is a stronger player, this means a greater challenge for you, which is always good. Let’s talk about some technicalities. The suggested time control for sparring games is 25-30 min per player (perhaps with a symbolic increment to avoid potentially flagging a person that was kind enough to join your cause) or, at least, 15 min + 10 sec. Everything beyond that is a plus. You want to make this a serious training exercise with enough time to think at the critical moments, so I would avoid playing on any time control shorter than that, if possible. There are many ways that sparring games can be set up. Some of the more common ideas are:

1. Playing a thematic match Usually an opening variation or typical middlegame position that you have studied together. For this and other methods, it is a good idea to alternate colors with the same position or variation.

2. Playing out an interesting middlegame position from both sides, alternating

3. Playing out a theoretical or otherwise interesting endgame from both sides, alternating.

I should also add that the book Sharp Endgames by IM Esben Lund contains many endgame positions that are suitable exactly for this format. Finally, don’t forget to do a post-mortem of the game with your opponent. You might learn something useful from it.

Playing – speed chess

Getting practice with your openings

Such games are a perfect ground to test your openings, because you can play many more games than in sparring and thus get more practical experience with a broader range of opening variations.

2. Getting a lot of general practice Just by playing a large number of blitz games, you get to see and process many types of positions from all stages of the game. This can help increase your knowledge base and improve your overall intuition, as noted in the first chapter.

3. Calculation exercise One should also not underestimate the calculation aspect of playing speed chess. Playing under time pressure from move one is the best way to keep you fully focused on the calculation of critical variations. It is highly recommended to calculate variations on the opponent’s time with the same level of concentration as on your own time, which is often easier said than done, though.

4. Getting into a competitive mode Playing speed chess gets your adrenaline flowing like almost no other study method. I like to do daily 60- to 90-minute blitz sessions in the week before a tournament to help me get into a competitive state of mind.

5. An opportunity to play stronger players When you play online, you will inevitably get paired against higher-rated opponents that you can learn from, whether it is an opening variation that they knew better, a tactical shot that they saw in a split second (and you missed it, of course), or a superior endgame technique. And, of course, there is hardly a greater confidence boost than beating a higher-rated opponent.

6. Obtaining new study material Nothing is closer to us than our own games, so the blitz games that we have played may serve as study material just as well as our tournament games.

Which time control should you choose for this purpose? When it comes to blitz, in my view 5+0 or 3+2 are the best time controls. They ensure that you have some time to stop and think about several critical moments in the game. In a 3+0 time-control, time often becomes a dominant factor in the game, so the quality of the game tends to drop significantly as players get low on time. Playing blitz with this time control should be mostly for fun, or just to get a bit more practice with your openings. Players who find it difficult to play shorter time controls without making blunders or losing on time regularly should stick to rapid games. As a rule, I check all the online blitz games that I have played with an engine afterwards. I would recommend anyone to do the same. It is a good learning experience, and, as I explained above, you get new study material in all stages of the game that you can explore and that is relevant to you. Overall, speed chess can be a useful study method in multiple ways, especially to spice up your training routine if it becomes too ‘static’ (too much thinking, too little doing).

However, it should not be overused, because playing too much blitz can be a waste of study time, not to mention counterproductive habits like bullet addiction, going on a tilt after getting flagged, blitz binge until 6 in the morning, etc. I am talking from experience here.

Blindfold

If there is any method in chess that is underestimated and neglected, it is studying in blindfold mode. This is a demanding method because you have no visual aids and the only board that you can ‘see’ is the one in your head. Under such conditions, you need to invest all your mental capabilities and allow zero distractions to accurately visualize the position and variations. And even then, you might come up short – missing that a square is being protected or that a piece that you wanted to move has already been traded off three moves earlier. As challenging as it is, this is also one of the most rewarding study methods. Think of it this way, solving or analyzing blindfold is to chess what playing with a medicine ball is to basketball. After you have done such a toilsome exercise, every regular activity seems to be a breeze.

Thus, studying blindfold has an immensely positive impact when it comes to:

1.       improving visualization;

2.       reducing blunders, especially when you get mentally tired or the position becomes complicated;

3.       and speeding up calculation.

If you feel like you are having problems in any of these areas, make sure that you add blindfold to your arsenal of study methods.

1.       Blindfold reading This is the simplest activity and the one that I would recommend starting with if you haven’t had have much blindfold practice before. The idea is to go through a game from the book without the chess set.

2.       Blindfold solving Solving puzzles without looking at a diagram is another simple, although slightly more challenging, activity.

3.       Blindfold analysis This is already a more challenging type of exercise, and you probably need a fair amount of practice with the first two types of blindfold activities to analyze accurately without visual aids.

4.       Blindfold playing This is a great study activity that you can set up with your sparring or training partner or even Chessbase.

Playing against a computer

The computer (chess engine) is the strongest sparring partner that you can possibly have. Playing a game against it is usually a frustrating experience, because computers are merciless at exploiting our, usually inevitable, tactical mistakes. However, that does not mean that playing against them is an exercise in futility; in fact, many chess professionals play out specific types of positions against computers to strengthen their skills in particular areas. For that purpose, here are some recommended study activities:

1.       Playing out technically winning positions against the computer Objective: conversion of an advantage against the best defense.

2.       Playing out much better positions against the computer Objective: improve defensive play by observing how the computer defends inferior positions.

3.       Playing out tactically sharp positions against the computer Objective: appreciating the importance of concrete calculation and getting used to a strong level of tactical play from your opponent.

4.       Playing out full games against lower-rated bots Objective: increase tactical awareness, get experience against different playing styles.

 

Chapter 2 summary

·         Not every chess-related activity should count as chess study. While chess activities that chess players do for fun, entertainment, or to satisfy their intellectual curiosity can sometimes be useful, doing them frequently and for extended periods of time is not an effective way to study chess.

·         The greatest strength of watching is that it is the most interactive way to study chess content. However, one should make sure not to get distracted by non-chess content to get the maximum benefit from this kind of study.

·         Reading engages your brain in a way that stimulates important cognitive processes such as comprehension, abstract thinking, and imagination to a greater degree than watching.

·         The greatest strength of reading as a study method is that it gives you access to condensed chess knowledge in a way that allows for natural processing and reflection on the content.

·         Chess books are not novels! To get the maximum benefit from them, you should study them carefully and with comprehension.

·         Analysis should be a cornerstone of every good study plan.

·         Light analysis is the kind of analysis in which you are using about 50% or less of your analytical abilities to save time or energy.

·         ‘Process of thinking during the game is the same process of analyzing, just without moving the pieces. And the essence of chess training is improvement of analyzing abilities’ – Garry Kasparov.

·         Analysis is the process of working out logical possibilities in a certain position. When we analyze, we create hypotheses about a certain move, idea, or variation, test them through the exploration of logical possibilities for both sides, and form final evaluations and conclusions.

·         A chess analyst should be powered by curiosity, asking questions such as: what if…?, why…?, how…?, what is the difference between…? etc. Such questions and their answers guide the analysis.

·         Solving mode is a kind of thinking, typical for solving chess puzzles, when your focus narrows down as you are trying to find the one solution. Even though people tend to be drawn to solving more than analysis when studying chess, the analysis mode helps us think more broadly about positions, evaluate them more accurately, and find the best course of action more often than the solving mode.

·         In positions where there is no forcing play, the old adage: ‘Long variation, wrong variation’ applies often – it is usually best to analyze the position 2-4 moves ahead.

·         A chess engine is ‘a good servant, but a bad master’.

·         It is important to understand that engine evaluations are forward-looking, and, as such, should not always be taken at face value by humans who cannot calculate that deeply and accurately ahead.

·         The greatest strengths of mutual analysis are the exchange of ideas and competitiveness.

·         ‘Find the best move’ and ‘Simulation’ are very practically useful methods, especially when done with competitive elements such as time constraint or imitation of real-game conditions.

·         It is a good idea to make a list of your simulation mistakes to identify typical thinking mistakes that could translate into your over-the-board play.

·         Your goal when reviewing chess material should be to develop a method of ‘encoding’ the information in such a way that it becomes something that you understand deeply in terms of ideas, rather than something that you need to remember consciously.

·         Some tips for solving are: solve puzzles whenever you can, get out of your comfort zone by solving challenging puzzles as often as possible, record your solutions, and set a time constraint.

·         Playing sparring games is perhaps the most practically relevant study method since it is the best preparation for what awaits you in tournament games in terms of calculation, decision making, and time management.

·         Playing speed chess can have many benefits in terms of chess study (openings, calculation, practical value, new study material), but it should be played with moderate frequency.

·         Blindfold is a study method with great potential to make you a stronger player, but it requires determination and high tolerance to frustration when starting out. Once this technique is mastered, a lot of things in chess become clearer.

 

Chapter 3

Identify your study priorities

When you sit to study, it is better to have a clearer picture of which particular aspect of endgames or positional play you want to focus on. Otherwise, you can spend too much time on a topic that is not a real priority, or study a little bit of everything without a clear focus, which are usually inefficient ways to study. On the other hand, if you carefully determine which two or three specific study areas you want to focus on in the upcoming period, you will be in a better position to optimize your study time and resources.

Firstly, we will list five general study areas and then break them down into a number of more specific ones. Then, we will establish five categories of chess player levels based on Elo rating and try to point out typical areas that demand attention at different stages of one’s chess development.

