As my first real post, I thought I will start on an instructive note by giving some insight on the most asked question: How to improve at chess. Notice how I mentioned “an insight” rather than an “answer”, this is because there is no definitive and correct way. There are a variety of methods available, which can all be beneficial to some degree, but of course, some are better than others.
- Tactics
Unsurprisingly, the first and most important in this list is tactics. Ask anyone what they believe to be the most efficient for improvement and 9 out of 10 times you will hear “tactics, tactics and more tactics”. This is because almost all of your games will be decided on whether you can capitalise on a mistake made by your opponent, or the other way around. Additionally, tactics improve calculation and visualisation which is crucial for all aspects of your game. Whether it be in the opening, middlegame or endgame, the ability to quickly find and recognise tactics and calculate multiple moves and variations will massively help your chess. This makes it a must for anyone looking to improve their chess, regardless of their skill level. - Play and Analyse your games
Playing games is undoubtedly the most fun to do, so why not learn in the process? All of the most common chess websites include a post-game analysis, where you can see how good you played at a click of a button. Simply take a minute or two to look through the game and take note of where you could’ve improved your play. If you are playing in a tournament, I definitely recommend writing down your moves during the game, even if it is just for the beginning of the game (the more the merrier). Once you’re finished, just put the moves you wrote down into an engine and go through the game again. This will let you see better or alternative ways of playing which can extremely useful as you can then begin to use these new patterns and concepts in future games. - Watch Chess videos
While this might not be the best way to improve, it certainly is one of the most fun ways. There are many great streamers and YouTubers out there who provide entertaining, yet educational content for free. - Practice endgames
This is another method which I highly recommend doing from time to time. No one wants to get into a winning endgame and then not being able to do the king and rook, or even bishop and knight checkmate. Not only knowing these help securing a win after a hard thought game, but it will also help with understanding how the pieces move and coordinate with each other. Once you know these, you can move on to rook and pawn, or even king and pawn endgames. While many of these may look simple, they are in reality extremely complicated and require a high degree of precision. These endgames will once again, also improve your calculation greatly, meaning you are improving every aspect of your game simultaneously. - Read books
I would specifically recommend some books related to positional play as this is in my opinion, the best way to become familiar with the strategic elements of chess. There are hundreds of books available, including some from the most highly respected coaches, grandmasters, and even world champions. These can give fascinating insights into the minds of some of the worlds best, which will most certainly help you grow your chess understanding.
I would like to point out how none of the points above mention openings. This is for good reason. While studying openings may help a little, most games are not decided purely as a result of knowing thousands of lines of the latest theory. All it takes is one move by your opponent and hours upon hours of learning get thrown out the window. Moreover, by improving your understanding of middlegames, endgames and the game as a whole, you are also indirectly helping your openings, meaning you will get better without even knowing it.
And that concludes my list of what I believe are the best methods on how to improve at chess. Note that motivation is also a huge factor which will affect the speed of which this will happen. Because of this, I recommend choosing a method which you will also enjoy and have fun doing, as doing so will lead to better results.
If you are determined to improve your chess, be sure to check out my services as I offer personalised chess coaching, both face to face and online, as well as game annotation where you can send me your games to analyse in detail.