Thoughts on chess improvement

I was recently interviewed by Kevin Scull for his podcast Chess Journeys: Tales of Adult Improvement. When I got the request, I started thinking about what I have to contribute with in terms of improvement advice for chess players. I ended up creating a mindmap of it all, and thought I would share it with you along with an elaboration of what it means.

Three questions for you

In my opinion, there are three main questions that you need to ask yourself in order to find your path to chess improvement:

1. Why am I doing this?
2. What will I focus on?
3. How will I study?

I have tried (and failed) myself, many times. And what I've realized is that you cannot copy other people's plans for improvement; you need to create a personalized plan that is adapted to your goals, your needs and your general life situation.

Don't copy other people's improvement plans

Start with WHY

I've seen a lot of adult players describe their chess goals. Almost all of them are defined in terms of ratings and/or titles. Many people aim to reach 2000 Elo, some want to get a title (FM, IM or even GM). There is nothing wrong with having these goals, but since they are so common, it has made me think. Why do you want to reach 2000 Elo or become an FM? What will that do for you? Maybe you want to make a living in chess - as a player, streamer or coach? If so, a high rating or a title can help you. That's ok. Or maybe it's just an ego thing? That's fine too. But don't set a goal just because someone else has that goal. "Oh, your goal is to become a GM? Me too!" 

Why do you want to reach 2000 Elo or become an FM?
What will that do for you?

When I became serious about chess improvement back in 2014, I set a goal for myself. Before my 40th birthday (2017), I would reach a playing strength corresponding to 2000 Elo. I didn't aim for the rating in itself, but the ability to compete at that level. Basically, I wanted to be able to beat a 2000 player from time to time. My 40th birthday came and went, and I realized that this goal is way (!) harder than I initially thought.

After my failure to reach my goal, I reflected on my journey so far, and the goal. I still aim for that level of playing strength, but the importance of it has diminished. As I study chess more and more, I am increasingly fascinated by the richness of the game and its seemingly endless depth. I find that my preference has shifted, from playing to reading chess books. I enjoy the exploration of the game and the learning experience that comes along with it. So now, the journey has become my goal (I know, I'm turning into a living cliché!). If I manage to get my playing strength up, that's cool. But if I don't, that's fine too. This doesn't mean I've given up; I still aim to improve my game. But I take it one step at the time.

So where are you? What motivates you about chess? What's in it for you? Maybe you just want to be able to follow the super tournaments and understand what's going on? Maybe you just want to beat your dad or a friend? 

Whatever your motivation,
make sure you know what it is,
and be honest with yourself

Build your WHAT from your goals

What you choose to study should be directly related to your goals. This means that you need to do an honest assessment of your current skills and knowledge and identify the gaps towards your goals. 

In my case, I have a major weakness regarding strategy, and more specifically, positional evaluation. Therefore, books covering strategy and positional play are currently my top priority.

Once again, I suggest that you shouldn't automtically copy the practice of other people. There is a lot of advice out there on how to budget your study time, but don't take these for universal truths. Why would you distribute your time evenly between openings, middlegames and endgames if you know that you need to work harder on one part of the game?

Over time, you do need to cover all the bases to become a well-rounded player. But in the short-term, focus on the areas that are in greatest need of improvement.

HOW depends on your conditions 

When we talk about how to study, most people think about plans, schedules and activities. These are of course important, but only part of the complete answer.

First of all, consider time 

How much time can you realistically spend on chess each day? I assume that most people who read this will be amateur players with other responsibilities such as school or a full-time job and perhaps even a family. Maybe you also have other hobbies? I know I do. These things tend  to limit the time available for chess.

How much time can you realistically
spend on chess each day?

In my case, I can spend about an hour every day, and usually a bit more during the weekends. So in total, I have about ten hours per week to spend on chess. With such a tight time budget, I need to focus my attention on very few things if I want to make any kind of progress. If I were to follow some general advice on time allocation, I should distribute my time as follows:

Improvement area	Recommended percentage	Actual time
Openings	10 %	1 hour
Tactics	25 %	2.5 hours
Endgames	25 %	2.5 hours
Middlegames	20 %	2 hours
General improvement	10 %	1 hour

Does this seem reasonable? I don't think so. In my opinion, it would be better to focus on one or a few things. 

