How do/did you train?

Hey guys.

I'm USCF 1840, and generally trending upward, but I'm thinking about "seriously" studying chess for the first time.  I was just curious to know if any of you successful chess players had a certain training regimen that worked - for example, certain blocks of time allocated for endgame, opening, GM game study, etc...  I've just noticed the Chess Mentor on here, which I think I like, also.

Before anyone mentions it - I know that this sort of thing really depends on the individual and what they need more or less work on, but I'm just trying to get a good feel for the different approaches/programs out there.

Trust me, it's all about hard work.

There's no magic recipe. We all know that we must study tactics, opennings, endings and critical positions but success depends on how many hours you spend.

Lots of players (including me) go from book to book learning not chess but how to improve at chess.  We think we are getting better at chess but we are lying to ourselves. Don't make that mistake. Forget about books such as "how to improve tactics", just get your "1000 combinations" and start studying them as many hours as you can.

Ask a coach. A your level, pick someone +2200 elo (NM+)

Yeah, I'm about to go to my 32nd OTB tournament, and comparing those to the thousands of online blitz games I've played, they really are night and day...  And each seems to hurt my performance in the other!  It's so much more rewarding, playing normal time controls, OTB, though...  Anyway, thanks for the responses.

Have you read Dvoretsky's and Yusupov School of Future Champions? If not, then I suggest starting with the first book, Secrets of Chess Training. It is very helpful in this area, and I think it offers some great advice.

Thanks ChessisGood - I'll check it out! 

@hicetnunc, echec06:  I thought about a coach, but hadn't completely decided yet.  There are just so many tools that are already cheap/free that I can use - but then again, I could end up studying in the "wrong" ways and not advance as well as I would.

@ciljettu:  Cool, I'll check it out

a few questions

1) how old are you. this is a memory and time thing. older players need to approach the game differently but have added maturity and focus to help

2) what can you afford to pay- good GM coaches are about $70-$100 good IM coaches are about the same and sometimes better

3) what time do you have to study [closely related to the time and pay :D]

4) what are your goals? just improve or reach 2000? , 2200? , FM? etc..

you can send me a quick note if you want if you want to avoid sharing stuff on the blog. 

@TonyH:

1)  I'm 27.  OTB Tournament play is still a new thing to me, so I'm still optimistic that I have a lot of room to improve and grow, but I'm obviously not like a 12 year old sponge any more.

2)  I'd obviously like to pay less than that $70-$100 range, but I could probably feel comfortable at around $50, if it were weekly, for example.

3)  I could probably afford to give an hour per day to studying.

4)  My short-term goal is to reach 2000, which I think I can probably do by just going to more tournaments before long, without much help.  My longer-term goal is probably USCF 2200 (NM).  Of course, I'd probably make new goals once reaching either of those, anyway.

ok I like the new grooten book chess strategy for club players. it gives a layoutfor assessment of a position that is very logical (at least to me) its not so difficult that you feel its over your head. Aagaard books are also quite good and he gives his training material for that push to 2200+ Dvoresky is hard going since its really designed for 2200+ players (Dvoresky doesnt really deal with players until they are 2200 and admitted to someone i know that he really doesnt see players until they are masters so doesnt know that beginner - master phase very well)

Pick an opening and focus on it. A serious one. Marin and Avrukh have two great books on openings. The openings for blah blah for anand and kramnik are excellent and give you a broad area.

Play 10-15 min games in you rnew opening and lots of them 

once you are not making simple opening mistakes (review and fill in with materials) try to play a longer tournament a month locally (which i see you are doing) 

Practice CALCULATION and tactics. (aagaard books have smoe materials here) I find that at our level 1800-2000 most mistakes arent really tactical (show us the position we see it but we miss it 2 moves deep and walk into it) but more calculation based. do some tactics and see where your holes are, do you struggle with pins? are intermmediate moves an Oh duh moment? focus on those tactics for 15 min a day for 1 week. rinse and repeat.

30 minutes work on calculation 

15 min review

day 2 training games with a focus on X (opening, tactics, time control, endgames)

Oh ya endgames,... get silman's endgame course and memorize the approriate level material

Rosen has an endgame book i really like too for concrete endgame training

Endgame strategy by hansen is also excellent if you dont have aagaards seriesbook technical chess

Middlegame study with Watson's book for your opening selection is a nice way to build your knowledge base

Focus on your weaknesses more than building your strengths

My belief on teaching is broad knowledge is better than deep. Understand a lot will keep you more flexible thinking and practically. The long term benefits are nice because your progress tends to  be more consistent and weaknesses arent glaring. 

s. 

Coaches... local is best but personality is also key. Dallas I am sure has a ton,..A quick search for me popped up a few.

ask around. remember it should be fun and you two get along because you will talk a lot about stuff. The best adult coaches dont always make the best scholastic coaches. Sample a few and see what clicks.

Play tournaments, study and analyse possitions. Find your weak and strong sites.

Thanks a lot!  Tactics I've been practicing quite a bit, and I've found nice tactical shots to give me winning positions several times (including against 2200 rated players) recently because of it...  My openings I'm fairly set on, too, although I think it'd be an excellent idea for me to look into the common middle games that arise to give me some more clear strategic objectives...  As for endgames and such, I have a lot of books already (including Silman's and Dvoretsky's), but I tend to read over it and kind of forget about it afterward, so I think I probably need to set up some actual training with it... Like plug the position into the computer, and play against it several times to drill the patterns in...