Hey CreevysBulldog I personally study WAY more than I play, and i very rarely play online. When I do I often do it for the laughs, instead of actual practise. I've played chess for around a year and a half, and I've climbed to about 1600 ELO (1577 if I remeber correctly) over the course og those 18 months, from complete beginner. I did however spend some time om studying, probably more than what you have available, by the looks og things. Summary: Timewise my mix between studying and playing is 80-90% Studying, 10-20% playing. I'm not saying its the optimal mix, but it is the one I use. Hope it helps.
Playing vs studying chess
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Sorry, but that impossibly time consuming exercise you did with the computer going over your loss is perhaps the single best thing you can do to up your game.
The next best thing you can do to up your game is to REVIEW that analysis, something that most people don't do. THat way you truly won't repeat your errors.
Getting good at chess takes a lot of time unless you're an obvious talent. But it's worth the effort when you earn the results.
You will improve more if you study more than you play, but you still should play regularly and analyze your errors. Note that I'd count analyzing your losses as studying.
?? STudying Q endings ??
Hi there,
I've been playing chess on-again off-again for the past few months. I want to improve and know I have to dedicate a lot more time to it, but I'm not exactly sure which areas specifically.
Obviously I have to play it constantly, but how much should I study it? How long should I spend studying my past games? I have to learn from my mistakes obviously, but would it be better if I learnt through play alone, or by taking the time to study my games? I'm not looking to become a GM or anything like that, I'd just like to become a more competent player.
One day, I studied an analysis of one of my online games, playing through the scenarios proposed by the computer and trying to understand why they worked, and why my mistakes were bad. However this feels like an impossibly time-consuming exercise, and I have a lot of other things in my life to keep track of as well as chess.
So, could anyone share their own experiences with me? Could anyone say roughly how much time they spend studying chess compared to actually playing it?
Of course, everyone's situation is different so what works for one person might not work for me. But it could give me some guidance at least.
Thanks.