I've spent about a year working on strategy, and I expect it will take at least another year before I'm done with my current plan. As a reference, legendary chesspunks profile Neal Bruce has created a study plan that spans over ten years (!), and with focus on a specific area for several years at the time. To be honest, that is the reality that you should prepare for if chess is just a hobby.

How tight is your plan?

The next question when it comes to plans is to consider whether you prefer a tight or loose approach. Let me explain by providing a couple of examples.

Two years ago, I decided to up my tactics and iron out some "holes" in my basic skills. So I glanced at what others in the chesspunks community have done with flashcards - and I decided to try something similar. I gathered a large number of tactics puzzles on my computer and spent about one hour per day working through them - several times. I have written more extensively about it on my previous blog.

I think perhaps my tactics improved somewhat, but I hated the process. Chess became a chore, and I felt my motivation dwindling with every training session. Eventually, I lost interest in chess altogether and didn't touch it for several months. I came to the conclusion that a tight approach is not my cup of tea.

What good is efficiency
if you kill the fun?

After this experience, I decided to follow a more loose approach. My goal is to do something chess-related every day. Exactly what I do depends largely on my mood. And the time spent depends on what else is going on in my life. But I make sure I do something every day. I usually have at least two books that I am reading in parallel. I always have one main book that corresponds to my overall improvement plan, which currently is focused on strategy. I add other books more randomly, for instance if there's a cool new book that just came out - or if I hear about a classic that everyone just has to read. In some cases I even find a book that's already sitting in my bookshelf (Hello there, beautiful!).

This loose approach suits me much better. Perhaps it's not the most efficient way to study, but what good is efficiency if you kill the fun? After all, chess is only a hobby for me (and probably for you as well?).

What is improvement?

A big part of chess improvement is knowing that you get better. But how do you track this? And what counts as improvement? For many people, the answer is rating. And for most people, your OTB rating (FIDE or national) in classical time controls is the rating.

But there are other ways to track your progress. First of all, you can of course choose other ratings (online correspondence, blitz, bullet or why not tactics?). But there are other alternatives as well. There are many diagnostic tests you can take to check your skill level, for example the Test your chess IQ series by August Livshitz.

As I mentioned above, my goal has been (and still is) to reach a skill level corresponding to 2000 Elo. In practical terms, this means that in order to confidently say that I've reached my goal, I must be able to draw most games against 2000-rated opponents (in classical games), and also beat a few of them now and again. I'm not there yet. I have a few draws against players at that level, and I've had winning positions, but never that coveted 1-0 score.

I used to lose to 1500-players, but now I tend to hold my own against players in the 1700-1800 range. For me, this is how I "measure" improvement.

In the short term, I track my progress by checking that I follow my plan, i.e. do something chess-related every day. So my "measurement" is focused on process rather than results.

Resources and people

Chess improvement is near impossible if you're completely on your own. You need some kind of support. You can use books, online courses, videos, tactics trainers etc. Which resources you make use of depends on what you prefer. Some people (like myself) prefer books, whereas others (such as Braden Laughlin) prefer videos. Try a few alternatives and see what you like. There is no magical pill that works for everyone.

It can also be helpful to get a coach. It doesn't have to be a top grandmaster. But it should be someone who is considerably more experienced than you are - and preferably a stronger player. But be careful; the ability to play good chess does not automatically translate to good teaching skills. Make sure you get a coach who understands the situation you're in, and the level of chess understanding you are at.

Another option you may consider is teaching yourself. This is an often underestimated way of deepening your chess knowledge. A wise man once said that "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough". This is not something I would recommend for everyone. But if you like teaching, why not give it a try?

Find your balance

I would like to conclude this post by talking about balance. In my opinion, you need to consider balance from two main perspectives; chess and life.

First of all, your chess studies (and playing) need to fit in with the other things that's going on in your life. The more you have on your plate, the more chess has to move down on the list of priorities. Make sure you are honest about how important chess is to you, and make priorities based on that. If it's just a hobby, it can't be your top priority.

The second aspect of balance conerns chess. I am not thinking about the different skills that a chess player needs, that's a part of the "what" (see above). Rather, I think it's important to balance your study activities. When we talk about chess improvement, we tend to focus on studying and training. But chess is ultimately a game, so make sure you fit some playing into your schedule. And also, you need to do your analysis homework.

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So there you have it, folks. This is my take on chess improvement. You may agree with some of it and disagree with other things I've written, and that's only healthy. But hopefully, you got something useful from this post. If you did, please let me know in a comment, or reach out to me on other platforms.