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Path to 1400!

Path to 1400!

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WKamalie
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Hi all

I feel like celebrating.

The goal was: Reach level 1400 on Chess.com (5min games)

I finally reached the 1400 level up on Chess.com.

With this game:

Since there's many players out there below the 1400 rating range, I'd like to share some of my learnings and tips.
Tactics - Tactics - Tactics
One can't ignore that tactics play a big role in a chess game. 
And one also can't ignore that most games by ±1400 is won by tactical skill and sharpness.
For this reason I've created for myself a ±30 minute routine to regularly go though some exercises like:
  • mating puzzles for 5 - 10 minutes (depending)
  • tactical puzzles (spend about 5 - 10 minutes)
  • practice certain opening lines (as deep as 5 moves)
  • practice certain endgame situations. (usually I do this if time allows)

For me the mating puzzles is an easier puzzle because you sort of know what needs to be done, whereas tactical puzzles on the other hand don't really tell you what you need to do. In mating puzzles, you know you have to go after the king. And if it says mate in 2 moves, then you know that there has to be a 2 move mate. And it's usually a given that it is forced.

Tactical puzzles on the other hand don't give you any clues. You need to find the best move or moves for you to score better then your opponent. That will train your ability to spot forks, double attacks, using pins to your advantage, and so on. Doing tactical puzzles trains your middle game, so I think my tactical skill is about fairly ok, I guess. Also I appreciate the fact that tactical puzzles trains to look into the unknown to find the better/best move.

My journey from 1300 to 1400 was mostly due to tactical wins.

In my exercise routine, I've added some opening repertoire training and going over some typical endgame situations. These make a big difference in the beginning and end of the game. My opening repertoire's purpose to save me some time worrying about whether my first few moves was sound. I used Stockfish to help me with my opening rep, so I think it's probably super strong first moves. The endgame training mostly helps me seal a win a lot quicker.

I've seen many players ±1200 to 1500 range that don't know how to seal a win quick, instead they move around playing for a longer win, instead of the quickest combination.

So that's my advice for players who wants to move up to 1400 strength. Practice regularly puzzles(Mates and Tactical), Some zombie opening training, just to get that first 3-5 moves out of the way. And lastly be aware of some typical Endgame situations for when you know you're winning on the board to be merciful to your opponent by giving him or her a quick death!

As a bonus, I've added another game that I played thereafter. There is many ±1400 still out there that is not too sharp on tactics.

Thank you, till the next blog

Warieth Kamalie