How can you become , - perhaps - , a master in chess?

How can you become, - perhaps -, a master in chess?

Most of us will have asked this question once to ourselves or others. Here some advices I found in an old book (1980) of an IM from the Netherlands:

(point 6 is from myself)

1. Study chess history!

This is not a necessary tool, but can help to understand better the development in chess and the different chessstyles. Perhaps inspirate you to find your own chessstyle

***

2. Build up an opening repertoire

Chess is an ocean and it is senseful to limitate yourself playing only some openings. So you know better what you do in opening and will feel later better in well-known positions.

Warning: Your repertoire should be according to your chessstyle

***

3. Occupation with special middlegame and endgame themes

You know those themes as there are for example pawnstructures, good and bad bishops and rules in pawnendings etc.-

Today there are many possibilities to study them through different medias as books and videos

***

4. Training

Training is an important fact. You can do it with a chessfriend or a chesstrainer. Analysing special positions and play them out against each other. -Perhaps you can also do it with a chessprogram, but it can become on the long run a little bit boring.

( tactic training is in my view also an important fact)

***

5. Onlinechess (correspondence chess)

You all know it! Here you can test your repertoire and improve your techniques and skills

***

6. Time

The time you will invest (edit) in these tools will decide about your progress.-

Warning: It should be so, that fun do not get lost and other matters of your life begin to suffer