Finally, we will discuss how to identify key study areas, that is, those areas that are your study priorities at a certain point in time.

General study areas

The following five study areas should cover just about any study topic in chess that one can think of.

1. Openings

2. Tactics

3. Endgames

4. Middlegames

5. General improvement

 

1.       The order of study areas might seem a bit scrambled compared to the usual ‘opening-middlegame-endgame’ classifications. The reasoning behind my classification is that tactics and endgames are relatively more fundamental study areas for an improving chess player than the middlegame (more complex) and general improvement (more advanced).

2.       In this classification, ‘Tactics’ is used more broadly than normally to include all dynamic aspects of chess (in addition to tactics itself), such as attack and defense, calculation, double-edged positions, etc. I might have used a different name for it, like ‘Chess dynamics’, but ‘Tactics’ is a simpler and much more common term.

3.       The study area ‘Middlegames’ mostly encompasses all positional and strategic aspects of middlegames, such as positional play, typical middlegame strategies, pawn structures, etc. I think that it makes sense to merge these two related study areas into one general area. Yes, there are differences between them, and I will clarify them in Chapter 8 on middlegame study, but this is definitely not an awkward marriage. Many study resources on positional play and strategy combine elements of both, so it is just more practical to talk about these two themes in singular.

4.       Finally, ‘General improvement’ may seem like the vaguest area at first glance, something like a random collection of topics that do not strictly belong to any of the other four major areas. However, general improvement topics, such as the analysis of your own games and game collections of great players, often include instructive material from all stages of the game, so they are also an essential part of chess study.

To remedy such tunnel vision in chess, I recommend doing whole game analysis whenever possible, as opposed to primarily solving positions on diagrams or studying game fragments with specific topics.

 

This is by no means a definite list of specific areas that one can study, but it should provide a rather comprehensive overview.

 

Chess player levels

In the book, we will use the following classification of chess player levels:

1.       Intermediate player (1500-1800 Elo)

2.       Advanced player (1800-2100 Elo)

3.       Improving youngster (1900-2200 Elo)

4.       Master-level player (2100-2400 Elo)

5.       Strong titled player (2400+ Elo)

 

One Burning Question

‘Which areas should I focus on and how should I distribute my study time between them?’.

The best way to determine the right study mix is to identify your key study areas (discussed later in this chapter) and create an individual study plan (discussed in Chapter 9). That said, I believe that we can also make some generalizations when answering this question.

Garry Kasparov: ‘Analyzing abilities must be supported by the development of calculation abilities, knowledge of typical plans and methods of play plus knowledge of endgame exact theoretical positions.’

Csaba Balogh: ‘I would recommend to them to solve combinations, study the classics and theoretical endgames. All World Champions had different styles, one can master all elements of chess with them. They should learn the basics from these three things if they want to be strong one day.’

Jonathan Hawkins, ‘In terms of memorizing variations, especially [for players rated] below about 2000, I would tone [opening study] way down, maybe 10% of your study time or less. Tactical puzzles/analytical training is quite important. I would give 20% of time to this. The remaining 70% is the part players find difficult. You need to study a combination of master games, your own games, and be a student of the endgame.’

If we combine these answers and try to extrapolate some patterns, a reasonable approximation of general study area distribution for an improving chess player would look something like this:

·         Openings: 10%

·         Tactics: 25%

·         Endgames: 25%

·         Middlegames: 20%

·         General Improvement: 20%

 

Below, I provide my general study area guidelines for each of the five player levels listed above.

 

Intermediate player (1500-1800 Elo)

Openings

·         Create a simple opening repertoire with both colors, nothing too deep; usually memorizing a couple of key lines 10-12 moves in depth will suffice. You might lose an occasional game due to lack of opening knowledge, but against players of similar strength the game will usually be decided in the later stages.

·         Learn about typical opening ideas and strategies and how to fully appreciate the importance of quick development in the opening. At this stage, this is more important than memorizing forced opening variations.

·         A 1.e4 or 1.d4 repertoire is the preferred suggestion with White to appreciate how the role of the pawn center, natural piece development, initiative and space advantage translate into the middlegame. There is no urgency to study the main lines; sidelines or ‘systems’, if learned properly, are completely acceptable.

·         With black, I would suggest defenses with simple pawn structures and active piece play (e.g., Rubinstein Variation of the French Defense, Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Tarrasch Defense). I would stay away from positionally dubious (e.g., the Scandinavian Gambit), passive (e.g., Old-Indian) or theoretically demanding openings (e.g., the Grünfeld) at this stage.

Tactics and Endgames

·         The primary focus should be on increasing tactical and endgame skills. This is where players of this level tend to show the most inconsistency that will cost them tournament points.

·         Tactics should be practiced daily to develop tactical triggers that allow you to spot tactics quickly in your games, as well as to improve your calculation.

·         Solve a lot of pawn endgames exercises and simple endgame studies. These are the fundamentals of endgames and will also help you improve your calculation skills.

Middlegames

·         Read/watch a couple of good fundamental books/video courses on middlegame topics and track how these ideas were or could have been applied in your games.

·         It is okay to make most positional and strategic decisions simply by following well-accepted guidelines that work in most cases. Thinking outside the box is usually counter-productive without a big enough knowledge base.

General improvement

1.       The help of a coach with game analysis and general advice can be greatly beneficial for improvement at this stage.

2.       Study classical games of great players such as Capablanca and Alekhine regularly to increase your general level of understanding and obtain inspiration.

Advanced player (1800-2100 Elo)

Tactics

·         The main advantage of players at this level compared to intermediate players is that they control the game better tactically.

·         Keep practicing tactics regularly.

·         Start challenging yourself with difficult tactical and calculation exercises at some point.

Endgames

·         Endgames should remain a large portion of a club player’s staple study.

·         Knowledge of the most important theoretical endgames should be supported by a more detailed study of typical endgames sorted by material balance (e.g., rook endgames, knight endgames, opposite-colored bishops’ endgames, etc.).

·         Study a good resource on endgame technique.

·         Get into the habit of solving endgame studies regularly.

Openings

·         The importance and complexity of opening work increases to a small degree.

·         Consulting a more advanced opening resource or two will help you create a reliable modern opening repertoire with both colors.

·         Learning a strategically complex opening, such as the Ruy Lopez, the Nimzo-Indian or King’s Indian Defenses, can be an excellent way to improve understanding of various typical pawn structures and ideas in the middlegame.

·         There is still no need for big opening work at this stage, like memorizing topical lines and searching for new ideas, because much greater learning potential lies in other study areas. It is best to simply follow variations and ideas from the opening resources that you have chosen and focus more on the middlegame and endgame study.

Middlegames

·         Chess players at this level also tend to play conceptually more meaningful chess than intermediate players, as they increasingly prefer mini-plans based on a particular positional feature (weakness, bad piece, open file) to fleeting tactical or positional threats, or attempts of a direct attack that are more common in games of intermediate players.

·         Expand your knowledge about pawn structures, typical middlegame strategies, and start paying attention to exceptions from the well-known positional principles (‘rule independence’), etc.

General Improvement

·         As tournament experience accumulates, pick up a book or two on general improvement and study it seriously.

·         Analyze your own games regularly to identify strengths and weaknesses in play, as well as to develop analytical skills.

·         Study a couple of best/instructive game collections and try to study interesting non-annotated games on your own in a similar way.

Key Study Areas

They say that you are only as strong as your weakest link, so it makes a lot of sense to prioritize working on chronic weaknesses that you detect in your games.

In order to avoid recurring mistakes in problematic aspects of your game in the future, you should start by identifying your key study areas. There are several ways to detect such areas in your play:

1.       Analyzing your games carefully;

2.       Asking an experienced coach to analyze your games for you (especially recommended for lower-rated and less experienced players);

3.       Solve a diagnostic test for a particular area (available as online resources or in specialized exercise books);

4.       Rely on the personal judgement or other people’s remarks (less reliable).

5.        

6.       Kuljasevic, Davorin. How to Study Chess on Your Own: Creating a Plan that Works… and Sticking to it! (p. 248). New in Chess. Kindle Edition.

 

Benefits of analysis of your own games (Mikhalchishin):

1.       Deepen our understanding of various positions and translate this knowledge into a practical game.

2.       Spot critical moments and typical mistakes in them.

3.       Make a selection of mistakes at critical moments and analyze them technically and statistically. You need at least 50 examples.

4.       Identify areas where there are gaps in knowledge or understanding, as well as strong areas of the game.

5.       Understand better the psychological and emotional profile of yourself as a player.

6.       Repetition before every tournament helps to avoid these typical weaknesses in future games.

7.       Finding a proper set of exercises or classical games to eliminate certain types of mistakes.

Possible problems during analysis, according to Mikhalchishin, are:

1.       Low quality of the analysis. It leads to a wrong evaluation of the critical moments.

2.       Analysis is not deep enough on every move. Laziness.

3.       Analyzing only your own moves, but not the opponent’s, which are just as important and instructive.

4.       We must analyze the position, not just the particular moves.

5.       Absence of conclusions after the analysis. Absence of typical mistakes selection.

 

How to analyze your games

1.       Here is what I usually do when I get to my laptop after the game (and I would suggest doing the same to anyone):

2.       Enter the game into the ‘My games’ database;

3.       Do not turn on the engine at any point;

4.       Try to briefly recollect my calculations and thoughts from relevant moments of the game and record them;

5.       Make a note of the time spent on longer thinks and mark the start of time pressure (if there was one);

6.       Save these raw notes and move on.

This process takes about 15-20 minutes for one game. It can be done in the evening if you didn’t have time for it during the day. It is also possible to do it right after the tournament has finished, although your memories of certain calculations will be blurry, so I prefer the above-mentioned approach. As a rule, I analyze the games from a tournament in detail at home, when I am emotionally less involved in them and have more time to properly analyze them.

