Pablito15

1. Coaching

2. Studying tactics/problems

3. Studying annotated (master) games

4. Opening Books

5. End Game

6. Studying pawn structure

7. Middle game books

8. Other?

mowcop

Analysing/kibitzing/playing with a group of friends Luckily, they were pretty strong chess players....1800-2150 standard when I was perhaps 1500.

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Grant Szuveges

All of the above to varying degrees, but the most important one is the one that people always seem to overlook: WORK HARD AT THE BOARD. If you (anyone - not necessarily Pablito) think you work hard at the board, then work harder - force yourself to. You should be EXHAUSTED after a game of chess. If you are not, then either the game was very easy, or you didnt work hard enough.

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Pablito15

Got it. Work hard make friends! hehe...
Another question:
A lot of people study tactics by getting a set of ~1000 and repeating them many times, anyone have any opinions on the above?

Iconoclast

8. Other. Start giving a shit about the result.

Unfortunately for me, I like to enjoy the game more than I want to win it. So, apart from blunders, I tend to spend material on ill-prepared adventures.

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Comeback Kid

1. Coaching - 10%

2. Studying tactics/problems - 30%

3. Studying annotated (master) games - 15%

4. Opening Books - 2%

5. End Game - 2%

6. Studying pawn structure - 0%

7. Middle game books - 7%

8. Other? - 34%

Other would be simply playing several tournament games and blitz regularly, figuring out what worked and what didn't.

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Pablito15

As for me I started with openings, which I think was useful as it let me "get into a game" with some strong players which is always a pleasing thing in chess. Now that i've reached a level of competancy in opening play I don't think there's any point in studying them any more until i've studied a lot of tactical middle and end game play, at the moment i'm reading "best lessons of a chess coach" by weeramantry which i'm finding great as well as trying to get through a few books of problems. I feel like focussing on #'s 2 & 3 above are improving my game reasonably quickly.

Grant Szuveges

How can pawn structure score 0%??????? Pawn structure is REALLY REALLY important. Stronger players take pawn structure for granted, but weaker players often dont know much about it at all (I know this through coaching people). The pawn structure is the wall or the foundation of the house or the tree. The pieces are the bricks or the monkeys, squirrels or koalas that play through the tree (whichever analogy you like best). I think that people who learn about and understand pawn structure well, often improve a lot and become strong players. Pawn structure dictates so much in chess.

If people understand (not just know about, but really understand) passed pawns, protected passed pawns, isolated pawns, hanging pawns, backward pawns, doubled pawns and pawn islands, chess will become a lot easier for them to play. They wont necessarily get better (that comes through hard work and using all of Pablitos criteria together), but chess will get easier for them.

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mowcop

Studying tactics works, you recognise patterns, learn ideas and visualisation. Tactics happen in every game you play so it is more efficient to work on tactics than any other part of your game.

However, it can be pretty boring after a while....say a few hundred tactics over a week or 2. So doing other things is important too, especially playing so you can put those newly learned tactical motifs into practise.

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Pablito15

It's true it can be boring and you need some variety, I wonder if you can tactical ability if you don't study for a while.

Pablito15

lose tactical ability that is

Jaydon

It'd be like anything wouldnt it? You'll remember how to ride the bike but wont necessarily be so good at it..

Firegoat7

What happens is that the more you play the more your vision and tactical ability remains in form. When you have long breaks this is the first thing that goes, that is your ability to calculate.

What a lot of improving chess players need to understand is that chess is actually a language. Also it is not one language but two, Calculation and Positional judgement.
The calculative part is often done pictorially with the mind. This denigrates without practice. I have found that verbalising the process actually slows you down here, but helps comprehension.
Positional judgement is something most players do intuitively, but ignore to their own detriment. This requires classification of knowledge and it is something you can spend your whole chess career on. The more subtle it is the better it becomes.

cheers,

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Comeback Kid

Well, apart from the 'don't double your pawns' rule, I can't image that much hangs on it. I mean sometimes a timely pawn push wins the game, but I wouldn't classify that as a pawn structure issue.

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"He was a man, take him for all in all. I shall not look upon his like again."

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Grant Szuveges

Im not sure how good at chess you are, but it sounds like you either dont understand pawn structure or completely underestimate it.

"Dont double your pawns"??? Doubled pawns can often be very strong as they open files and often solidify a block of squares (in the Rubinstein French for example after ...gxf6) Doubled pawns are in my opinion the most overrated pawn "weakness" in chess. While they can be very weak (eg in the white side of the Nimzo Indian in the endgame), it is much more important not to get yourself stuck with:

1. backward pawns on open lines (these virtually never give you any counter play)

2. isolated pawns on open lines (these can be ok if you generate enough dynamic play around them but they make you structurally worse and there is always the threat of a weak endgame hanging over your head).

These sorts of weaknesses are very easy to attack with heavy pieces (queens and rooks) and they both allow knight outposts in front of them. Surely you acknowledge that knight outposts are important!

You would be amazed how many weaker players lose games because they dont take enough care of their pawn structure. In a nutshell, its about not creating weaknesses. Pawns dont move backwards, so every pawn move you make is a committment and possibly a weakness. If you move a knight to a weak square you can move it back later, but if you make pawn weakenesses, you are stuck with them.

DONT CREATE WEAKNESSES!

You would be amazed at the countless number of games I have won because my opponents have created pawn weakenesses. Even a lot of 1700-1800 type players still create these weakenesses regularly.

Now you also mention "a timely pawn push". Im not sure whether you are referring to a PAWN BREAK or not, but if so, pawn breaks are really important too. You need to know where possible pawn breaks will occur in any given position (positions of a closed or locked up nature anyway). By knowing where to prepare the pawn break, it makes it easier to find the right plan:

Eg. In the Kings Indian when there is a locked up centre (white with pawns on e4 and d5 and black with pawns on e5 and d6), the natural pawn breaks are ...f5 for black and c5 for white. The reason for this is that they come on the side of the board where each side has more space. Of course sometimes black breaks with c6 and white with f4, but these pawn breaks are less commmon and usually not the first or "natural" option. All of this comes down to a simple rule in chess - ATTACK ON THE SIDE OF THE BOARD WHERE YOU HAVE MORE SPACE. (Imagine trying to attack on the kingside as black in the Sicilian Dragon when white has all the space over there). The reason why one side has the space in the first place is usually because of their PAWN STRUCTURE. Pawn breaks are possible because of ones pawn structure. Chess needs to be looked at holistically and the pawn structure is one very important element of this.

Of course pawn structure is not the be all and end all of chess - in some positions (often resulting from very open e4,e5 type openings) in doesnt matter at all. But in most games, pawn structure is vital and being aware of it helps one to not create weakenesses - and to hopefully win the game. That said though, if you cant/dont calculate then its no use learning about pawn structure because another part of your game (your calculation) will let you down. But if you understand pawn structure AND understand calculation, piece activity etc, then you will be a good chance to improve your chess dramatically.

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