My Training Program, Suggestions welcome.

Hello Chess Friends,

I am fairly new to chess with a Elo rating of around 1000 - 1200. I have set myself a goal of reaching a standard of 1800 Elo ( OTB) by the year 2020. I would like to know weather this is a realistic goal.

I am not  particularly gifted at chess.....although i have a mindset that firmly believes that hard work can overcome most natural talent deficiencies.

My projected training plan at the moment is: 

• Online Game 45|45 (played OTB) or Club game.
• Self Analysis of above game, (looking for blunders unassisted).
• Computer assisted analysis of above game.
• Opening theory. (discovering chess openings, John Emms. Then more opening specific books). 
• Tactical theory. (predator at the chessboard, Ward Farnsworth, Vol 1&2). 
• Endgame Theory, (Complete endgame course, Silman).
• Annotated master games. (Logical chess move by move, Chernev to begin with.)
• Opening Drills, ( training learnt opening ideas using the software Chess Position Trainer.)
• Tactical Drills, (using chess tempo and setting the position on the board).
• Endgame Drills. (Practising learnt endgame positions against an engine.)
• Visualisation Drills, (using the software Chess eye.)

I plan to use a real chessboard for all of the training. 

I may supplement this with daily 30- 60 mins of tactics trainer just using the computer screen.

Any comments and ideas  most welcome.

Wish me luck!

It's nice to see the training plans of others. It would be really interesting to see the training plan of someone who has increased in rating significantly already and can comment on what parts they felt were effective and which ineffective, and so wouldn't recommend for others.

Comments from a fellow novice who doesn't really know enough: having a strategic plan for your training will itself work well in keeping you focused. Recommend you evaluate it often, and tweak it based on if its working. A reflective journal or blog might be useful. Your goal is too long term, I think you need shorter term goals (either rating related or tangible in some other way - win a tournament capped at a certain level, join a chess club etc). Maybe set a yearly goal? I don't know if Master games will be beneficial. It strikes me that the gulf in ability is too much to benefit from studying them until +1500 maybe study strong players games at the level you want to get to (1800-2000 rating games)  as you might find it easier to understand the logic and what they're doing and be able to replicate in your own games. Using a chessboard will definitely aid all of this.

I am working to a similar goal (either bronze 1400, silver 1450, gold 1500 daily & rapid rating by end of 2017 here on Chess.com) I will not have a lot of time to commit to a training plan (an hour a day maybe - and then lots of daily tournament play through the day as I'm working/travelling). My strategy is to improve in the below areas. Each week I'll prioritise which two/three I am going to focus on in "training time" and rotate between them through the year.

Tactics Trainer - Improving at spotting correct tactics.
Endgame Drills - I find I am not able to "finish my dinner" very well.
My Loss Analysis - I bought a book and I'll analyse at least one loss in depth a week
Game Analysis - Analysing others games, or a game I won from opponents perspective.
Vision - Improving my board vision
Opening Theory - At a very basic level, aiming to discover a couple openings I favor.
Strategic Thinking - Improving worst piece position, long term plans etc.

Thanks for your comments.

Your right about the yearly goal. it's something i already thought about and have broken down my progress to monthly targets. Unfortunately, progress is never as constant as this table suggests!

In fact I'm probably already behind the curb!

The Annotated master games are more of an introduction to strategy and thought process. Logical chess Move by move - Chernev is aimed at beginners.

Your plan also looks good! according to my table our goals are pretty equal!

The training program that got me to USCF A Class:

1. Opening Principles.

2. Middlegame Planning.

3. Endgame Study.

Your training plan is fine, but is missing a schedule to play OTB, because you can't reach 1800 OTB without playing in OTB tournaments, so they should be the centerpiece of your whole plan I think

Of course your right... i plan to play in as many as family/work will let me. i did not include it  in the plan as it's not something i can't do at home....

Tactics alone should get you to 1500, I think.  If you simply stop giving your pieces away and grab the gifts your opponents give you, you'll be able to consistently destroy the typical 1200 player and occasionally take down someone in the 1700-1800 range.

