Chess 101: Improvement

I see the question a lot on playing sites and chess forums: What is the best way to improve? Sometimes, folks get upset that they play and play, and do not seem to improve at all. There are some ways to quickly improve, although if a chess player wants to graduate into the ranks of expert or master, more work simply must be done. Try some of the listed suggestions, if you have not already, because different things work for different chess players.

Watch chess videos.

One of the simplest ways to gain information on chess today is through chess videos and lectures. Chessbase puts out a video lecture series that can be used with Chessbase programs such as Fritz, and are extremely helpful to some players. After all, if you want good information on chess, why not listen to a master, right?

Analyze the games of the masters.

Yea, this one seems obvious, but you might be surprised at the number of people who do not take the time to do this. My favorite master is Alexander Alekhine, and so I look at tons of his chess games. Watch how they play the opening, watch how smoothly their chess tactics flow, and watch their bizarre control in the endgame. Some of this chess knowledge will rub off if you do this enough, I promise you.

Analyze your own games!

Although it hurts to really go through one of our most embarrassing losses, it is a necessary step in improving our chess game. If you have a chess engine, use it, or go over it with a stronger player if you can. If you do not understand why you are losing chess games, it will be extremely difficult for you to begin winning them.

Get good chess books.

There is a difference between a good chess book, and garbage. Ask around, get the opinions of stronger players that you know, and see which chess books get mentioned more often. Those are the ones to go with. Be an educated consumer, and try not to simply grab the first book off the shelf that seems intriguing to you. While something can probably be gained from every chess book, the top quality ones are really worth the read.

Play slower chess.

This one is important. You will either not improve at all, or improve super slowly if you play nothing but five-minute or quicker chess. Trust me on this one. Try it for two weeks, see what you think. Play nothing but twenty-minute or better games, and then go back and try a blitz game. You will almost definitely be surprised at your understanding of key positions, due to analyzing them and placing them in your long-term memory in previous longer games. Slow games work.