Now, let us talk about the actual game analysis process. Most chess players should avoid analyzing their games with the chess engine on. The lower your overall chess level is, the more this is true because you trust the engine as the only authority to a greater extent, and you want to avoid this.

I would suggest you to loosely follow the procedure below:

1.       In the first round of analysis, analyze the game on your own without the engine’s help according to deep analysis principles that were covered previously.  You can analyze the game with a coach or a training partner just as well.

2.       Focus on a thorough analysis of the critical moments in the game.

3.       Check the variations that you calculated in the game, but also look for alternatives that you or your opponent might have missed.

4.       Add comments where necessary (there is no need to write a ‘Dear diary’ of your thought process on every single move, though).

5.       Attach your evaluations at the end of each analyzed line.

6.       Once you have detailed notes of your game, check the analysis with an engine. If it helps, think of the engine check as a reward for the work that you have done on your own.

7.       If the engine points out another important idea or branch, analyze it more thoroughly. If it disagrees with your evaluation of a certain line, try to figure out why and revise it.

8.       Once the game has been fully analyzed, make a list of mistakes that you have made.

Here is a summary sample of the typical mistakes:

1.       HAZY CALCULATION

Especially in seemingly unclear positions and when under time pressure. Becoming nervous already 10-15 minutes before time trouble starts, which affects the accuracy of my calculations. Not using my opponent’s time to calculate as much as I could.

2.       NOT OVERCOMING RESISTANCE

Stopping my calculations too early because of laziness to calculate further or premature intuitive evaluation of the position.

3.       IMPATIENCE

Trying to go for forced lines so as not to give the opponent an opportunity to make a move I might not have expected. Avoiding calculation of non-forcing variations.

4.       POSITIONAL and TACTICAL DOGMATISM

I sometimes miss moves (for myself and the opponent) that go against some well-known positional or tactical principles, such as the bishop pair, open file, activity, pin, back rank weakness, etc. Not taking dynamic possibilities into account enough when evaluating positions and lack of flexibility when making decisions.

5.       LACK OF ENDGAME KNOWLEDGE

Endgames with typical material balances, pawn structures, etc. I realized this in the post-mortem when Kozul quickly evaluated all endgames that had and could have arisen accurately, while many of them were not clear to me.

 

List of key study areas

You can also see that there is a List of mistakes (a term that you are surely familiar with if you have read Axel Smith’s Pump up your rating or one of Dvoretsky’s early works) at the end of this game. I suggest making such lists for all games, also those that you won.

It is important to be objective and self-critical even when we are successful. Once you compile a good number of analyzed games, you can create an aggregate list where you have an overview of your mistakes by type and frequency. Mikhalchishin recommends using at least 50 games for this purpose, while Smith suggests that 30 games are enough. More is better, of course, as the sample becomes more representative.

 

While all mistakes are serious, particular attention should be given to the most common mistakes at the top of both tables. These mistakes tend to affect one’s results the most, so I would extract them into a List of key study areas to work on in the future. In this particular case, I identified the following eight key study areas:

 

List of key study areas:

Tactics:

a)       Overcoming resistance in calculation;

b)      Candidate moves;

c)       Opponent’s resources; and

d)      Double-edged and imbalanced positions.

Middlegames:

a)       Positional decision making;

b)      Maneuvering in static positions;

c)       More flexible thinking about positional and strategic issues; and

d)      Deeper analysis of middlegame positions from the opening repertoire.

 

Taking action

Becoming aware of shortcomings in your play is the first step to improvement, so creating such a list is a good start. Therefore, my suggestion once you identify your key study areas is to:

·         Devise a study plan with specific objectives to be accomplished for each of the key study areas; and

·         Keep working on it.

Chapter 3 Summary

·         ‘Which areas should I focus on and how should I distribute my study time between them?’ is a burning question of virtually every chess player. A significant portion of this chapter is dedicated to providing an answer to this question, which is based on general guidelines for players of various levels and specific needs of a chess player.

·         If you determine which two or three specific study areas you want to focus on in the upcoming period, you will be able to optimize your study time and resources.

·         When people study chess, they sometimes make the mistake of compartmentalizing study areas, i.e., focusing too much on a particular area they are studying and mentally disconnecting it from other areas, which could lead to mistakes over the board.

·         It is suggested to complement study methods that focus on specific areas, such as solving positions on diagrams or studying thematic game fragments, with whole game analysis whenever possible.

·         The primary focus of intermediate players (1500-1800 Elo) should be on increasing tactical and endgame skills.

·         Endgames should comprise a large portion of a club player’s staple study diet.

·         Players of all levels would do well to solve endgame studies on a regular basis.

·         Improving young players and their coaches should pay attention to more ‘abstract’ aspects of chess improvement, such as positional play and strategy, endgame technique, acquiring good role models in chess, etc.

·         Generally speaking, Master-level players (2100-2400 Elo) have a good overall chess knowledge, but should work on improving dynamic play and strategic depth in all phases of the game.

·         Generally speaking, International Masters should work mostly on openings, technical, and psychological aspects of the game to get to the grandmaster level.

·         ‘The difference in chess strength is determined by the frequency of mistakes in one’s games’ – Efstratios Grivas.

·         Analysis of your own games is a time-tested approach for rooting out weaknesses and strengthening other areas of the game.

·         It is very tempting to analyze the game with an engine right after it has finished, but my suggestion is to analyze the game deeply on your own after the tournament instead.

·         Unless you are a seasoned chess analyst with plenty of experience working with chess engines, I would advise strongly against running the engine while you analyze your games for the first time.

·         Once the game has been fully analyzed, make a list of mistakes that you have made.

·         When it comes to your well-fought and content-rich games, it is absolutely necessary that you analyze them thoroughly.

·         Once you compile a good number of analyzed games, you can create an aggregate list of all your mistakes where you have an overview of mistakes by frequency and type.

·         Psychological and emotional factors can often go under the radar as we attribute our mistakes to some technical deficiency in our play, while there is actually a ‘human’ factor at the root of a mistake.

·         Just being aware of the problem and trying harder next time is hardly the solution in itself. We are creatures of habit and unless we do something proactive to change the faulty habit, it is likely that we will repeat the mistake.

·         There are many more things to analyze in the game than just critical moments. As Boris Gelfand said, ‘… to ponder about such things retrospectively makes sense, as it helps us to improve our understanding of the game and sharpen our intuition.’

Chapter 4 Training Resources

Ø  Online resources

Ø  Chess books

Ø  Database software

Ø  Chess coach

Ø  Chess periodicals

 

The letters A to E in the table correspond to the player levels as follows:

A – Intermediate player

B – Advanced player

C – Improving youngster

D – Master-level player

E – Strong titled player

 

Table 4.3: Recommended chess books for opening study

Table 4.4: Recommended chess books for Tactics study

Table 4.5: Recommended chess books for Endgame study

Table 4.6: Recommended chess books for Middlegame study

Table 4.7: Recommended chess books for General improvement

If I had to choose the most important category of chess books, it would be the ‘Best games/Tournament collections’.

… ‘The rules should be learned from simple and logical examples. Therefore, I’d recommend the games of Capablanca not Alekhine, Botvinnik not Bronstein, and Karpov not Kasparov.’

Opening Study

‘Your only task in the opening is to reach a playable middle game. To all players I can recommend the following: simplicity and economy. These are the characteristics of the opening systems of many great masters. They do not strain unduly for advantages in the opening; they would just as soon move on to the next stage of the game, hoping their skill will overcome the opponent in the middle game or endgame.’ ~ Lajos Portisch

Portisch’s advice, given many decades ago, has proved to be far-sighted. Striving to reach a playable middlegame (or even endgame) that you know well, without trying to necessarily force anything in the opening, is probably the most reasonable approach to openings in today’s computer era.

Opening study should not be underestimated, but it could be overestimated. Unless you are already a strong titled player who has mastered most other aspects of the game to a high degree, opening study should not be your top priority.

Opening study should incorporate middlegame study to a large degree.

Basic opening study

The first thing that you need to do when you study an opening, especially a new one, is to gather a decent knowledge base on which you will build upon later. This can be done in many ways: from opening databases, books, video lectures, lessons, etc. Wherever you get your opening material from, you should take away two basic things from it:

1)      several key variations; and

2)      2) several model games.

 

After that, it is strongly suggested that you create simple opening files that contain key variations and model games from openings that you want to play. It is a good idea to add brief comments to these files and highlight important ideas and strategic pointers with arrows, circles, etc. They will help you review the material more easily later.

