Is playing chess more important than studying chess?
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SticksNStuff
Dec 29, 2020
0
#1
hey, I’ve been playing chess for a little bit now and I wanted to know if playing chess is more important than studying? just thought about it because my time studying barely changed my chess progress but playing did, even without analyzing.
Dec 29, 2020
0
#2
At first playing will get you a long way. But you need both, and at the higher levels study is going to be more important. Today, unlike long ago, you can do both at once -- the computer programs can be set up to both play you and teach you at the same time, eg learning an opening some interfaces will let you pick the opening and the computer will play out that variation until you either break from it or play out all the moves; some will even prompt your next move etc.
As you get higher, you need to study more. The higher your rating the more you need to know pattern recognition [a/k/a tactics], positional play, defensive moves, and in generally, just trying to get your opponent out of their comfort zone.
But for beginners, just work on the basics. Chess.com has a lot of training material that spans every possible skill level from "I just learned chess today" all the way up to people trying to break the 2400 FIDE barrier.
