how to see tactics

I recently got back into Chess after taking a long break (several months), my rating has dropped (likely from not playing for so long) so it has been a slog to get it back up, anyway, I’m a beginner and I was wondering how do you get better at seeing tactics, things such as two or three move sequences that win material, I was wondering because anytime I look over a game, their is often at least one moment where I had some sort of maneuver to win material or better my position (assuming I didn’t blunder in the first few moves) now I know your probably going to tell me to think slowly and look over every move. But I do do that, or at least I try to but it takes me often an entire minute or even two minutes to look even just one or two moves into the future, so if I did that I would just lose on time. I often get low on time when I play because it’s very hard to know what to do. Help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance. (I would post an example game but I’m on I-phone and don’t know how to on mobile)

Chernev & Reinfeld "Winning Chess" covers this with lots of examples of different tactics

Dear ANoteableOpponent,

I wrote an article about the topic what you're asking about. It's really important to learn the right calculation method, then you need to practice it a lot through solving puzzles and as you learn more and more patterns, your tactical awareness will be sharper.

You can find my article here: https://chessgate.us/calculation-principles/

If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to write to me in private or in email (you can find my email address on my profile). I hope this is helpful for you! Good luck with your games!

It sounds counterintuitive, but play slightly faster games — like 10+5 or 15+10. It forces you to manage time better and develop intuition.

Hello guys wsp

hi

I guess the typical answer would be "puzzles". You haven't done any. I'd maybe give them a try. Please note, it's not going to lead to instant understanding of tactics.. It's going to take dedication. But eventually the puzzles help. You get better at solving them and you are able to more easily see tactics in your games.

I don’t have premium so puzzles are limited, however I will not get it, I prefer not having to paying for in-game things.

Also I play 15|10 and still lose on time, I have been trying bullet but more just to mess around, I doubt it actually helps me.

There are 5 free puzzles for day. That's a lot more than none. If you spend time on those puzzles, trying to really solve them, 5 per day should be enough.

The other way to get better at tactics is to analyze your own games (especially lost ones) and try to figure out what were the biggest mistakes on both sides.

(Just to be clear, "analyze" doesn't mean "push a button and that's it'. It means: go through the game, with or without the help of an engine. You can safely ignore small mistakes, but try to understand big tactical mistakes.)

Use lichess, there are unlimited puzzles for free

https://lichess.org/training

Try the easiest mode (-600): this will probably help you to remember easy tactical patters

Neiva

NUS

So

Jfienf

Have you tried Daily chess here? You'll get plenty of time to look at your possible moves each turn, and work on thinking ahead (if I go here, their options are… then if they do that, I can go..).

I would just take the clock out of the equation and work on your thought process and over time you'll pick up on patterns and faster thinking to bring a clock back into the equation. If you find a stronger player to play some unrated daily games they may be able to help you develop ideas on how to think through positions.

Problem 1: All you're playing is speed chess. You're not giving yourself enough time to think.

How to spot tactics: Look for forcing moves - checks, captures, threats in that order. Look at all forced lines even the bad ones. This forces you to see the entire board. Calculate out each line as far as you can.

Chess study is all about quality of study over quantity of study. Doing 100 tactics a day and not taking the time to fully understand each tactic: The "why" behind each move, the motif, and gaining pattern recognition will do more harm than good. Thoroughly understanding 3 tactics a day will make you a better player.

Use a book or website where you can play through the entire game. That will help you see and understand how the tactic developed.

I really just play speed chess when I want to play but am scared I will lose and therefore lose my rapid rating. since I don’t care that much about my bullet rating. I would play unrated but for some reason I can never get an unrated game to queue.

Pay to win.

Play a little bit every day and more puzzles