Five to six model games will give you a general direction for the typical middlegames and be relatively easy on your memory. This is the foundation that should give most club players confidence to essay this opening in a classical game, while for most titled players it should be enough to at least give it a try in a blitz/rapid game or against a much lower-rated opponent. By saving your opening work into a database such as the one above, no matter how elementary or messy it may be initially, you are creating a good base for the future study of that opening variation. Once it has been saved, you can always access it for a review or upgrade. For instance, when you play or stumble upon a theoretically important game, or see a novelty on a high level, you can easily insert them into your opening database. It may take some time and discipline to create this habit, but speaking from the experience of someone who played chess for a long time without such databases, keeping them makes a big difference.

Beyond the basics

Of course, to learn an opening at a higher level, you should upgrade this basic knowledge by exploring the opening in more detail. Thankfully, these days many high-quality publications containing detailed opening analysis are available for this purpose: online opening courses, opening DVDs, books, pgn databases, games annotated by top players, etc. They usually come with verbal explanations that help you understand particular moves and strategic ideas in the opening better. If you use these resources, you can learn an opening pretty well, and for many people this amount of opening study is just about enough.

I am sure that you can relate to moments when you study a certain opening variation and have a question which remains unanswered, such as:

What if he plays this move (not mentioned by the author)?

Why did White trade his strong bishop for the knight?

Why didn’t he castle now and not on the next move?

What is my plan in the middlegame after this sequence?

Which move order is better to reach a desired position?

Deep opening study

Since openings come in many shapes and forms, I would like to share practical study advice for various types of positions and issues that we typically encounter when studying them deeply. I will be frank; the analyses below may be a bit advanced for a non-professional, but I hope that the general study pointers will be useful for chess players of all levels.

Studying tabiyas

While many types of opening variations that we study are fairly concrete and straightforward to learn, there are also more complex ones that cannot be grasped without delving deeper into the secrets of the position. The Scheveningen Sicilian, most variations in the Ruy Lopez, many variations of the King’s Indian Defense and Queen’s Indian Defense, etc. – these are just a few of many openings that reach tabiyas, usually somewhere in the transition between the opening and the middlegame. To clarify, a tabiya is ‘a position in the opening of a game that occurs after a sequence of moves that is heavily standardized, and from which the players have many possible moves again.’ Studying tabiyas is the best way to understand complex openings, because they contain many strategic and tactical ideas that are typical for the whole opening. I like to divide tabiyas into two types: static and dynamic. Below, we will examine how to study both types.

Static tabiyas Whether you like it or not, in some of your games you will get a type of position that is characterized by fairly static pawn structures and a lot of maneuvering. Very often, one player tries to reach this kind of a position with their opening choice, relying on their experience in that particular structure to outplay the opponent. These types of positions often lead to a strategic fight and thus cannot be properly understood with only a basic opening study explained above. Here is what a 2700+ grandmaster Evgeny Tomashevsky said about one such type of position, the Stonewall system, that he successfully employed with the black pieces against Levon Aronian in the 2015 World Cup: ‘We analyzed this system for many hours, days with my second GM Alexei Iljushin. You cannot just consider your openings according to the computer evaluation. This position is strategical, and I think when you spend a lot of time you get a good feeling of the nuances…’ Tomashevsky’s point about computer evaluations is well-taken. Engines sometimes misevaluate static positions or struggle to suggest a meaningful plan. As he argues, analyzing different strategic possibilities with a human touch will help you obtain a better understanding of such positions. The assistance of an experienced coach or wisdom gathered from annotated games of strong players can be of great benefit in this learning process. I also like to use the Plan Explorer and Similar Structure tools in ChessBase to uncover important model games and systemize typical plans in static tabiyas.

Flexible tabiyas

Similar to static tabiyas, flexible tabiyas contain many strategic ideas for both sides. However, unlike static tabiyas, flexible tabiyas are characterized by the great flexibility of pawn structures. Such positions are usually difficult to analyze because of the multitude of possible transformations of the pawn structures and little nuances that often determine whether a certain maneuver or a pawn break is good or not. And, you have guessed it, the only way to understand these nuances is to analyze such positions thoroughly. This is hard work, but, as a reward, you not only get to the bottom of the complex position at hand, but also improve skills that are transferable to other openings and study areas, such as understanding of typical middlegames, systematic thinking, analytical skills, etc.

Preparing new ideas

One of the best ways to get an edge in the opening is to prepare a new idea. Even if this idea is not refuting a variation or even promising an objective advantage, the surprise effect usually induces the opponent into making an inaccuracy or (hopefully) a serious mistake in the opening or middlegame. The key with such ideas is to analyze them thoroughly, considering all the moves that you think that your imaginary opponent might play in the game, even those that are not among the first two or three lines of the engine. Armed with such knowledge and psychological advantage, you can put serious pressure on the opponent right from the start of the game. However, finding new ideas is not so straightforward these days because many popular opening variations have been analyzed ‘to death’. Also, virtually everyone has access to the same opening resources as you do, so your first-line-of-engine novelty or a hot take from the most recent opening book might not come as a surprise to a well-prepared opponent at all. One often needs to dig even deeper than that, looking for unexpected novelties in unusual places, recycling old ideas in new settings, etc. Fortunately, chess is a game of infinite possibilities and new opening territories are constantly being explored.

The fate of many new promising ideas in chess is such that the engine finds a way to neutralize them with precise play. However, the practical value of such new ideas increases if:

You have analyzed the idea thoroughly and the opponent has not;

The opponent’s best moves are not obvious nor forced;

The opponent has a couple of critical decisions to make or an obvious-looking move that runs into a hidden refutation;

The opponent has to make difficult and time-consuming decisions for many moves in a row; and

There is a small downside and a reasonable upside, i.e., very few chances that you can get a worse position if the opponent plays the best moves, but a decent chance that your opponent will get a bad position if he makes an inaccuracy.

Studying openings into the endgame

It is possible to study some openings all the way into the endgame. In such cases, it is recommended that you study the arising endgame carefully, even if the variations that you analyze are not forced. Such analysis not only helps you understand typical endgames that you might get over the board but also improves your overall endgame skill.

Correspondence Games

Flexible tabiyas

Similar to static tabiyas, flexible tabiyas contain many strategic ideas for both sides. However, unlike static tabiyas, flexible tabiyas are characterized by the great flexibility of pawn structures. Such positions are usually difficult to analyze because of the multitude of possible transformations of the pawn structures and little nuances that often determine whether a certain maneuver or a pawn break is good or not. And, you have guessed it, the only way to understand these nuances is to analyze such positions thoroughly. This is hard work, but, as a reward, you not only get to the bottom of the complex position at hand, but also improve skills that are transferable to other openings and study areas, such as understanding of typical middlegames, systematic thinking, analytical skills, etc. A case in point is the following flexible tabiya in the Zaitsev Variation of the Ruy Lopez.

Preparing new ideas

One of the best ways to get an edge in the opening is to prepare a new idea. Even if this idea is not refuting a variation or even promising an objective advantage, the surprise effect usually induces the opponent into making an inaccuracy or (hopefully) a serious mistake in the opening or middlegame. The key with such ideas is to analyze them thoroughly, considering all the moves that you think that your imaginary opponent might play in the game, even those that are not among the first two or three lines of the engine. Armed with such knowledge and psychological advantage, you can put serious pressure on the opponent right from the start of the game. However, finding new ideas is not so straightforward these days because many popular opening variations have been analyzed ‘to death’. Also, virtually everyone has access to the same opening resources as you do, so your first-line-of-engine novelty or a hot take from the most recent opening book might not come as a surprise to a well-prepared opponent at all. One often needs to dig even deeper than that, looking for unexpected novelties in unusual places, recycling old ideas in new settings, etc. Fortunately, chess is a game of infinite possibilities and new opening territories are constantly being explored.

The fate of many new promising ideas in chess is such that the engine finds a way to neutralize them with precise play. However, the practical value of such new ideas increases if:

1.  You have analyzed the idea thoroughly and the opponent has not;

2.  The opponent’s best moves are not obvious nor forced;

3.  The opponent has a couple of critical decisions to make or an obvious-looking move that runs into a hidden refutation;

4.  The opponent has to make difficult and time-consuming decisions for many moves in a row; and

5.  There is a small downside and a reasonable upside, i.e., very few chances that you can get a worse position if the opponent plays the best moves, but a decent chance that your opponent will get a bad position if he makes an inaccuracy.

Studying openings into the endgame

It is possible to study some openings all the way into the endgame. In such cases, it is recommended that you study the arising endgame carefully, even if the variations that you analyze are not forced. Such analysis not only helps you understand typical endgames that you might get over the board but also improves your overall endgame skill.

‘Digging’

The most comprehensive opening study practice I am aware of, informally called ‘digging’, looks like this: you and a training partner analyze an opening over the chessboard. One of you also has a laptop and is responsible for checking opening databases, finding relevant games, and providing engine evaluations, as well as for saving the analysis. This person is the ‘computer side’ of the operation, while his partner, who makes the moves on the board and has no access to the computer, is the ‘human side’. Such a division of labor allows you to cover the opening that you study thoroughly: where it is appropriate, you will follow the suggestions of the opening theory or the engine; in other cases, you will analyze the position on your own. This kind of opening study is usually effective only if it lasts at least as long as a chess game with a long time-control, 3 to 5 hours. You should feel mentally fatigued after it, hence the name ‘digging’. For instance, the opening work with IM Darko Doric that I mentioned in the game (see page 90) followed a similar format. I do not know it for a fact, but I would assume that in recent times of imposed social distancing, setting up such study sessions online has become more common. I should say that this kind of opening work is recommended primarily for chess professionals or those aspiring to become one in the near future.

