I have been asked to continue so I will. I will put out the 1400-1600 before December 31.
Chess improvement.
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Oh! tomorrow !
no? now!!! oh no! he said "before"
Today. Calm down. Was at a friends.
was at a friends.,... what?
Good advices, but hard to do in practices. (At least for me).
Having a good thought process is essential , but actually doing it, on every move, is very hard.
Yes. But after a while it will be easier. It is late here so sadly can't do it toady. But don't worry. I have put time aside to do it tommorow.
when?
Now!
1400-1600
Should work on: Tactics, openings, positional understanding, thought process, and endgames.
For tactics chess do five tactics a day. But the question is are there better tactics then others? The best tactics are ones from games that really happened. However tactics trainer will suffice.
For openings spend at most 1 hour a week studying 1 opening. You need 1 opening v.s e4 as black and 1 opening v.s d4 as black. For White you need to learn d4 or e4. If you choose d4 you need to learn how to play against Queens Indian, Kings Indian, Nimzo Indian, as well as Queens Gambit Accepted and Declined. Take it easy. If you play e4 learn how to play v.s Caro-kann, Scandinavian, Sicilian, French and e5. Just study 1 hour a week of openings. It is low priority.
For positional understanding you need to learn about positional play. This is THE MAIN WEAKNESS of the average club player(1400-1600).
How do you learn this?
1. Learn about bishops and Knights. For a general rule knights are better in closed position and bishops are better in open positions.
2. Learn about weak squares.
3. learn about pawn structures like weak pawns, hanging pawns, and isolated pawns.
4. Finally I recommend getting Jeremy Silmans How to Reassess your chess 4th edition.
However there is 1 more thing. Look at master games! Look at 1 master game a day and try and understand why the players made each move. If you do that your understanding of chess will grow. Here is a game to start you.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1128889
For thought process you need to learn to evaluate. Here is a simple plan for each key position(a key position is one where you think you need to spend time. Playing slowly and carefully is important to recognize these.)
1. Count material.
2. Look at the king position. This way you can't blunder mate.
3. Look for threats. See if a piece is hanging or if you can mate you opponent. Make sure your opponent can't do the same to you.
4. Look at the open files and Diagonals and try to control them. Try and stop your opponent from controlling them.
5.Examine the pawn structure and see if you have weak pawns and if your opponent has weak pawns you can attack. Also look for weak squares you have and try to erase them and if your opponent has any place your pieces on them.
6. See who has more center control. If your opponent has more space attack on the wing or try and weaken his position. If you have more space try and improve your position.
7. See who has more active pieces. Try and activate your pieces and limit your opponents piece activity.
Then evaluate and see who you think is better. Use your thought process to examine specific moves. Remember look at checks, then captures, and then threats first.
For endgames you need to learn King and pawn v.s king, King and doubled pawns v.s king, king and rook pawn v.s king, Bishop and wrong colored rook pawn v.s king, Lucena position, Philidor position, and queen v.s king and pawns. This is a lot so it will take your time.
That's all for this section! There are only two sections left now. 1600-1800 and 1800-2000.
I hope you enjoyed this post and have a great day!
wow!! thanks!!!!
very welcome!!
I am going on a week trip this sunday so I wont be able to write for a little. But when I get back and am rested back up I will write