How to (really) get better at chess: What they aren't telling you

All you people who are reading books and doing tactics and studying openings...This is all good, but the thing is you will not improve at a significant rate in terms of time.  If you really want to improve significantly you have to go to over the board tournaments.  There is no other substitute.    Even if you play long games online it won't be the same as an otb tournament.  You guys might think what's the difference if i play the same time control games online or otb I should be learning the same things.  But otb tournaments have a discussion element and an observation element along with the playing element.  Let me elaborate:  first the most obvious way you are learning is playing your opponents otb with greater focus and interest than online.  This is because you are spending money to be at the tournament, you might be trying to win a prize, you are risking rating, etc.  The next place you learn from is through a post mortem analysis of games with your opponent where you can understand how they are thinking this is especially nice if you end up playing masters in your tournament because you basically getting "free lessons" from someone stronger than you instead of paying for coaching.  The next good part about otb tournaments is bonds.  You make friends with people who are interested in the same hobby as you and this means you might have discussions about various chess ideas which could also improve your results.  I have had many discussions about interesting opening ideas and they are always enlightening.  Finally, you aren't the only one playing in an otb tournament; there are many people who will be at the tournament you go to and you'll all be playing at the same time.  This is a great opportunity to look at the games of others and absorb different opening preperations or ideas which you could implement in your own games at a later date.  

well I know this is a bit long, but I Ultimately think if you want to improve  in the most significant and timely way you have to play in OTB tournaments.

Just play Blitz opponents whose average rating is 500 points below you.

It works great for @RedChessman.  

When i first joined this site 3 years ago I was of course not as strong as I am now so I played many games against weaker opponents which lowers my average.  

And now you play (many) people 400 points below you for cheap thrills?

Whatever.  Droll on.

I think that studying GM games is a waste of time. They use openings ametures rarely venture into (lines amateures dont follow) and they use ideas that for the most part we do not comprehend. It is better to study your own games and see GMs study games of weaker players.

Those are unrated games, so they obviously don't affect my avg rating.  I don't see what the problem is here.  It's like free lessons for weaker players.

I am actually comprehending GM game's for the most part which is a huge milestone.  Before it was totally Greek.  I have to disagree for the most part.  GM games to this point have taught me two points.  One, I had always thought that you develop positionally and this never stops period.  From GM games I see that a point is often reached where the basic positional structure has been reached and positional development per say sort of rests while a different form of tactical battle starts.  And second I have often had attacking theme's or idea's I did not assert, but seeing the same idea presented in GM games sort of validate's my thinking.  Im currently studying GM games where the g-pawn is pushed in d4 openings as opposed to O-O.  

What are Stokyo exercises, if you don't mind?

Kotov mentioned that technique in Think Like a Grandmaster. I wonder why Heisman didn't credit Kotov with it?

Sorry @PaulyG, but you're confusing learning chess strategy, with playing in OTB game conditions.

The "exercises" you describe above can be done, much more quickly and systematically, by working through the following book -- GM Johan Hellsten, Mastering Chess Strategy (2010), which includes 300 pages of text and examples, followed by roughly 400 exercises.

You want to learn FAST, by repeating the execises until you absorb the themes presented.  And yes, you want to play SLOWLY, when you are putting that knowledge to work under game Game in 5 hour conditions.

But it doesn't follow that you want to learn SLOWLY, by taking 20 minutes per problem.

Instead, you must LEARN enough "chess knowledge" to play 50-60 decent moves in (roughly) Game in 20/5 time controls.  Indeed, that's the (generic) answer to the OP's original question.

Using books, online play, Game in 30/5 local tournaments, or even a Chess Coach is not the issue per se.  Use all of them, or whatever combination works for you, giving you a (core) body of opening, middglegame, and endgame knowledge, and allowing you to produce 50-60 decent moves in about 30 minutes.  Match that up with OTB play, and you are well on your way to becoming a stronger player.

That's the kind of focused "chess training" that makes you into a KILLER.  

Anyone can (eventually) learn to play well at standard time controls, and play even stronger at correspondence chess speeds.  So what.  Most folks simply don't have that kind of time available for regular, OTB tourneys.  

P.S., you don't need to THINK or TRAIN like a Grandmaster, just aspire to PLAY like one. Keep working at acquiring that body of "chess knowledge" that will make you stronger at all time controls, including OTB, 5-6 hour games.

Indeed, only one of the three Kotov books is really worth buying.  That's, Play Like a Grandmaster (2003).  It covers the material of all three of his books, in just one.  