Other opening study methods

Of course, when it comes to opening study, one should mostly use a computer simply because it provides the tools to study the material very efficiently and with a great amount of detail. That said, it is useful to study openings over the board in certain situations. From my experience, there are two types of such practices:

1. Reviewing I like to leave about 15-20 minutes on the game day to review variations and lines that I am a bit uncertain about. When you play the opening moves with your own hand, muscle memory kicks in, decreasing your chances to mess up the move order or forget an important move. In addition, you also review the moves slower than on the computer, so your brain has more time to process them than when you keep hitting the ‘forward’ key.

2. Analyzing (with or without a training partner) I find it more useful to analyze non-theoretical opening variations over the board than on a computer screen, because moving the pieces around and exploring various options with my own hand somehow helps me feel the positions better. This is perhaps not so simple to explain, but I guess that it also has something to do with muscle memory and extra processing time.

Finally, as you learn the opening, you want to make sure that you put it into practice. Of course, games with a classical time control are the best practice for any aspect of your chess study, but you want to have at least some preliminary practice with an opening before you step onto the big stage. There are several other ways to test your openings:

·         playing blitz;

·         playing sparring games;

·         doing simulations; and

·         playing against a computer.

Chapter 5 summary

·         Opening study should not be underestimated, but it could be overestimated.

·         Unless you are already a strong titled player who has mastered most other aspects of the game to a high degree, opening study should not be your top priority.

·         ‘Your only task in the opening is to reach a playable middle game’ – Lajos Portisch.

·         ‘Playing the middlegames that arise from mainline openings is an incredible learning experience for which there is no substitute’ – Samuel Shankland.

·         Opening study should incorporate middlegame study to a large degree. ‘There is very little more frustrating than spoiling great pregame work with over the board ineptitude’ – Samuel Shankland.

·         The first step in opening study is to create simple opening files that contain several important variations and several model games. This is a good base that you can review, upgrade, and update with new material later.

·         For most people, following detailed opening analysis from modern opening resources is just about enough when it comes to opening study. However, to fully understand opening subtleties, you need to do additional research and analytical work on your own.

·         A tabiya is a position in the opening of a game that occurs after a sequence of moves that is heavily standardized, and from which the players have many possible moves.

·         Studying tabiyas is the best way to understand complex openings, because they contain many strategic and tactical ideas that are typical for the whole opening.

·         ‘You cannot just consider your openings only according to the computer evaluation’ – Evgeny Tomashevsky.

·         When studying tabiyas, it is a good idea to play over a large number of games to systemize typical plans and maneuvers for both sides. This will facilitate the analysis as tabiyas are usually quite complex.

·         In contrast with static tabiyas that feature static pawn structures, flexible tabiyas are characterized by the great flexibility of pawn structures, especially in the center.

·         Analyzing tabiyas is hard and time-consuming work, but, as a reward, you not only get to the bottom of the complex position at hand, but also improve skills that are transferable to other openings and study areas.

·         The key with new promising ideas is to analyze them thoroughly, considering all the moves that you think that your imaginary opponent might play in the game, even those that are not among the first two or three lines of the engine.

·         To find a new promising idea, one often needs to dig deeper than the first suggestion of the engine, looking for unusual novelties in unusual places, recycling old ideas in new settings, etc.

·         Some opening variations can be studied well into the endgame. In such cases, it is recommended that you study the arising endgame carefully, even if the variations that you analyze are not forced. Such analysis not only helps you understand typical endgames that you might get over the board but also improves your overall endgame skill.

·         Since they combine deep human and engine input, correspondence games are of the highest quality and often contain strong ideas that are not seen in over-the-board chess. They can sometimes give you a competitive edge over an otherwise theoretically well-prepared opponent.

·         As tactically brilliant as they are, engines are not to be fully trusted with evaluations and recommendations in certain positions. If the position that the engine evaluates positively feels like something that would be uncomfortable playing over the board, you should follow your own intuition.

·         As you learn the opening, you want to make sure that you put it into practice, such as playing blitz, sparring, doing simulations, etc.

·         To understand and play a certain opening well, you need to combine various study methods over a longer period of time: learn relevant opening variations and model games, try to understand and analyze them deeply, follow new developments, explore your own ideas, review your opening files periodically, and practice.

 

Dynamics

If you have spent many hours solving tactical puzzles and sharpening your calculation skills, but you still shy away from sacrificing a piece for uncertain compensation, avoid messy tactical positions, or get scared of the very thought of your opponent having tactical threats around your king, do you think that solving more tactical and calculation puzzles is the solution?

I hope that your answer is no. Let me suggest several more effective study methods to improve your play in dynamic positions:

·         analysis of double-edged positions with tactical resources for both sides;

·         simulations or FBM practice of games of a strong player with a dynamic playing style;

·         analysis of games with long-term material sacrifices in exchange for dynamic factors;

·         playing out tactically complicated positions in sparring games or against a computer;

·         solving ‘high-traffic’ and ‘tactical vision’ types of tactical puzzles (see the Tactics Test section at the end of the chapter);

·         immersing yourself in the world of endgame studies and chess problems, especially paying attention to those with prominent knight geometry and atypical tactical motives; and

·         attempting blindfold practices in dynamic positions whenever possible.

Thus, I devised a summer study plan with the emphasis on tactics, and, particularly, dynamic play. I had two months off before my next tournament, August, which was just enough time to achieve my main study objectives. I will present this study plan in more detail in Chapter 9, but at this point, I would like to show what my typical study day had looked like:

·         Solving tactical puzzles on chess.com for 30-45 minutes;

·         Solving a couple of endgame studies and/or chess problems in blindfold mode for 45-60 minutes;

·         Analyzing examples from Advanced Chess Tactics by Lev Psakhis for 1.5-2 hours;

·         Doing a simulation of a double-edged game/dynamic player/classical game from a database for 1 hour; and

·         Playing online blitz and checking openings afterwards for 1-1.5 hour.

Total: 45+60+120+60+90 ͠  6.25 hrs

Chapter 6 summary

·         ‘Tactics, calculation, and other dynamics…are always present even in the most subtle of games’ – Samuel Shankland.

·         ‘Most combinations, indeed, practically all of them, are devised by recalling known elements’ – Richard Réti.

·         ‘Calculation is absolutely a practical skill; it does not rely on deep ideas.

·         To improve this skill, one should solve many exercises’ – Mark Dvoretsky.

·         While calculation is an integral part of tactics (you need to calculate a tactical variation), tactics are not always an integral part of calculation.

·         We often calculate non-forcing and non-tactical variations in our games. Dynamics is a force that stimulates change or progress within a system or process.

·         In chess, the position becomes dynamic when one side initiates a purposeful change in the position with the maximum economy of time.

·         Basic tactical training is mostly geared towards the improvement of tactical pattern recognition and calculation of forced variations, which are vital skills for a chess player.

·         While basic tactical training primarily gives you triggers to recognize and react to tactical opportunities, the study of the dynamic aspects of chess provides a context for these tactical opportunities, so that you can anticipate and create tactical opportunities instead of only reacting to them.

·         You can think of the tactical pattern recognition and calculation training as your tactical stamina training. However, to be fully tactically equipped for the battle, you need to also work on the unusual, unexpected, and messy aspects of tactics, which is what the dynamic part of training is for.

·         There are many ways to improve your feeling for dynamics, such as analysis of double-edged positions with tactical resources for both sides, simulations or FBM practice on many games of a strong player with a dynamic playing style, playing out tactically complicated positions in sparring games or against a computer, etc.

·         If you notice that your way of thinking is static and straightforward rather than dynamic, I strongly suggest that you attempt completing an intensive and comprehensive tactics training for at least one month.

 

Make your endgame study more enjoyable

‘Study of chess should commence with the third and final phase of a chess game, the endgame’ – José Raul Capablanca.

While the advice of the ex-World Champion may sound counterintuitive at first, it is actually completely logical. Whatever we study in life, we first need to learn simpler, elementary things to master the more complex ones. It so happens that the relatively simplest phase of a chess game is its last phase, while the first phase, the opening, is the relatively most complex one. The initial position in chess contains infinite possibilities, while the further we move into the endgame, the more calculable things become. This can be seen from the fact that, at this point in time, all endgames with 7 pieces and less have already been ‘solved’ with the help of tablebases.

This is not to say that endgames are easy. They contain many nuances, complexities, and unique features. The point is that this phase of the game is fundamental to everything that precedes it. To be more concrete, here are some of the most important fundamental values of the endgame:

·         The skills of precise calculation and concrete evaluation that we usually have to perform in endgames can be applied to other phases of the game.

·         The ability to play positions with a few pieces well provides us with a better feeling for the capabilities of particular pieces, their interaction, and the geometry on the chessboard. Likewise, these skills can be transferred to other phases of the game.

·         A good endgame technique is a valuable skill for every chess player, because the outcome of the whole game is often decided in the endgame and the margin for error is usually smaller than in the opening or middlegame.

·         Knowledge of theoretical endgame positions and typical methods is essential, not only because it helps us play the best moves in the final stage of the game. It also allows us to confidently transform more complex positions into well-known simple ones or avoid unfavorable simplifications.

