I'm convinced now - studying too many tactics makes me worse

I posted about this before, but it happened to me again recently. I'm only 1250-1350 rated on 5-min blitz here (that's all I have time to play here), but have fluctuated from as low as 1150 to 1470 in the past several months. 

My best play (1400+ range) was when I was not dedicating time to studying pure tactical problems, but was spending my time going over openings, and games from the openings from two books I have.

After getting to an all-time high of 1471, then losing a few games in that range from tactics, I decided to go back to pure tactics for awhile given my limited time to play/study chess (about 40mins/day now) and did that for a few weeks.

When I returned, wow, I was bank in the dumps. Lost gobs of games in a row, and 1200-rated players were beating all over me. I'd get the occasional nice tactical killing win, but most of my games were lost strategically early on, and my rating showed it. I kept studying tactics, thinking it was just a bad stretch, but wow, things got worse and worse. I literally went from 1470 to <1200 in a matter of less than a month, and this was a lot of games, not like just one or two unlucky stretches. 

I got a bit depressed over it, but fortunately I remembered how FEW tactics problems I did was playing at 1400 level. I changed my study strategy and started reviewing and trying to memorize full games from Dan Heisman's "Amateur Game Book" which seems about my level, with good annotations.

Things are fortunately slowly starting to turn around. It's no breakthrough by any means, but for sure, I'm playing a lot better than I was at the lo-1200 range. At the least, I'm not 'stuck' at the lo-1200s anymore, which I was when I was all tactics studying pretty recently.

I will add that in studying my games like I am now, I go through quite a few tactical lines in the annotations, so I do get significant tactics review during the games. But it is balanced with the strategy and setups required to get/recognize the tactics. 

I'm not saying tactics study is necessarily bad, but I do think that studying tactics at the cost of everything else (de la maza style) can actually be harmful to your chess. At least, it clearly is for mine.

And for what it's worth, my tactics rating on another site went UP to its highest level (1950) when I was at my recent low of 1230 here, so all that tactical know how did NOT translate to wins. In contrast, I was only 1720 on their tactics when I was rated 1471 here, so I clearly wasn't relying mostly on tactics to win games when I things were working.  I definitely have to say that at least for me, pure tactics problems training has been the lowest bang-for buck returns I've spent on studying chess, despite what everyone keeps saying about it. Hard for me to admit that, since I was one of those 'all-tactics' study guys, but it's the truth based upon my win/loss results, even in 5-min blitz games where tactics are even more important.

Just some food for thought for you players who seem to be stuck in the low 1200s but are doing a lot of tactics that doesn't seem to help your rating. 

That's interesting. Just for reference, how were you studying tactics? I know chess.com is timed, and some other sites aren't. Some people use books and may go fast or slow themselves. Or like de la mesa do a few over and over for a long time.

I had a stretch where I was spending 15 minutes on each puzzle just for fun... I don't think it helped my tactics because I could only do a few puzzles a day like this, I'm just pointing out some people's habits may be unexpected... so what were your habits?

Judging by the number of games you played here, I'd say your problem is that you play too much blitz and bullet. It's very easy to make lots of mistakes in those type of games. Matter of fact, you're just reinforcing bad habits and ideas.

As far as studying tactcs goes... Not sure how you study them, but there are tons of good videos here on chess.com. My favorites are made by IM Danny Rensch. He teaches you the tactical patterns from basics up. Really helpful.

Then, of course, is the timing. It takes time, a lot of it, for you to forget the old and bad mental habits and develop new and good ones. Somebody said that "Life is too short for chess." Too true - that's why for most people to become any good (let's say 2000+ or a Master), they need to put an insane amount of time and effort. Theoretically, anybody could do that. Practically, hardly anybody does it for obvious reasons.

If you wanna take my advice for improvement, here are my two cents:

1) Take a break from chess - a long one; from 6 months to 1 year will do. If you don't quit chess altogether and decide to return and take the game seriously, proceed to the next step.

