is there any tips for tournament preporation?
Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with Grandmaster Axel Smith
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Feb 7, 2025
0
#323
GunnersFan538 wrote:
Do you believe World Championship matches should be a classical format?
Yes! When we think about chess history, WC matches have been a great part of it, and not without reason.
Feb 7, 2025
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#324
maremar3 wrote:
I'm playing the King's Gambit as my main opening with White, and I'm currently 1500 Elo. At what point should I start learning other openings? Are there certain rating levels where expanding my repertoire would be beneficial?
You don't have to change until you experience a problem with it. King's Gambit was my real first opening with White, and I changed when I had maybe 2100 i Swedish rating.
Feb 7, 2025
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#325
Hey Mr. Axel Smith!
I'm 2149 FIDE and when I play an occasional high-level tournament I struggle to find an advantage against experienced IMs and GMs despite them not being in their best form. They play very solidly and I can't seem to find a way around it. In such situations what's the best strategy to have a better chance of winning?
Feb 7, 2025
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#326
Fischer_Elmasri wrote:
How did you come up with the woodpecker method? Are you an inventor of the method? or was it an uncommon practice to do before, it just didnt have an official name or rarely was teached
The inventor is a friend, GM Hans Tikkanen, but I named it. Tikkanen's surname means something like "little woodpecker" in Finnish.
Feb 7, 2025
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#327
PierreLuc wrote:
Hi,
What to do you when you absolutely can’t seem to find the solution of a puzzle?
You have seem to check EVERYTHING, but the solution doesn’t appear yet.
Thank you!
I make the move I would have done in a game, even if I know that's it not correct. I don't think it's beneficial to strive for 100 % accuracy, in a game you can't.
Feb 7, 2025
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#328
Muntaha0019 wrote:
Is It Too Late to Dream Big in Chess?
Hey Axel! I'm 25 years old and just recently started learning and improving at chess. What should I realistically dream for? Is reaching 2000 rating achievable if I train consistently? And if I push myself to the absolute limit, is there even a chance of becoming a titled player?
I am not sure what "titled player" means nowadays, is FM, CM included, and NM in some countries? There are examples of players to have achieved high levels even though starting late, so dreaming is always possible, even if it's of course harder.
Feb 7, 2025
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#329
abchesschannel12 wrote:
How did you first get interested in chess? I think it's always interesting to hear the hackstories of how chess grandmasters first got into the game.
I played a little with my grandfather and father. The reason I started at the age of 10 was that the club had training sessions in the afternoons in my school, so it was practical. The same person who ran the club back then (1996) still does it today.
Feb 7, 2025
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#330
Journey_To_1700 wrote:
How did you reach Grandmaster Level (from beginner to advanced)?
- How did you train (and how often)?
- What parts of the game are most crucial to study? (opening, middlegame, or endgame)
- Are openings actually important?
- How can you change your mindset to play better?
Thank you GM Smith!
Until the age of 16 I did not train much (too little?). From 18 to 23 I spent as much time as I could (too much?).
I consider tactics and playing/analyzing your games as the most important. Openings are good if you use them to understand the middlegame structures.
About the mindset ... be as serious as you can (but have fun!).
Feb 7, 2025
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#331
I'm currently 1700 FIDE...what sort of things should I do to try and get to 1900 FIDE?
Thanks.
Feb 7, 2025
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#332
kyle7263 wrote:
Hello, Thank you for doing this AMA! I have a handful of questions listed below with some context for my questions first:
Context: I've been practicing evaluating positions and planning and I'm wondering what the synthesis/tradeoff of that is with spotting immediate tactics. I have been working through Silman's "reassess your chess" and I think I have done worse in games where I make plans based on the book's instructions (which it mentioned might happen while still learning how to make plans). My questions are as follows:
1. Can you comment on the synthesis and/or tradeoff of evaluating and making a plan compared to looking for immediate tactics?
2. Do you think that practicing making plans and evaluating positions is a good idea for long-term improvement even though it might make someone worse off as they being practicing that skill?
3. Do you think the woodpecker method would work with positional puzzles which require evaluation and planning but that do not have immediate tactical ideas?
4. How would you balance training evaluation and positional play with training tactics and intuition?
Thank you so much!
I will not have time to answer all questions, but this one I couldn't miss.
1. Silman's book is great. I did also experience worse results when implementing a new thinking habit. After some time this evaluation will become more automatic and need less energy.
If you can, look for the plans and evaluations on your opponent's time, then you are ready to calculate when it's your move.
2-3. Yes! See the Positional Woodpecker ...
4. I hope you can fit in both, but if you don't' have much time a day, I would do tactics, it's easier to train.
Good luck!
Feb 7, 2025
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#333
rombo01 wrote:
Whenever I try to learn some new openings, I forget the lines very quickly. What can I do to improve?
Try to learn less, and focus on understanding the moves. If it helps, continue in the same way.
Feb 7, 2025
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#334
KanNL2405 wrote:
Who's the goat? Kasparov, Fischer or Magnus
Kasparov!
Feb 7, 2025
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#335
ShortWaffle163 wrote:
which variation of caro kann, main line is best (for black):
4...Nf6 became popular about ten years ago, I haven't still tried to understand it, and am still curious! Try that one.
but Kasparov could hardly beat Karpov or Kramnik 
while Fischer blew his opponents away 6-0
Feb 7, 2025
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#337
EnCrossiantIsBrilliant wrote:
Which course that you have created do you think is the best one?
Positional Woodpecker, if you mean for improving your chess understanding.
Light & Dark Magic, for the creative part.
Feb 7, 2025
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#338
AlpacaReject wrote:
What time control is best for improvement?
Classical.
Feb 7, 2025
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#339
AlpacaReject wrote:
How do you study master games?
Short answer: don't.
Longer answer: through a book where the author has decided what to teach from that specific game.
Feb 7, 2025
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#340
ChessGT17 wrote:
These people get a once in a life time opportunity to ama this guy and they waste their time with dumb questions like how can I improve when you can get that answer anywhere. Yet they could be asking more personalized questions
Agree on the questions, many I can't answer better than anyone else ...
But I would not consider this a "once in a life time opportunity" 
How do you memorize chess games? Is there any spesific method? It's impressing to see people play blindfolded chess or call a game from a couple years ago.
I would be very happy to know, so could tell my wife, who is a strong player (elo 2200) but can't remember her games (or use a chess board without coordinates).