5 Chess Habits that will take you from beginner to intermediate level
Chess improvement, from my experience comes from developing good habits as a chess enthusiast and learner that benefits your game. Below are 5 chess habits that I believe anyone can implement in order to take your chess level from beginner to intermediate level.
1. Play longer time controls
The brutal truth is that bullet and blitz do very little for anyone’s chess improvement. The short time controls simply do not give you enough time to really consider the best moves and plans in your positions. Playing longer time controls is the fastest way to see positive results in your chess game. I normally recommend a minimum of 15 minute with 10 second increments for your online games, but if you have the time to do more, do it. Having the time to analyse your position, your strategies and your candidate moves give you a deeper understanding of the positions you reach and your decision making process. If you lose, analyse what you missed, and make sure you don’t miss it in your next game. Try to limit yourself to the amount of games you play per day. 1 or 2 games is more than enough when playing at the slower time limits.
2. Play over the board
Playing over the board has a completely different feel to playing online. Enjoy the game as it is
meant to be played and learn to interact with the board, the pieces, the clock and even your
opponent (after the game). If you don’t have anyone to play with at home, join your local chess club. Chess clubs tend to play longer time controls and analyse their games afterwards. Listen to what your opponent thought about the game, analyse for yourself and form a balanced opinion on how the game went. If possible, analyse your game on a chess board. Play out the different lines and positions that could have been reached. Taking a break from sitting at your computer often reenergises your chess brain and oftentimes you see positive returns when you play over the board. Don’t neglect your over the board time.
3. Analyse chess positions and/or studies
Analysing your own games is a given in order to improve your game. Review the different options you had in a given position and assess for yourself, without computer assistance, what mistakes you made, what mistakes your opponents made. If you lost the game, try to identify the move that ultimately led to your defeat. How could you have avoided it? Don’t stop at your own games, look at games from your peers or even from your favourite grandmasters. Pick a position and analyse the best moves before seeing how the real game turned out. Developing this habit of looking at games and calculating positions will make you much less prone to blunders and will make you a much more solid player.
4. Openings and EndGames
Don’t neglect openings and endgames. I normally encourage beginner players to develop an 1.e4 repertoire with white and black, even if it is just a very simple one based on positions you reach the most. Having a basic understanding of the opening principles and plans will make sure you get decent positions out of the openings that you can build on through to your middle games and endgames. Consider what type of positions you like before choosing an opening. If you like open positions, pick an opening that normally results in positions being open, like the scotch game for example. Make sure you know what the common plans are for both white and black. Likewise as the openings, train your endgames. Make sure you are aware of the common endgame principles, such as king activity, pawn pushes, pawn opposition etc. You don’t need to be an expert, but spend some time reviewing endgame positions. You will be glad when you convert a pawn up endgame!
5. Drill Tactics
Finally, perhaps the best habit you can develop for your chess improvement, is drilling tactics.
Keeping your “tactical antenna” sharp will give you a feel for the type of positions where a typical sequence can help you to win a game. Don’t rush your tactics, spend time reviewing the different lines and different possibilities that your opponent have available to them until you are sure the moves you play are the best. Spending the time on tactics on a daily basis (if possible) will make you faster at calculating positions in your longer time control games and will greatly increase your chances of winning games. Not just by spotting match winning tactics, but also by anticipating your opponents attempt at catching you out.
