Why Tactics will never make me a better player.

Sort:
Hokaido

Tactics suck and heres why. I KNOW there is an advantage. How do we get into the advantage? WHO KNOWS. Doing tactics only make you see whats already there, not how to get there. How does that make you better? It doesn't. I have done thousands of tactics, have seen the EASY adavantage on most of them and yet can still not beat 900 rated players whem I am 1000 - 1100. How does a player get any better? This is starting to frustrate me sooooo much I read all the time " to get better than 1000 do tactics" well guess what it hasnt happened and i ask HOW DO I GET BETTER?

TuckerTommy
Sounds you’re like me....a while back....you need more experience....keep practicing....I know exactly what you mean. Those tactical position don’t often show up...you have to create them...they may be 2-4 forcing moves away.
IMKeto

Unless youre actually playing OTB tournaments, or at least playing long time controls/correspondance chess online, you arent going to allow yourself to implement what youre learning.  And from loooking at your games, all you play is Blitz.  That is why you arent getting any better.

baddogno

Maybe since you're a diamond member, you should try studying?  You've completed all of 2 courses in the Chess Mentor.  I made the same mistake with tactics a few years ago.  Before I reset it I had done some 23K problems and learned basically how to guess and click quickly.  There are some really good Lessons available including dozens on tactics.  It's hard to progress on the TT unless you have some idea of what to look for.  

MickinMD

You have done lots of tactics, but you only get a little more than half of them right.

Try this:

1. take your time on tactics problems - at least 5 minutes if you don't see the answer.

2. On the problems you fail, go back and redo the problem, unrated, until you solve it.

3. After you solve each problem, name the tactics involved - look at the TAGS if you don't know the name.  Look at the pattern required for that tactic and, if you didn't solve it quickly, ask yourself why you didn't see it sooner and look at how the pattern can help you see it faster in the future.

4. Make sure you know several dozen Tactical Motifs by name and that you can easily demonstrate them and describe their patterns.  The name provides a hook in your brain that allows you to retrieve the information faster.  Slowly learn all the Tactical Motifs on these pages:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-tactics--definitions-and-examples

https://chesstempo.com/tactical-motifs.html

blueemu
Hokaido wrote:
Tactics suck and heres why. I KNOW there is an advantage. How do we get into the advantage? WHO KNOWS. Doing tactics only make you see whats already there, not how to get there. How does that make you better? It doesn't. I have done thousands of tactics, have seen the EASY adavantage on most of them and yet can still not beat 900 rated players whem I am 1000 - 1100. How does a player get any better? This is starting to frustrate me sooooo much I read all the time " to get better than 1000 do tactics" well guess what it hasnt happened and i ask HOW DO I GET BETTER?

Tactics is knowing what to do when there's something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there's nothing to do.

Sounds like you feel that you need to start studying strategy. I suggest starting with Pawns. Pawns form the rigid skeleton of a position, and the Pawn structure will influence the roles of all the other pieces.

See if you can get your hands on a copy of "Pawn Power in Chess" by Hans Kmoch. If not, try to get "Pawn Structure Chess" by Soltis.

president_max

 Op, but your tactics are at 961 after about 6000 attempts.  I'm not sure you've learned enough.

MickeyDeadGuys

Positional play.  Quiet moves.  Hard to do when you may have an attacking style, but will pay dividends.

breakingbad12

The main purpose of tactics is to improve your visualization skills. The problem solving part is just an extra benefit.

By the way, tactics is fun in its own way. If you don't like it, don't do it.

Hokaido

baddogno wrote:

Maybe since you're a diamond member, you should try studying?  You've completed all of 2 courses in the Chess Mentor.  I made the same mistake with tactics a few years ago.  Before I reset it I had done some 23K problems and learned basically how to guess and click quickly.  There are some really good Lessons available including dozens on tactics.  It's hard to progress on the TT unless you have some idea of what to look for.  

theses keep resetting i keep getting the same rookovement things and nothing else

baddogno

You can choose any course you want.  Here's a favorite:

https://www.chess.com/lessons/course/334

kindaspongey

Possibly of interest:

"..., you have to make a decision: have tons of fun playing blitz (without learning much), or be serious and play with longer time controls so you can actually think.
One isn't better than another. Having fun playing bullet is great stuff, while 3-0 and 5-0 are also
ways to get your pulse pounding and blood pressure leaping off the charts. But will you become a good player? Most likely not.
Of course, you can do both (long and fast games), ..." - IM Jeremy Silman (June 9, 2016)
https://www.chess.com/article/view/longer-time-controls-are-more-instructive

"... This book is the first volume in a series of manuals designed for players who are building the foundations of their chess knowledge. The reader will receive the necessary basic knowledge in six areas of the game - tactcs, positional play, strategy, the calculation of variations, the opening and the endgame. ... To make the book entertaining and varied, I have mixed up these different areas, ..." - GM Artur Yusupov
Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/
Winning Chess by Irving Chernev and Fred Reinfeld (1948)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093415/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review919.pdf
Back to Basics: Tactics by Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708233537/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review585.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-back-to-basics-tactics
Discovering Chess Openings by GM John Emms (2006)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627114655/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen91.pdf
Openings for Amateurs by Pete Tamburro (2014)
http://kenilworthian.blogspot.com/2014/05/review-of-pete-tamburros-openings-for.html
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/openings-for-amateurs/
https://www.mongoosepress.com/catalog/excerpts/openings_amateurs.pdf
Chess Endgames for Kids by Karsten Müller (2015)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/chess-endgames-for-kids/
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/Chess_Endgames_for_Kids.pdf
A Guide to Chess Improvement by Dan Heisman (2010)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708105628/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review781.pdf
Studying Chess Made Easy by Andrew Soltis
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090448/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review750.pdf
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708092617/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review560.pdf
https://www.chess.com/article/view/book-review-winning-chess-endings
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627132508/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/hansen173.pdf
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm

jdroli1070

did it ever occur to you that maybe your mind was not made for chess? I mean no offense. I speak as one who knows how it feels. I am one of the worst chess players in the world! I am a fiction writer by profession, I just play chess because it IS really difficult. It wouldn't be worth playing if it was easy. dude, don't get in your feelings and enjoy the game.

vanjr1425

I see part of the point that the OP makes-Tactics are set up in that there is "an answer" but to to get to that position is not covered. I do think tactics are helping me to recognize opportunities that I have that I stumble into. The goal of learning how to play into those situations rather than stumble into (or more like how my opponent blunders into) is another step.

Chesserroo2

I just place my pieces where they control key squares are tie up my opponents pieces. I make a threat if it won't back fire. Then I wait for my opponent to blunder first. As for the OP, 3000 tactics and only 961 means something is wrong. Maybe a tactics instruction book is needed. As for 55% pass, so is mine; they just give harder ones when we pass them.

maathheus

When i started learning chess, two months ago, I was a 700 and had zero tactical knowledge. I started to do the tactics from the chess king series (look for it in the play store "tactics for beginners" developed by chess king), thanks to the tactics my calculation ability got much better, and i got 200 points in my rating, i can frequently apply some of this tactics in my games.

Now I'm focusing in learning more about the openings, as I'm frequently outplayed in the first 10 moves. 

greydayeveryday
I suggest doing tactics
greypenguin

 Tactics

varelse1
Hokaido wrote:
Tactics suck and heres why. I KNOW there is an advantage. How do we get into the advantage? WHO KNOWS. Doing tactics only make you see whats already there, not how to get there. How does that make you better? It doesn't. I have done thousands of tactics, have seen the EASY adavantage on most of them and yet can still not beat 900 rated players whem I am 1000 - 1100. How does a player get any better? This is starting to frustrate me sooooo much I read all the time " to get better than 1000 do tactics" well guess what it hasnt happened and i ask HOW DO I GET BETTER?

Have you tried working on your tactics?

ponz111
Snookslayer wrote:

Don't listen to these nerds!  I looked at your last few games.... you're breaking basic Opening Principles! Mainly - moving same piece twice in opening and not developing fast enough! Along with a million pawn moves in another game.

 

You wanna kick the crap out of low-rated players and see tactics appear on the board???  Follow  opening principles. That's all it takes.  To get above 1500 rated... I ain't figured that part out yet.

This is very good advice!