This week we began the real work of getting stronger at chess. Your tactical training has commenced!

Tactics are like your chess muscles. I’ve shown you how the muscles operate but now YOU need to do the work to make them stronger.

Here are the muscle groups that we covered this week:

Pins and Skewers
Forks and Double Attacks
Discoveries and Double Checks
Smothered Checkmates

Just like a physical gym, the road to improvement requires Focus, Resistance and Repetition.

At the end of the lesson, I demonstrated how to use the custom puzzle tool on chess.com. Here’s how I recommend using the tool:

Select one type of puzzle at a time, e.g. just work on Pins (Focus!)
Adjust the puzzle rating range so that you feel challenged (Resistance!)
Spend at least 15 minutes per day, more if you can. (Repetition!)

To set the puzzle rating, I recommend the “15:15” rule. If you can solve the puzzles in under 15 seconds, they are too easy (increase the rating). If individual puzzles have you stumped for more than 15 minutes, they are too hard (decrease the rating). Find your sweet spot!

The same tool can be used to review basic checkmate patterns, which we covered in the first week. Remember that checkmate is the ultimate tactic! Here are the relevant categories:

Basic Checkmates
Mate in 1
Mate in 2

There are also Chessable courses which you can use for tactical training. With these courses, you will typically find a more curated collection of puzzles with more explanation. Here are some great courses:

That’s it guys. Tactics, tactics, tactics. Our next meeting is in about four weeks. Keep working! Send me a message if you have questions.

SIG Chess Gym 2024

Super Admins