2) After your break you'll have forgotten a few things. Good! Now is the time to rebuild your foundation. Tactics is a good place to start. You can get a diamond membership and watch a lot of videos on tactics. You can also do those chess mentor courses. They are awesome! Doing those will make you feel like a baby learning to walk. You will make many mistakes and fall down. But, chess mentor has a good system of sugessions that will help your understanding grow. I recommend doing things in a sequential order, rather than adaptative one. The hints that chess mentor gives you plus the ability to highlight the key squares will create a much better subconscious understanding of the game. Needless to say, you'll have to devote a very long time to it. I signed up in May and I'm still scratching the surface having done only 6.4% of the lessons. Some lessons will be too easy, others will be too hard. You wanna make sure you're taking your time to read what chess mentor asks you to. It would be nice if the program read the questions to you but hey, even with a few other shortcomings the program is still pretty awesome. Now, after you've finished watching a lot of videos (make some notes), and finished with the most chess mentor courses of interests, you can either repeat the effort to cement your new foundation or, if you feel confidence, proceed to the next step. Like I mentioned, this step will take a long, long time. Possibly a few years depending on how much and how hard you study. But then again, that's not that bad since the time will be beneficial to eradicate the old ways of thinking and build a new foundation. Of course, there will be a temptation to go back to play. I recommend not to and for the following reason: you still haven't learned and practiced most of the things you need to know; your bad habits will come back and drag you down...

3) Now you can actually start doing a lot of tactical puzzles. You'll be amazed that you remember some, if not most of the stuff you've learned in the videos. Of course, you'll fail some but you'll be amazed by how much higher your TT Rating will be. This high rating (it should be at least 2000+ on average) will be your first cornerstone of confidence that you've improved. Also, you can do computer workouts here and practice certain positions. Again, you'll remember a lot of patterns from videos and your chess mentor courses if you studied them diligently. Step will be shorter then the step before, but it will still take a considerable time. Once you're through, you'll be ready for the next step.

4) Finally, after all these years, you can go back to playing. Don't go into playing blitz yet. Start with correspondence games, then transition to long time standard. When you get at least 2000+ rating in both of them, you know that all of your hard work paid off. Granted, some people will probably use an engine against you. Don't worry about it, play your best game. Even if you lose, you may still learn a thing or two from those losses. Now, at this point, when you have a good foundation, you're able to learn from playing and get better still. Then, you're going to the next step.

5) Join a chess club! There will be the ultimate test. You should get a decent rating of at least 1800-1900 relatively fast. You'll probably get a 2000+ rating too. Heck, you may even become a master soon. Remember, you've been training really well and really hard. There are a lot of club players who still do things in an old fascioned way and, no wonder, stay in their rating group forever. Now that you've overcome their resistance, you need to strive to play masters and grandmasters as much as you can. Here, you'll do OK against masters - losing more games than winning, drawing some games as well (perhaps most of the games). Remember, to achieve a higher rating, you don't have to beat masters and grandmasters all the time. Draws are often sufficient and are confidence builders. You'll still be losing against grandmasters for most of the time. But hey, if you manage a draw or two, you should still be proud. Remember, IMs and GMs are really really strong. They rely on talent and an insane amount of work - done from childhood. Well, as you can see, my method is not an easy way. And, I haven't done it myself either to speak from experience. I just figured that this has to be one of the right ways to go about it and is a possible way. I am still in the beginning of my journey... and of course there's no guarantee that my method is sound. But, I am basing my understanding on what I've seen people do and fail. Granted, my method is also a tedious one and requires to put a lot of time and effort. It takes both character and discipline. As I said, most people simply won't take that road - I know that for a fact. Not sure if you would like it either but, I hope what I wrote here was not a complete waste of my time. You may yet like some of my ideas and adapt it to your learning. Good luck!

P.S. The diamond membership is only $99/year. I know, there are free resources out there too but when you're paying for something, you invest there, it provides more of an incentive to keep learning. Also, try not to spend too much time in front of the computer not to damage your eyesight. Purchasing computer reading glasses can be a good idea. Not forgetting about life is also a good idea. Chess is a good game, it can't be learned overnight, so enjoy learning the game and enjoy life as well.

Chess study has to be quality over quantity.  Pouring over hundreds of "new" tactics a day is not beneficial.  Reviewing hundreds of "known" tactics is beneficial.  