 

Regardless of these and other benefits of endgame study, I have found that some people are not fully convinced of its fundamental importance. A part of it might be because they are not aware of how universal chess skills such as calculation, tactics, and maneuvering can be perfected in the endgame, as indicated in points 1 and 2. However, the most typical objection of ‘endgame sceptics’ is to points 3 and 4. The logic goes something like this: ‘I don’t get endgames much in my games, anyway. Why should I bother studying some theoretical endgame that I will maybe never get in a game?’ While there is perhaps some truth to the notion that club players get endgames less often than master-level players, this should not be an excuse to approach endgame study as a necessary evil. This kind of thinking is wrong on several levels. Firstly, it testifies to the study mindset of not being objective enough that we discussed in the first chapter. Secondly, lack of endgame study will definitely affect your results adversely, if not in the short-term, then surely in the mid-term. When you consider the fact that many endgames are played under time pressure, the likelihood of losing a drawn endgame or drawing a winning one increases for people who have skipped some endgame lessons. Over time, these lost points accumulate. Finally, if we look at the long-term picture, weak endgame fundamentals decrease your overall potential as a chess player. Chess players with poor endgame education eventually hit a brick wall in their progress. Focusing only on opening and middlegame proficiency may work on lower levels, but once you start playing against master-level opponents regularly, you realize that you often cannot overcome them in the first two phases of the game. And once the endgame is reached, your lack of knowledge and technical skill in the endgame gets exposed quickly, even in simple, ‘drawn’, endgames. Referring to the experience of GM Jonathan Hawkins once again, do you think that he would have been able to keep breaking the ranks from an average club player to grandmaster so consistently if he had not have developed such a solid endgame background? To be fair, I think that most experienced chess players are well aware of most of these points. I have found that the most common problem that people have with endgame study is a practical one. They might have the best intention to study endgames, but they will complain that they find them to be tedious, not fun to study as openings and middlegames, or difficult to understand. The way I see it, at the root of this issue, there is usually a wrong approach to studying endgames. Studying endgames can indeed be monotonous if you approach them the same way as you would study openings or a subject in school. Trying to memorize a lot of technical information that you will hardly be able to relate to previous or even future experience eventually becomes pointless and boring. When you study the endgame, you should strive to appreciate its unique features and ways of learning. With the right approach, you discover that their logic, clarity of ideas, and geometric characteristics capture the essence of chess like no other phase of the game. In the next part of this chapter, I would like to provide practical study ideas that can help you study endgames more effectively and with more passion.

Theoretical endgames

I believe that the first goal when one studies theoretical endgames is to develop a special interest in them. To make your endgame study more enjoyable and productive, it is essential that you include engaging examples that can both illustrate an important endgame idea or method and spark your imagination. Endgame studies and practical endgame examples are perfect for this purpose. Some people shun endgame studies because they seem ‘impractical’ and ‘artificial’. While they are indeed artificial by design and are rarely directly applicable in our games, the indirect benefits of solving endgame studies make them very practically useful. Here are some:

·         Improving overall calculation skill, visualization, and imagination;

·         Getting better at spotting the opponent’s resources;

·         Getting a better feeling for the interaction between the pieces;

·         Reviewing theoretical endgame knowledge; and

·         Learning new tactical and endgame motifs.

The second important ingredient of your endgame study should be well-chosen practical examples in which a certain theoretical endgame idea was applied. When a theoretical idea gets a practical ‘confirmation’, it already becomes much more relevant to you. The more thematic applications you see, the more likely it is that you will internalize and be able to apply these ideas in your own game. Virtually any endgame concept can be studied in a way that includes a mix of theoretical positions, endgame studies, and practical applications. For instance, Mark Dvoretsky relied on this approach in his Endgame Manual, often providing ‘endgame tragicomedies’ to present typical practical mistakes in various types of theoretical endgames.

A caveat about endgame manuals

Strangely enough, when I discussed the study of endgame resources with several of my 2000+ rated students, I got a similar answer: ‘I tried going through Dvoretsky’s Endgame Manual/Silman’s Complete Endgame Course/De la Villa’s 100 Endgames You Must Know, but I couldn’t finish it.’ My response is: ‘Well, who says that you have to finish it?’ Allow me to use a small analogy to clarify. At home, I keep a copy of my car’s user manual, which is about 500 pages long. The only time I open it is when I have an issue to check or a problem to fix, such as changing a setting on the car display or setting up the kit to inflate a flat tire. I definitely do not intend to read the whole user manual to learn everything about my car, because there is simply too much information in there, most of which would be practically useless or quickly forgotten if not applied. I think that, by analogy, the same goes for endgame manuals, encyclopedias, and similar comprehensive endgame works. An attempt to read them from cover to cover, as you would a regular chess book, would most likely result in frustration or boredom as the study area is too large to cover and much of information, while generally useful, is not practically relevant. I feel like behind such efforts, there is sometimes this naïve notion, if only a subconscious one, that completing a study of such books equals learning endgames. Please recall from Chapter 1 that learning in chess is rarely a linear process. You do not learn endgames by reading an endgame book cover to cover. Just as with many other things in chess, learning theoretical endgames is a layered process that takes time and involves ongoing study, practice, and analysis, over many years. To master, let’s say, a rook + h- and f-pawns vs rook endgame, you need to study it from an endgame manual/textbook first, review it several times, get it at least once in a real game, analyze other similar endgames that you see in games of other players, maybe play it out in sparring or against a computer, etc. When it comes to the study of such comprehensive theoretical endgame resources, I think that a much more rational approach is breaking up your study into smaller study projects (for example, pawn endgames with 2 pawns vs 1 pawn; rook endgames with 4 pawns vs 3 pawns on the same flank, etc.) and studying them intermittently. There is no need to cram all theoretical endgames at once, and you should just try to study and understand a couple of key ones (just as you would study opening tabiyas) and keep in mind several important theoretical positions and methods of play. Very often, you will be triggered to learn more about a certain endgame after it had happened in a game that you played or when you see it in an online game, a tournament, or stumble upon it in a database. The greatest value of theoretical endgame manuals is that they give you a lot of useful long-lasting information in one place that you can look up and revisit for reference at any time.

Doing your own research and analysis

Once you have built up a decent base of theoretical knowledge, it is strongly recommended that you go a step further and analyze and research interesting theoretical endgames on your own. These study methods support advanced learning processes, allowing you to gain a deeper understanding of endgames and develop endgame intuition (as discussed in general terms in Chapter 1). The study material for analysis and research usually comes from two sources: your own games and games of other players.

Endgame technique

As everyone knows, to play endgames well, besides having a solid theoretical endgame knowledge, one should also possess a good endgame technique. ‘What is technique in chess?’ This is a question that GM Evgeny Bareev raised in the book From London to Elista while discussing the 8th game of the match between Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik. He immediately provided an answer himself: ‘It’s not when you intuitively make a good move. Technique is the precise calculation of short variations. Not blundering with elementary tactics, constantly keeping the pressure on, calculating a short line, two or three moves ahead, but broadly, and without losing sight of all your opponent’s resources.’ I found this to be a very insightful comment and I have no reason to doubt the reasoning of such an experienced and strong player. If you think about it, how many times have you tried to convert an advantage in your own games according to the textbook principles (such as centralize your king, put the rook behind the passed pawn, think schematically, etc.), only to mess it up in one move by missing the opponent’s tactical counterplay. In endgames, the margin for error is usually much smaller than in the middlegame. This is why precise calculation of variations is of paramount importance in endgames and a prerequisite for a good endgame technique. However, another important factor for a good endgame technique, which Bareev omitted probably because a player of his caliber and chess education takes it for granted, is the skill of playing out non-theoretical and non-forcing endgames in accordance with correct endgame methods. One of the pivotal works on this topic was Shereshevsky’s Endgame Strategy, a book that I had already mentioned in the first chapter. In this book, the author laid out the most important endgame methods, such as: the principle of two weaknesses, the ‘do not hurry’ principle, schematic thinking, when to exchange pieces, etc. I believe that every aspiring player should study these methods of endgame play carefully, whether from this book or other resources on the subject.

Once you have gotten acquainted with these methods, you should try to upgrade your knowledge by relating it to practical examples, preferably from contemporary games of strong grandmasters who generally display a high level of endgame technique. The internalization of endgame technique works in a similar way as with theoretical endgames – the more practical applications of a particular endgame method you see, the stronger it becomes embedded in your own subconscious. In my experience, this learning process consists of three steps:

Step 1: Study a couple of model games with a certain endgame method; Step 2: Analyze several recent games in which the same or similar method was applied; and

Step 3: Apply this method in your own game(s).

Chapter 7 summary

·         ‘Study of chess should commence with the third and final phase of a chess game, the endgame’ – José Raul Capablanca.

·         In other words, the endgame is fundamental to everything that precedes it. The skills of precise calculation and concrete evaluation that we usually have to perform in endgames can be applied to other phases of the game.

·         The ability to play positions with a few pieces well provides us with a better feeling for the capabilities of particular pieces, their interaction, and the geometry on the chessboard.

·         These skills can also be transferred to other phases of the game. Knowledge of exact endgame positions and typical methods (theoretical endgames) is essential because it allows us to confidently transform or simplify more complex endgames into the well-known simple ones.

·         Lack of endgame study will definitely affect your results adversely, if not in the short-term, then surely in the mid-term.

