Studying Chess

I have been playing chess for several years and I consider myself a mediocre player. I have several books on tactics and openings. When I read these books I feel like im in a fantasy land. This is what I mean: These books are filled with chess strategies, tactics, and analysis but I view the information as great only if your opponent plays exactly what the books say that he will. Im lost between book knowledge and good old fashion experience on the board. To be honest I have put my Chess study aside and have just played the game. Making the connection between the books and the board have been very challenging for me. 

I am not naive enough to believe that if I read the books alone I will be a great player, and I know the game of chess has vast possiblities to be explored so what should I do? I feel like im back in grade school: Why do I have to learn Trigonometry- I never going to use it! I know, I know, openings, strategies, Tactics, and analysis are very important and I know I will use them but how can i make the connection between the books and the board. Any Suggestions? Please help. I want to progress as a player and i know the first step is patience. 

Eugenics> I view the information as great only if your opponent plays exactly what the books say that he will. 

That is one of the reasons memorizing opening lines is not recommended at your level. It's much more effective to master the 10 opening principles, or read a book on opening principles such as... "Improve your Opening Play" and "Ideas Behind the Chess Openings".  Once you have a reasonably good understanding of opening principles, you will be able to 'punish' most of these odd moves on your own. You'll see your opponent really only has a few strong moves, and those are the ones your books on specific openings will cover.

Tactics are also really, really important. To be able to spot them during a game, I often solve a set of tactical problems several times over until I *see* the patterns and usually don't need to think about them to spot them anymore.

You may not have the right books. Try finding beginner books suited to your level.

 

 I looked over some of your losses. Try using a3, a6, h3, h6 less. Forget about trying to follow opening lines, but stick to the fundementals like developing your minor pieces. You did in some of your games, but not in other games.

The connection between the books and the board is pattern recognition.   We have to know why you think you are a mediocre player.  Are you losing in the opening (traps), middlegame, or endgame?  Are you losing to high rated players or not.  If you have access to Tactics Trainer, what is your rating when it comes to tactics?  This is very realistic.  If you study chess books, do you play over entire games, look at diagrammed postions, look at only what interests you?  Most of the moves in books featuring master games are at a high level and rare to see at the lower level, or just out of date with trends and over-analyzed positions.  To progress as a player, write down your moves, and analyze your games when it is over.  Study the games you lost.  Try to find out where the losing move was.  Show your game to stronger players or post it here for game analysis.   To get better, at least up to expert level, study traps and short games first.  Look at the games from the winning point of view and the losing point of view so you can racognize what wins or loses.  Look at candidate moves and learn how to rule out bad moves or limit it to a couple of good moves.  Play your games in the opening and compare all the possible moves with the Game Explorer here.  If you have made a new move that has never been played, perhaps question it and see if it is a bad move.  If your opponent has made a move that has never been played, make an assumption it is a bad move and try to find the best move to counter it.  Your opponent will never play exactly what's in the book.  That's the beauty of chess.  You are discovering or making new moves all the time, and so is your opponent.  Don't try to memorize all this, but get a feel and understand the position, and know what is weak or strong (control the center, protect the king, etc).  Go back to the books and play over a game or position, but hide the moves and try to predict the next move.   See how accurate you are.  You may also want to work backwards.  Play over a game to the end, then study the game from there, taking one move back one at a time.  See if you can recognize the tactics that win or the move that loses.  If you have lots of games you have played, try to find the game most like the game you are looking at in a book, then write in the book your move that you made in a game vs the move in the book.  It's a good reference to see where you or your opponent varied.  If you varied, try to play the book move the next time you play a game of chess with that opening.  If your opponent varied, assume he did not play the best move (the "book" move) and see if you can "bust" his position.  But the best way to improve is play lots of chess and study the games you lost to find you why you lost.  It is unlikely you will lose the same way twice once you know what you did wrong or know how to improve your position.

 

    Get yourself 1001 Chess Sacrifices and Combinations, by Fred Rienfeld.  Then do the following exactly:

   1.  Start with the first tactics problem in the book and a stop watch or egg timer

   2.  Give yourself 3 minutes per position.

   3.  Do 5 pages of 9 problems per page per day (45 problems).  You can split it into two 2 hr. sessions.  At first it will be exhausting to you to concentrate for 2 hrs.  But, after a while it will become easier.  Tactical training for your brain is like physical training for an athlete's body.

   4. Work one problem at a time. When the 3 minutes are up STOP.  DO NOT SET UP any of these problems on any board anywhere. WORK THESE PROBLEMS ONLY IN YOUR HEAD.

   5. Check your solution in the back of the book.  Make a note that you solved it correctly or you didn't.  The reason for keeping a record is, it will let you know which tactical combinations you are not good at visualizing so that you can practice those especially.

   6.  Go on to the next problem and repeat.

   7. Do this everyday for 1 month.

I promise you that after that month, maybe before, you will be seeing tactical shots in your games that you never saw before.  It will feel like the the tactical shots are jumping off the board and hitting you in the face.  

 The Rienfeld book is good to start with. There are are more books with more advanced tactical problems that you will buy later on.

You need to make notes to yourself in the book.  The chess.com tactical trainer is nice, but please trust me when I tell you that you will be personalizing your copy of Rienfeld's book.  You can't do that on the tactical trainer.     

bill.... your amazing.

Thank you all for the advice and suggestions. You have raised my spirits again to learning chess.  I APPRECIATE IT!

Hi Eugenics!  Thanks for posting this topic.  I struggle with the same issues.  Unfortunately, I am not in a position to give any advice, but I do understand your position.  It looked like you got some strong suggestions from experienced players.  Hope that it does address your concerns.  

 Thanks again - and as always - Best Wishes!!

Kasparov wrote that the difference between a chess strategist ( read brilliant player ) and others is his persistent asking of the question "Why ?". When you want to make a particular move, ask "Why ?". When your opponent makes a particular move, ask "Why ?"

haha forget other books for now and play as much as you can while reading the Silman books.

If you cant assess the position there is no point in playing chess.

I had a lesson with one particular GM and all he wanted me to do was 'assess the position'. A simple instruction yet a complicated one if you dont understand the way to go about it. Not knowing how to do this means you will NEVER become that great chess player you wish to become.

 

Not being able to relate information attained from reading (studying) chess books imo just means either lack of practice. My advice would be consider taking lessons from a chess coach (in person, not online) and for him/her to get you on the right track. If reading books hasnt worked, this seems like the next best alternative right!?