Tactics is pattern recognition, you either know the pattern or you dont. Staring at a tactic for 10 minutes isnt going to help.  You dont know it.  

Once you miss 3 in a row, thats the time to quit.  Youre brain can only learn so many new patterns a day.  

I would be happy if I knew more than zero tactic.

I'm actually good with tactics habits, I think. I've done a little of everything, with multiple resources. I range from doing easy pattern-recognition ones from the Tactics Time books (I've done both of them like 5 times each with up to 90%+ correct rate when I'm practicing them), 1001 Tactics from Reinfeld (harder), and then lichess.com tactics for skill-graded tactics.

I don't time my tactics, but I do make a point of doing both faster pattern-recognition ones that I do quickly as well as deep difficult ones (the final 100 in the Reinfeld book are really tough even for masters, I'll bet.)

No chess player will EVER get ANY 'stronger' playing blitz and bullet. Like many other skills, chess requires one to slow things down, and go through it all very slowly. Bullet won't hurt u, but it won't make you stronger either.

Interesting, thanks.

I know what you mean by losses too. Just yesterday I was playing what I thought was a good game, really trying hard... and then I completely drop a knight for no reason?? Then another game my opponent moved his queen near my castled king with no threat. So I play h6 and now it's a mate in 2...

I see you used the phrase "when I returned." I think playing a little every day helps reduce these ridiculous losses. I was studying each day until I could get a more reliable internet connection. It's been a few weeks since I played and I think that makes a difference.

I think you must start playing 30 min games rather than blitz or bullet. You can focus in 30 mins and you can think 10 times more tactis in a 30 min game than in 1m.

I have problems with concentration, stress management, attention and diligence. I think that the rapid game develop these mental skills. It will need to focus on playing fast or I will feed my queen. Sorry, this is my, NOVICE's opinion. (EDIT: but ok, this got nothing to do with TACTIC skills, EDIT2: Or is it?...it is bad tactic to feed the Queen)

You might try studying books of complete albeit short games -- they are inevitably solved by a tactical shot in the end, but having the complete game gives it more context. A book I highly recommend is Reinfeld's "Great Short Games of the Chess Masters", it's got good reviews on amazon but is pricey there -- you might try here to actually purchase it: used starting from $5.10. Be warned it's in descriptive notation but if you don't know it already DN will uncover a treasure trove of gems for you

Purchase a staphen method learning chess book. http://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/ 

Hi, Just a few points that might help if you want to improve. 

firstly, tactics and tricks are great, untill you play someone who knows how to defend, and then you having nothing. That's why it is better to be more positional, and have plans that encompass tactics naturally. Such as a minority attack in QGD with rook pins only the 7th and 6th ranks.

A fluctuating rating is rather defined in tactical players due to them going up against people who know how to defend. 

1. Purchase a staphen method learning chess book for tactics. Do not rush this, my coach says a page a day (a bit more is fine) (make sure to apply yourself, and do not miss a day as the routinely practise is what counts, otherwise learning can become disjointed and pointless as you can forget ideas, and not readily look for them/ create them in your games. Once you reach step 4, don't skip a step. So do step 4 extra and step 4 plus before moving on to five. I think step 4 is aimed at 1400 level but can't remember. If you can't do the majority of puzzles within 30 secs. It is your level. If you are solving them mostly within half that threshold, consider going up a step but perhaps still complete the book in the case that you purchase one. 

http://www.stappenmethode.nl/en/ 

2. Play standard on chess.com, or at the very least 10 mins. Blitz is horrible if you want to improve, and it sounds like you play a lot. 

3. In general, play in a lot of tournaments (real life and chess.com) and get as much experience as possible, we learn from mistakes, which we get from more experience. Preferably real life. Believe it or not, even the more subtle skills such as recording the game on a scoresheet, time management, cooling down your mind before the game and social interaction imrpove your game. This was particuarly evident with myself. I now have a much better posture when playing, and thus do not slump in my chairwhen losing , and convince myself that there is no way i can even draw. For the first minute in tournament games i don't even move a piece, just check who is playing who, check everything is spelt correctly on my scoresheet. This allows me to calm down and play better chess, otherwise I am too apprehensive and nervous. This is not an easy topic to understand about calming down, but blitz ruins this. Ofc on the internet, in ten min with no increment, this is a bad idea. But that's why longer time controls are much better, because you also find better moves and look deeper, and you then you know for a next game, but in blitz, you play an average move one game, you play the same move next game, because you don't have the time to find something better, and thus your chess rating suffers.   