·         Weak endgame fundamentals decrease your overall potential as a chess player. With the right study approach, you discover that the logic, clarity of ideas, and geometric characteristics in the endgame capture the essence of the game of chess like no other phase of the game.

·         Studying theoretical endgames can indeed be monotonous if you approach them the same way as you would study openings or a subject in school.

·         To make your endgame study more enjoyable and productive, it is essential that you include engaging practical examples and endgame studies that can both illustrate an important endgame idea and spark your imagination.

·         The more thematic applications of an endgame concept you see, the more likely it is that you will internalize and be able to apply it in your own game.

·         The specific geometry of the chessboard in which diagonal movement is equivalent to straight-line movement gives rise to some interesting and counterintuitive possibilities, which are particularly visible in the endgame.

·         Endgame manuals should not be read cover to cover like other chess books, simply because they contain too much information that is not particularly relevant and becomes quickly forgotten.

·         A more rational approach is breaking up your theoretical endgame study into smaller study projects and studying them intermittently.

·         The greatest value of theoretical endgame manuals is that they give you a lot of long-lasting useful information in one place that you can look up and revisit for reference at any time.

·         Learning theoretical endgames is a layered process that takes time and involves ongoing study, practice, and analysis, over many years.

·         Once you have built up a decent base of theoretical knowledge, it is strongly recommended that you go a step further and analyze and research interesting theoretical endgames on your own.

·         ‘Technique is not when you intuitively make a good move. Technique is the precise calculation of short variations … without losing sight of all your opponent’s resources’ – Evgeny Bareev.

·         Once you have gotten acquainted with the most important endgame techniques, you should try to upgrade your knowledge by relating it to practical examples, preferably from contemporary games of strong grandmasters who generally display a high level of endgame technique.

·         Make sure to analyze endgames from your own practice thoroughly.

 

Get organized – create a study plan

From conversations with chess players of all levels, I have come to understand that planning and execution of study activities are perhaps the trickiest aspects of studying chess. People usually don’t have a problem finding a good study resource or trying a new study method; however, they often struggle with the management of their study time, as well as keeping a steady level of discipline that is required to complete their study projects once they are up and running. I think that no one described the typical inefficiencies in a training regime of an average chess player better than GM Axel Smith in his well-known chess improvement book Pump Up Your Rating. Smith used the term ‘mummies’ to describe chess players who spend a lot of time on chess but fail to improve due to a chronic lack of structure and commitment in their studies. As he points out, ‘many mummies actually see themselves as quite ambitious players’, yet they are stuck in a vicious cycle of poor time management, ineffective study activities and self-deception. While this archetypal depiction of an unproductive chess player may be a tad exaggerated, it is true that many people could use more purpose and structure when they study chess. If you also feel like that about your own chess training, then you might want to commit to a study plan. I suggest that we start with a little exercise that should help you get a better idea about creating a structured study plan, especially if you haven’t had much experience with it before. Let us imagine that you want to follow a study plan over the next couple of months. I would like you to record your answers to the following questions:

1.  Which goals would you like to achieve as a result of completing your study plan?

2.  In which time period would you like to complete your study plan?

3.  What is your available study time during that period?

4.  Which study areas (general and specific) would you include in your study plan? Which are your key study areas?

5.  Which resources would you like to use to study these areas?

6.  Which methods would you employ when studying these resources?

The main objective of this exercise was to help you get started with the basic components of a study plan. If you are not exactly sure about some of the answers, perhaps several practical examples could help. Below, you will see three study plans that I created in the years 2002, 2013, and 2018. The 2002 one was, as far as I can remember, my first ever study plan when I was in the 1st grade of high school (later in the text, we will refer to it as 2002 study plan). You might also recall that I have previously referenced the two study plans that we will also use as examples here: the ‘2013 summer study plan’ was mentioned in Chapter 6, while the ‘2018 study plan’ was introduced in Chapter 3.

Figure 9.1: 2002 study plan

1.  Goals: Study chess for 4 to 5 hours a day on average; Deepen understanding of various strategic aspects;

2.  Duration of the study plan: 6 months;

3.  Available study time: 4 to 5 hours a day on weekdays; 6 to 7 hours a day on weekends;

4.  Study areas:

·         Openings: Repertoires for White and Black;

·         Tactics: Calculation accuracy and speed;

·         Endgames: Endgame technique; Theoretical rook endgames;

·         Middlegames: Typical middlegame positions and strategies;

·         General improvement: Games of Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov; Games of other strong players.

5.  Key study areas: Strategy in middlegames and endgames;

6.  Study resources and methods:

a.  Openings: ChessBase Opening Key – play over new theoretically-important games;

b.  Encyclopedia of Chess Openings – learn and review variations from my opening repertoire;

c.  Material provided by a coach – review opening variations and model games;

d.  Chess Informants – analyze annotated games from opening repertoire.

e.  Tactics: ChessBase – solve tactics training questions; Solve exercises from Strategy and Tactics by Georgy Lisitsyn.

f.  Endgames: Read and deeply analyze instructive examples from Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky;

g.  Review theoretical rook endgames from my notebook with rook endgames.

h.  Middlegames: Read and deeply analyze instructive examples from Typical Middlegame Positions by Boris Zlotnik; General improvement: Chess Informants – deeply analyze annotated games of Karpov and Kasparov;

i.  ChessBase – lightly analyze interesting games;

j.  Reread Think like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov;

k.  Read, analyze, and do simulations of interesting games from Šahovski Glasnik chess magazine.

Figure 9.2: 2013 summer study plan

1.  Goals: Study tactics every day; Improve my handling of dynamics;

2.  Duration of the study plan: 2 months;

3.  Available study time: Around 5 hours a day on average;

4.  Study areas:

a.  Openings: Repertoires for White and Black;

b.  Tactics: Initiative and attack;

c.  Double-edged positions;

d.  Tactical puzzles;

e.  Combinations;

f.  Chess problems.

g.  Endgames: Endgame studies;

h.  General improvement: Annotated games of Botvinnik, Petrosian and other classical players.

5.  Key study areas:

6.  Tactics – Dynamics Study resources and methods:

a.  Openings: analyze in ChessBase;

b.  review my opening databases;

c.  test openings in blitz games.

7.  Tactics: Advanced Chess Tactics by Lev Psakhis – read in blindfold mode, solve, and analyze;

8.  do simulations of double-edged games from recent tournaments;

9.  solve tactical puzzles on chess.com;

a.  solve chess problems from a friend’s problems collection. Endgames: 1000 Chess Studies by Yakov Vladimirov – solve and solve in blindfold mode;

b.  General improvement: My games collection database ‘Classical games’ – do simulations, play over, and analyze.

 

Figure 9.3: 2018 study plan

1.  Goals: Improve calculation accuracy; Improve play in double-edged positions; Improve strategic understanding of middlegame positions;

2.  Duration of the study plan: 4 months;

3.  Available study time: 4 hours a day on average;

4.  Study areas:

a.  Openings: Tabiyas from my opening repertoire;

b.  Tactics: Overcoming resistance in calculation;

                       i.   Candidate moves;

                      ii.   Opponent’s resources;

                    iii.   Double-edged and imbalanced positions. Endgames: Endgame studies; Middlegames: Positional decision making;

                      iv.   Maneuvering in static positions;

                       v.   Flexible strategic thinking;

                      vi.   Typical middlegame positions.

5.  Key study areas: Calculation;

a.  Double-edged and imbalanced positions.

6.  Study resources and methods:

a.  Openings: Analyze tabiyas from opening files in more depth;

b.  Tactics: Solve exercises from Chess Manual of Avoidable Mistakes by Edouard; do FBM practices with games of players with original playing style; solve exercises from the book Recognizing Your Opponent’s Resources by Dvoretsky; collect interesting double-edged games into a database and analyze them.

c.  Endgames: Solve in blindfold mode endgame studies from 1000 Chess Studies by Vladimirov and The Art of the Endgame by Timman;

d.  Middlegames: Read Positional Decision Making by Gelfand; Collect interesting games/examples with a closed center into a database and analyze them; read Dynamic Strategy by Suba; collect interesting games with atypical positional ideas into a database and analyze them.

 

2024 My Study Plan

1.  Goals: Study chess for 2 to 3 hours a day on average; Deepen understanding of various strategic aspects; 1 hr mornings; 2 h evenings.

2.  Duration of the study plan: 6 months

3.  Available study time: 2 to 3 hours a day on weekdays; 3 to 4 hours a day on weekends.

4.  Study areas:

a.  Openings: Repertoires for White and Black

b.  Tactics: Calculation accuracy and speed;

c.  Endgames: Endgame technique; Theoretical rook endgames.

d.  Middlegames: Typical middlegame positions and strategies.

e.  General improvement: Games of Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov; Games of other strong players.

5.  Key study areas: Strategy in middlegames and endgames.

6.  Study resources and methods:

l.  Openings: ChessBase Opening Key – play over new theoretically-important games.

m.  Encyclopedia of Chess Openings – learn and review variations from my opening repertoire.

n.  Material provided by a coach – review opening variations and model games.

o.  Chess Informants – analyze annotated games from opening repertoire.

p.  Tactics: ChessBase – solve tactics training questions; Solve exercises from Excelling at Chess by Aagaard.

q.  Endgames: Read and deeply analyze instructive examples from Endgame Strategy by Mikhail Shereshevsky.

r.  Review theoretical rook endgames from Averbakh’s Rook Endgames

s.  Middlegames: Read and deeply analyze instructive examples from Typical Middlegame Positions by Boris Zlotnik.

t.  YouTube videos of “IQP” by GM Talks.

u.  General improvement: Chess Informants – deeply analyze annotated games of Karpov and Kasparov.

v.  ChessBase – lightly analyze interesting games.

w.  Reread Think like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov.

x.  Read, analyze, and do simulations of interesting games from Well-Analyzed chess magazines.

