What Is The Best Way To Improve At Chess?
If I’m going to get better at chess then I need a plan.
A plan that concentrates on the areas that will yield the biggest improvements in the shortest time seems most sensible, but what will help me improve fastest? To improve fastest it pays to work on improving the areas in which you are weakest, so no one plan of action will work for everyone as we have different strengths and weaknesses. However, compared to the grandmaster I have nothing but weaknesses, so it’s not a question of what to work on (as I need to work on everything), but what areas I need to prioritise.
At the lowly level at which I play, virtually all the games are decided by some relatively simple means such as hanging pieces, knight forks, removal of a defender and pins. When you realise this, it’s obvious that to progress to the next level tactics are the key. I can’t think of many of my games where I haven’t made a move that loses material (whether the opponent sees it or not), or where I’ve missed a chance to win material. If I had seen these the outcome could have been very different.
So it follows that the better I get at spotting tactics the more games that will be decided in my favour!
Studying other areas of the game can help (like openings and strategy), and may increase tactical opportunities available during your games but if you can’t convert those chances into a material advantage then all you are doing is delaying the inevitable.
Looks like I need to mainly concentrate on tactics then!