4. Study openings. Try to have a really good white opening, but two blacks.  for example. Have something against e4 and d4 for black, caro kann and slav for example tie in nicely as similar structure. Against c4 and nf3 you will be fine for simply playing similar chess. But play e4 (for example) really well as white. 

look at model games of openings. ofc get a chess coach if you can.  

Overall, focus more on positional chess ideas and your openings such as plans and where the pieces best belong over tactic training (if the pieces are on the correct squares, tactics come naturally, such as in the QGD nge2 is better than nf3 (most of the time, except for minority attack) because on f4 it attacks d5 with the Nc3 and Qc2+bd3 work nicely for a sack on g6 if ur opponent moves that pawn (you can even castle long, i did it yesterday in a tournament match (opponent rating: 1650) and won in 25 moves. additioanlly, nge2 is better because it allows f4 push  (with Rf3-h3 and mating) or f3 followed by e4. But you have to know these positional ideas, or else it is very rare for clubs players to figure it out on they're own. 

just do a page a day from staphen method. This will not change you over night, but you certianly will improve, and progressing in the steps is rough measuse of ur skill. Ofc, where available, make more time for chess, and if you can, get a coach. This may not be possible to try to achieve all of this in your busy life, but then you must size up whether you want to be better at chess or better at the other things you do. 

playing too many blitz games hurts your game, if you aren't master yet (it doesn't hurt for masters, becouse they use correct learned patterns, while for novices, you haven't learned foundations yet so keep reinforcing bad thinking patterns instead).

Quit the blitzing and move on to long controls.

Play 1 long control game/day (like 30 mins for each) and then analyse it with the engine. When you get engine mark all of the mistakes and blunder, you will understand, that even the games you won were merely accident due to facing even weaker opponent. That's when the real training will begin.

And tactics are good, if not too many. But also note, that the opening you play with black (French defense) - is closed or sometimes semiclosed positions, so here are almost never possibilities for aggressive tactical play. If you keep searching for tactics there - you will indeed miss strategical planning which is needed in such position instead. But for training purposes it would be better to change to 1.e5 opening becouse it allows a lot more tactical play.

On the other hand, you can skip tactics all together and to play instead 1.d4 with white and french defense with black and focus on positional play and endgames - it may even bring you to 1800 rating or so... but then you will stop and not improve anymore, and the only way to cross that mark will be return to basics and return to tactics, so better not skip it early, else later will be very discouraging to loose otherwise good game due to simple tactical blunder

Hey, I'm newbie here. What tactic, in fact, mean? I know there are openings and ways to make checkmate, ways to move your knights for example. But can it be explained guite shortly what are a tactics? 

http://www.chess.com/article/view/chess-tactics--definitions-and-examples

It's probably not studying tactics that is the problem. The most likely factor is that you're not addressing the main defects in your game. I can't tell you what your main defects are since I don't have your games to study. Perhaps a coach can help in that regard by helping explain the main cause of your losses. Hope that helps.

You are wrong, I have played very few longer time control game since I left high school. I played mostly blitz on various internet sites. I am much stronger than when I was in high school. Maybe I could be stronger if I played more otb or longer time controlled games, but you can improve by playing blitz.

do you analize your game after losing or winning ??? it will help you to find out where you going wrong and analysing is very imp part of chess ,forget opening ,do some tactics on "ChessTempo.com " only standard mode take your time to solve 5 to 20 is enough per day ,dont do blitz mode ,do some endgame tactics also in chesstempo ,play only slow games 30min+.......have a great future in chess goodbye

Studying tactical problems for me helps more for winning and creating plans, and less for noticing dangers in my own position. Studying tactics may be leading me to play a bit too automatically I suspect.