Log your Study Time here:

 

 

Week 1	Available Study Time	Source
Monday	Morning: 1h	l.Openings
	Evening: 2h	m.Encyclopedia of Chess Openings
Tuesday	Morning: 1h	o. Chess Informants
	Evening: 2h	p. Tactics; q. Endgames
Wednesday	Morning: 1h	r. Rook Endgames
	Evening: 2h	s. Middlegames - Zlotnik
Thursday	Morning: 1h	t. YouTube videos of “IQP” by GM Talks
	Evening: 2h	u. Chess Informants – deeply analyze annotated games of Karpov and Kasparov
Friday	Morning: 1h	v. ChessBase – lightly analyze interesting games.
	Evening: 2h	w. Think like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov
Saturday	Morning: 2h	X simulations of interesting games from Well-Analyzed chess magazines.
	Evening: 2h	Play 15+10 2hrs
Sunday	Morning: 2h	Analyze previous 15+10 games
	Evening: 2h	Read chess history books
Week 1 Total	23h total

 

Below are a couple of ideas that could help you with dynamic planning. 1. Buffer time

This is the time that you keep in reserve in case you miss some of your regular study sessions. For example, you have an optional 3-hour activity on Saturday afternoon that you like to attend but can skip every now and then. You can pencil in these 3 hours on Saturday as your buffer time for chess study in case you fall behind your schedule during the week, for instance.

2. Extra time

If you are dedicated to your goal, you will even find time for chess study at atypical places and times. Some people solve puzzles or play chess on their phone while commuting by public transportation. I often solve endgame studies blindfold or think about my opening repertoire problems while I wait in a long line, lay on the beach, or pretend to listen to my wife’s rants, etc. I was kidding about the last one, though ☺.

3. Tournaments As we will discuss shortly in the ‘Duration of study plan’ section, the time that you spend in tournaments is considered to be practice, rather than study time. Nevertheless, tournaments often provide fresh study material, whether we need to prepare for games, analyze them afterwards, or work on problematic areas. You can incorporate this new material into your study plan using dynamic planning.

 

Chapter 9 summary

·         Even the players who see themselves as quite ambitious can get stuck in a vicious cycle of poor time management, ineffective study activities and self-deception.

·         Studying with a purposeful structure makes you more determined, focused, and productive, rather than approaching your chess study in a haphazard manner.

·         You want to make sure that your plan is structured well enough to allow you to focus on your goals and not get distracted by useless stuff, but at the same time, you should try to keep it as simple and as flexible as possible.

·         You should design your own study plans with a format and to the extent that is appropriate to your own taste, level of commitment, and resources.

·         Once you have a basic structure of a study plan in place, it is a good idea to create a weekly timetable with an overview of available study time for each of the seven days in a typical week.

·         If you tend to allocate your study time randomly or on a day-to-day basis, it is more likely that your projects will remain permanent ‘works in progress’. As you look for available slots in your schedule, try to be on the conservative side – do not plan for more time than you think that you can realistically spare on a focused chess study.

·         It is highly unlikely that you will actually be able to execute your chess activities exactly as you had originally planned in your schedule because the circumstances in life inevitably change and cannot be predicted. Thus, you want to always leave some room for adjustments in case of contingencies, in other words, plan dynamically.

·         A comprehensive study plan is the type of plan in which you do not focus on any particular study area, but rather distribute your time evenly across all of them.

·         A focused study plan is the type of plan in which you devote the majority of your study time to one or several key study area(s).

·         It makes sense that you plan at the start, which will be the main resources that you will use for each study area so that you do not get distracted by a plethora of other chess material.

·         The more precisely you define your study activities, the more under your control they become and the more motivated you will be to complete them.

·         Activities that are too general, vague, or randomly assigned are probably not going to be as effective, as you might lose sight of how what you are doing now contributes to your overall improvement.

·         Once you have determined all the basic components of your study plan and come up with study activities, you can incorporate them into your weekly timetable(s) to create a provisional study schedule.

·         The provisional study schedule is merely something to provide a structure and general direction for your studies and not something to be taken as a rigid framework.

·         Start your daily studies by preparing to-do lists for the next study day with actionable tasks: what exactly you will study, when, and for how long.

·         High-intensity study sessions that last 3 hours or more have a strong positive impact on one’s mental stamina.

·         Ideally, you want to combine learning, decision-making and practical types of study activities within a training session, although this is sometimes not possible due to a lack of study time.

·         It is good to have some typical routines or weekly projects that you will do on most days, but you should mix them up with other types of study activities from time to time.

·         To get the most benefit out of your training, you need to be fully mentally involved in your studies. Therefore, you better put aside your smartphones, earphones, chat rooms, and other distractors when it is study time.

·         Make sure to regularly challenge yourself and test your comfort zone in daily studies. Be creative when challenging yourself!

·         Study plans tend to be fairly long-term projects and it is only natural for our motivation and discipline levels to fluctuate over time. This is why it is essential to understand in advance how to deal with such issues.

·         Big goals should mean something important to you personally, so that you feel inspired by them, and be achievable yet preferably push you out of your current comfort zone to accomplish them.

·         Even if you do not ultimately achieve your big goal, the process of working toward it will surely make you a better chess player.

·         A modest or easily achievable outcome goal is not going to give you that same amount of inspiration and drive when you need it.

·         Ambitious goals are not only attractive as the final destination, but also serve as a lasting source of motivation in our day-to-day studies.

·         Keeping a daily study log is one of the best ways to remain disciplined in your day-to-day studies. It keeps you accountable for the progress of your studies, while also providing valuable feedback on how successfully you have completed your scheduled activities, which facilitates your dynamic planning.

What is my Opening Repertoire?

·         White 1.e4 and Ruy Lopez Exchange or d3 variation

·         White 1.d4 Keep It Simple 1.d4

·          

·         Black vs. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 Petroff Defense

·         Black vs. 1.e4 c5 … Kalashnikov Sicilian

·         Black 1…f5 vs. 1.d4/1.c4 The Dutch Defense

·         Black 1.e4 c5 Dragon Sicilian

 

5 Step Guide to an Adult Improvement in Chess

If you are in your 30s or older, this guide is perfect for you. Many people start chess late and when they see the YouTube videos and read articles they mostly get demotivated by thinking that it’s too late. Most of the chess legends say that if you are not a GM at 18, you should stop playing chess, etc.

If you are an adult improver and playing chess as a hobby, this is a perfect time to start. Most adult improvers are not trying to get IM or GM titles, they want to improve at chess slowly.

In this guide, we will see a few points that will help you to improve as an adult improver.

1.  Calculate Weekly Available Time

Most of the adult improvers are doing some job or business and have to take care of the family. Because of this, they get very limited time to study chess. It’s not important how much time you study. The more important is consistency and a growth mindset. Try to calculate the minimum time that you can spend on chess. Whether it’s 2 hours a week or 15 hours a week, it’s fine. Once you calculate a time, it’s time to make goals.

2.  Set Realistic and Clear Goals

Setting up realistic goals is very important. Do not compete with young players in terms of setting goals. Young players who are only doing chess and school can spend lots of time on chess. If you watch the progress of any young player, it’s obvious that they will improve quicker than you because of the time and resources they have. If you are not able to set clear goals, you can ask your coach. Following are some of the goals that you can set

• Chess Study for 10 hours a week for the next 6 months
• Gain 200 Rating points in the next 10-12 months
• Playing 10-12 events in a year.

If you are from the United States then you will most likely find a chess club where they organize weekly events. That’s a great way to experience competitive chess as well as socialize.

3.  Hire a Chess Coach

A good chess coach will save you a lot of time. If don’t hire a chess coach the biggest problem is that it will take a lot of time to understand your mistakes and also you will not get a clear path for improvement. Weekly one session is more than enough for adult improvers.

Ask your coach for a training plan for every week. Also once you hire a chess coach, take atleast 3-5 sessions with him as it takes some time to understand each other. It is completely okay if you don’t hire a chess coach and try all other methods. But it will take a longer time.

4.  Follow a weekly schedule

Create a weekly schedule by yourself or ask a coach to create one. Let’s say you have 10 hours of available time in a week, it’s better to have an exact 10-hour schedule. You should at least spend 50% of your time studying chess and remaining time in playing and analysis. Following is an example of 10 hours schedule that I have provided to one of my student.

• 4 hours of rapid games and analysis
• 1 hour of blitz games and analysis
• 3 hours of puzzles
• 2 hours of studying classical games and watching a lesson on chess com

It is also important to change the schedule according to the requirements. For e.g., if you are aiming to play some event, it’s better to work more over the board rather than playing online chess.

5.  Track Your Progress

Make a daily or weekly tracking sheet. Make sure to update it on a daily basis. Write down what you have done and time. Also, note all the repeating mistakes that you are making in the games. You can also make a column where you can add monthly rating progress.