How to Study Chess | Chess Meditations

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Developing a healthy training routine is essential to chess improvement. Here are 8 training methods with which you should be able to improve every aspect of your game.

1. Analyze games – this one can’t be stressed enough. Studying middlegames is what most people struggle with. Some don’t have any idea how to go about studying them at all. Middlegames are very complex in comparison to endgame or opening play. They revolve around positional or strategic play and require in-depth thinking and understanding. Analyzing chess games is the best way to improve your middlegame play. You will improve your pattern recognition, planning, calculation and visualization.

2. Solve tactical and positional problems – this training method will speed up your calculation during a real game, and it will also create a knowledge base in your mind which you will then be able to draw from when a similar situation arises.

3. Read books – believe it or not, books are still the best way to study chess. You are able to delve much deeper into a position if you have to imagine it or set it up on a real board. Chess books will also broaden your general knowledge of chess culture!

4. Endgame study – this is the simplest part of chess study because it’s finite. Learn them all and be done with it!

5. Openings – building a repertoire is essential so that you don’t waste time dwelling over the first moves. Create a narrow repertoire your opponents are going to fear! Here is a video on how to study openings: youtu.be/nr-_W6Eujzg

6. Play practice games and analyze them afterwards

7. Play blindfolded chess – this will greatly increase your visual perception, memory and calculation.

8. Watch videos – this should be left as a last resort. Even though watching chess videos will help you learn, it’s the worst way to improve because it doesn’t require you to get involved. One piece of advice is that you have a board next to you while watching, and that you try to come up with your own ideas, pausing the video and thinking for yourself.

#chess