My Study Plan

After jumping around from book to book, and studying in a very sporadic way, I want to now try and cement a clear study plan. My time investment is going to be very limited and I hope it is still sufficient enough to improve beyond the strength I've been stuck at for years. I want to be able to beat the guy rated 1800 that I play weekly at a local chess club, so far I've lost all six games to him even once with a pawn handicap (though I almost managed a draw a couple of our games).

 Anyway my plan is going to be 3 days a week, 30 minutes a day work through some chess books I've chosen, from cover to cover (instead of constantly switching around like I do now). Going to start with Yasser Seirwan's "Winning Chess Tactics". Then Andy Soltis's "Grandmaster Secrets: Endings", but supplement the endgame studying with tactics problems from a Fred Reinfeld book of 300 or so (keeping 50% of time devoted to tactics like people suggest).

After that I'm tackling the middlegame with either Lasker's Manual of Chess, or Seirwan's Winning Chess Strategies. The idea being to rotate areas of study, first tactics, then endgame, middlegame/strategy, lastly opening. After the first rotation, do the same thing but with more advanced books, like My System, and The Art of Attack. Any suggestions on how I should change/improve this plan?

 My problem seems to be inconsitency and burning out, never sticking to a course of study and getting frustrated. I'm probably weird in that tactics is my least favorite area of chess... I hate mindless repetition very much. I realize though that it's important and will try and keep the 50% rule in mind. Any input on this improvement plan is appreciated.

It will be interesting to follow you progress! I have been working on a similar schedule:

Day 1: Tactics (30 minutes), Opening Studies (15 minutes), Strategy (15 minutes)

Day 2: Tactics (30 minutes), Opening Studies, Endgames

Day 3: Tactics (30 minutes), Endgames, Strategy

"The 15-minute-glimpses" is of course not very effective but I like it and I might pick up something. 

Tactics is the backbone of my "Training Regime" and what I need most. I make the most stellar blunders in my humble OTB games.

I have had trouble finding some usefull material for my "strategy glimpses". Any suggestions? Someone suggested: "Positional Chess Handbook" by Gelfer. Thoughts?

I have been looking for tha file without any luck. Do you know where I can find it?

The Tactics Trainer here at chess.com is great. Also,  The Chess Tactics Trainer (free!)

diskamyl> I think studying tactics with books is a little clumsy. if you have already bought the book, fine, but there are hundreds of tactical study sets on the web for free, and probably many are better than seirawan's selection.

The Seirawan book is not a 'tactical study set' so much as a tutorial that explains how each tactical motif (such as the overworked piece) works and how to spot them, followed by examples of the motif primarily aimed at someone new to solving tactics.

The only online resource I know of that serves the same purpose is Predator at the Chessboard (chesstactics.org). The Chess.com Tactics Trainer, Chess Tactics Server, etc. serve up excellent but random real-world tactics.

Personally, my job keeps me in front of a computer most of the day, so I enjoy relaxing in a hammock with a good tactics book. :)

"my plan is going to be 3 days a week, 30 minutes a day work through some chess books I've chosen, from cover to cover"

I recommend doing something nearly everyday. Even if it's only 5 minutes a day of simple simple tactics. This will keep the movements of the pieces sharper in your brain. 

yoshtodd wrote:

<snip> I want to be able to beat the guy rated 1800 that I play weekly at a local chess club, so far I've lost all six games to him even once with a pawn handicap (though I almost managed a draw a couple of our games).

 <snip>

 My problem seems to be inconsitency and burning out, never sticking to a course of study and getting frustrated. I'm probably weird in that tactics is my least favorite area of chess... I hate mindless repetition very much. I realize though that it's important and will try and keep the 50% rule in mind. Any input on this improvement plan is appreciated.

Even if most posters here may not agree, I'm not sure following a consistent studying plan is necessary.

I know many fairly strong players who study chess as they like, simply looking for things that interests them at any given moment, and slowly garnering knowledge and know-how this way. I don't know what works for you, but I would strongly advise to study chess the way you like it, especially if you have limited time.

As for this guy at the club, just post your games, and with our help, you will soon beat him fair and square

And spend time playing and analyzing with stronger players - the pay off is greater than through individual study (though they may complement each other).

hicetnunc wrote:

Even if most posters here may not agree, I'm not sure following a consistent studying plan is necessary.

I know many fairly strong players who study chess as they like, simply looking for things that interests them at any given moment, and slowly garnering knowledge and know-how this way. I don't know what works for you, but I would strongly advise to study chess the way you like it, especially if you have limited time.

As for this guy at the club, just post your games, and with our help, you will soon beat him fair and square

And spend time playing and analyzing with stronger players - the pay off is greater than through individual study (though they may complement each other).

Thanks for you helpful response, and for the nice blog comment too. Sure enough I didn't stick to my study plan... I guess I may just end up studying here and there just like you suggest. The guy at the club is really nice he goes over the games with me after I lose and teaches me stuff. Maybe someday I'll try recording our moves and post me getting stomped on the analysis forum heheh.

Don't overlook the computer programs that analyze games. Surely not as good as your victorious stronger opponent or coach, but better than passively perusing a book. (For this, always set up a board and physically move the chessmen -and Queen :-).

You can use dasher program that has loaded rated within the program then you can the 1800 player. The program is free and will even allow you to set the time controls. Let me know if this helps you.