Morphysrevenges - your right..... 1800 could still be over ambitious. My original goal was to hit 1600 by 2020.  i changed to 1800 as it would me me work harder and give me more chance of hitting 1600!  weird  logic...i know!

I don't like to be a gloomy Gus, but if you're a 1000 to 1200 now probably the best you'll ever get to is about 1335 or so. Once you get that high you'll start playing better players and your rating will drop. Since they've learned tactics and openings as well. It's like someone saying if they study the stock market and learn stocks they'll become a millionaire, but so does everyone else, who aren't millionaires. It's just wishful thinking, kind of childish.

I get it...but i can't agree......maybe some people who started at 1000-1200 and only got 1335 just did not work hard enough!

The perception of hard work varies considerably from person to person.....

Most definitely ignore this kind of bad advice.  

If i may ask, what is your age?

Because unless youre close to my age (53) you should have no prolblem reaching your goal.  I like your study plan.  I especially like how you recognize the need to do your own analysis before running your game through an engine.  

i'm 41 years old...dam it!

41 is not to late.  I made USCF A Class at 50.  

First question - WHY?

Good Question...

I have been a professional orchestral musician for 20 years, i now feel i need another goal to strive for in my life. i have always been interested in chess, playing the odd game here and there but nothing remotely serious. 

I have always been fascinated with tournament chess but with my  schedule as a musician,( Gigs, Rehearsals, teaching  and personal practice) i never had the time to take it up seriously.

Now that i have more time on my hands, i want to follow the dream. To be honest the end result isn't that bigger a deal. i have always enjoyed the process of achieving something  just as much as reaching the goal.

• Annotated master games. (Logical chess move by move, Chernev to begin with.)

I'd this idea using 500 Master Games Chess going for bit. It did help some.

Just my take, but might not want to get too hung up on a number or time frame. The real key is getting as much "good chess" into your DNA as possible. "Good chess" basically meaning eliminating errors as much as possible.

At first, it will be trying to eliminate losses through unnecessary dropped material or weak King protection. Later, it could be eliminating losses by efficiently gaining space or wisely exchanging pieces. Then, as your understanding and experience grows, maybe key square recognition or color/file/diagonal dominance will be a key. All this can come from ingraining the many necessary fundamentals that can be found in quality books by Capablanca or Silman and beyond. Then noticing those factors and using them OTB. Of course, it's not as simple as that and there are many intricacies but hopefully you get my drift.

The problem with setting numbers and dates might be that your rating might not be where you want it to be in the allotted time and you get discouraged and slack off. When had you slogged on, maybe in another six months or year, something would've clicked. 

When they asked Fischer, as a kid, how he became such a top player, he said: " I played a lot and studied a lot and then just got good."

When you feel comfortable that you are playing "good chess", results like not losing much to 1500's and drawing 1800's occasionally might be doable quicker than expected and any setbacks can also easily be more learning experiences. If so, your rating will grow as your chess knowledge grows and maybe the original 1800 target would've been too conservative. Who knows?

Regardless, best of luck on your chess adventure!    

One comment on your month by month targets underdog. I know you said yourself that progress isn't linear and in some months you'll move forward by more and others backwards! However, I notice that the way you've worked out your month goal (for am I on track?) is 17 rating points added each month. I would consider adjusting this. Will it take as much work to go from 1200 to 1300 as from 1400 to 1500? I think the former will be less work (I've improved around 80 rating points in a couple of months - I don't envisage improving anywhere near as much in the next couple) I would maybe try work these out as a curve - perhaps

Someone with stronger Maths could probably plot a neater curve, but to me this seems more realistic as a improvement curve.

When comparing targets this gives you following

Rating - Original Target Month - New Target Month

1300 - July 2017 - April 2017 (1299)

1400 -  January 2018 - August 2017

1500 - July 2018 - December 2017

1600 - January 2019 - May 2018

1700 -  July 2019 - November 2018

1800 - December 2019 - December 2019

Can't argue with that.