Sure, if you're retired, with oodles of time on your hands.  Most folks aren't.  

Unfortunately, you're still missing the forest for the trees.  Whatever.

One thing those excercises help with is concentration itself... an attribute worth practicing IMO.

Concentration -- the ability to sit and think long and hard is undervalued by most players (according to unscientific sense of things from reading chess.com forums). And yet it is a critical quality which all good chess players have to some degree  and which ALL great players have in abundance. 

Chess comes easier to some people than others -- but hard work and concentration come easier to some than others too... Fischer once remarked that in his view some GMs weren't really "that talented, they just work like dogs!" -- It's easy to hear in that an affirmation of the idea that "anyone" can be a GM, but I don't hear it that way -- I think the level of effort Fischer was referring to is itself kind of freakish; it's not available to everyone! The ability to work that hard is itself a rare talent. 

Ftacnik's book is not written for grandmasters. It is written by a grandmaster, a big difference.   It contains a mainline repertoire that might be suitable for grandmaster play.  A grandmaster might glance at his novelties to see if they are worth a try.  Grandmasters do not study repertoire books, they (or their seconds) create their own repertoires with their own novelties.

Because Kotov didn't invent the technique either, and Heisman didn't have a conversation with Kotov.  I doubt that anyone knows who originally invented the technique.

Actually, Dan Heisman reccomends that in the Stoyko excercise, that you study the position for 45 minutes- two hours, not 20 minutes. He refers to the 20 minute as the "half Stoyko"

http://danheisman.home.comcast.net/~danheisman/Articles/Exercises.html

See section 3.1

This is interesting. I've been pouring through this as best as possible trying to glean some information and I certainly have.  I greatly desire to be better at chess but with a young child and responsibilities, time is hard to come by.  I think all of these things can help but I can say certainly that if you want to get REALLY better at Chess quickly, you need a Chess Coach. The same goes for most sports.  You need a coach for serious development.  The good news is that you can get one online fairly easily if you get on ICC (where all the real players are).  You can skype with them and go over your games and losses.  Its unbelievable how much this helps if you are already playing the game and aren't struggling with hanging your queen every game anymore.  I've done this and in a short time time went from being a nobody at 1300 up to a 1750+ on the ICC in a year (great for me).  No books, no spending 5 hours on a single position etc.  Its not that expensive.  Considering how much everyone spends on coffee and cigarettes we all have some disposable income.  This is how you get better, guaranteed.

I believe that you need to define your objectives very well and if you want to improve, you really first have to be absolutely convinced that you want it. I do not take this lightly. I manage big sales teams and the single biggest stumbling block is between their ears. They need to want to be successful in their job and go for stretch goals. It takes years for smart people to see the light and really convince themselves that they can be exceptional winners. I like the example of the guy that consistently wins the 100 meter sprint from 10 other pros, by a difference of a couple hundreds of a second. By a difference of almost nothing. It is because he is invincible in his mind...

I am sure that chess is the same. I know it because I play it for fun, not for the points, not to become a great player...  You need to make sure that you are extremely clear on what you want and how hard you want it..or not

I  have just last year studied tactics every day and have improved from 1500 to 1700. I also am learning opening repetroir for d4 and defences against d4 and this has helped me play with confidence. I have also been teaching a 1200 player how to improve using this formula and his game has improved greatly.

I would add if you are unable to play many OTB tournaments, the next best thing is online chess. 

I was dubious at first. I have never played correspondence chess in my life.  I cannot say enough about it however.  What I do, is I keep an actual board beside me to work out the analysis.  This comes closest to simulating a real OTB game.  Of course in the latter, you aren't moving the pieces, but the visualiaztion is the same.  If you have the self-discipline not to move the pieces.  All the better. 

A well planned online game, is worth a 1000 blitz or bullets games.  That's my opinion.

hey linaoda, i happened to come across a book titled "true lies in chess" by Lluis Comas Fabrego and it kinda open my eyes to simple theories and principles in chess that i have totally believed in before but kinda made me re-think now. Especially when it comes to understanding, by threading through the analysis and perception of certain masters about how they approach the game.How they think that puts them above other contemporaries , the one that makes "real chess strength" (the main reason i made a post about it). Im very impressed as to how each master come to almost same conclusions but different paths. Things that make me question if either its "innate ability" or talent. How each move is accurately chosen besides the fact that they have good sight of the board. Knowing ow they do it would greatly help all of us in our pursuit to chess advancement.(my thoughts though)