What to study? - Chess Forums

LucasCapdevilaRoby

Jun 14, 2018

0

#1

Right now i'm planning to get to 2000+ elo in chess.com. To do this i've been training 3+ every day. I basically study : 40% grand master's games 30% Tactics 20% endgames 10% openings please can you advice me on what should i study more or less? And also how much time do you think that will take me to reach my goal? Thanks!

Preggo_Basashi

Jul 3, 2018

0

#2

There's no magic formula, just work on your weak areas.

There's probably an aspect you find boring, or outright dislike. Attacks? Openings? Endgames? Tactics?

Or maybe something you know is difficult for you. Calculation? Visualization? Time management?

Whatever it is, you've probably been avoiding it because it's not something you like. If you focus on it, you'll improve... not just in that area, because knowledge in one area tends to complement other areas as well.

OldPatzerMike

Jul 3, 2018

0

#3

Only you can determine what you need to study. Analyze your games with brutal honesty and identify where your weaknesses are. Focus on those in your studies. Most of us (me included) want to study what we like and enjoy, but those are probably the areas where we are already pretty good. Chess improvement is hard...it takes honest evaluation of our play and determined effort to improve our weak areas.

One possible means of identifying weak areas is the book "Chess Exam and Training Guide" by IM Igor Khmelnitsky. I just received the book and haven't had a chance to go through it yet, but it contains a test consisting of 100 positions. After completing the test, you are rated in 12 different areas. The theory is that you can then focus your training efforts on the areas where you are weakest. I can't yet vouch for the approach, but it does sound reasonable and potentially very effective.

blueemu

Jul 3, 2018

0

#4

I looked over a few of your 3-days-per-move games (I felt that your 3-minute Blitz games wouldn't tell me much) and it looks to me like you still need to focus some effort on developing your tactical alertness. The games against cxpdleo and legan223 could have been won very quickly if you had been a bit more alert... you dropped a piece against legan223 and missed a chance to win material on move 6 (!) against cxpdleo.

kindaspongey

Jul 3, 2018

0

#5

"... This book is the first volume in a series of manuals designed for players who are building the foundations of their chess knowledge. The reader will receive the necessary basic knowledge in six areas of the game - tactcs, positional play, strategy, the calculation of variations, the opening and the endgame. ... To make the book entertaining and varied, I have mixed up these different areas, ..." - GM Artur Yusupov

Noubisch

Jul 4, 2018

0

#6

Which book are you talking about, kindaspongey? The one by Khmelnitsky?

OldPatzerMike

Jul 4, 2018

0

#7

Noubisch wrote:

Which book are you talking about, kindaspongey? The one by Khmelnitsky?

That quote is from the first book in Yusupov's series.

kindaspongey

Jul 4, 2018

0

#8