Improving Your Chess

1. Self-Analysis

Analyse your games with the opponent afterwards

Even if you lose the game, analyse it with the opponent afterwards. This is psychologically hard to do because you may feel upset. However, if you want to improve in the long run, you must try to use this opportunity to gain deeper insight into chess. Even if you feel that your opponent is a "hacker" with no positional understanding, you may extend your grip on practical techniques relevant to the winning process.

Draw conclusions from your games

If you lose in a certain way, try to recognise this, and other game instances where you have lost in that particular way. Draw conclusions from your wins and losses. They maybe the wrong conclusions, but at least you are making attempts to draw conclusions which can be tested in further practice. Improvement is only possible through the process of learning and abstraction.

Each game should be treated as an example. Ideally, you should be trying to improve your game fundamentally with each game, not just gaining insight into another opening variation. Look over the game, and see methods which could be better. Try to reap the benefits from your experiences by looking more globally at your games.

2. Stronger Players

Try to play with slightly stronger opponents

If you play an opponent who is much, much stronger than yourself, you will probably not be able to relate their insights in post-game discussion to your current understanding. If however they are only slightly stronger than you, then you are more likely to assimilate everything that they have to say about the game.

Analyse your games with stronger players

Even if you have won a game, there may be lots of mistakes which will be exposed by the stronger player. Don't assume that just because you have won that you have played well. Join strong chess clubs if necessary to get your games analysed with strong players. If you confine yourself to just your immediate circle of friends, you may think you play an excellent game, but that might only be true in that limited context.

Get a Grandmaster or IM to coach you

If budget permits, a very strong player will have a good balanced outlook on chess. They should be able to determine your weaknesses and work out a plan for systematically building on your strengths and removing your weaknesses.

3. Gaining Experience

Experiment with different formats

• 5-Minute Chess: Enjoyable and builds confidence/intuition.
• Rapid Chess (30 mins): Good for experimenting with new openings and ideas.
• Postal/Correspondence: Excellent for improving opening knowledge and systematic resource finding.
• Internet Chess: Stimulates you to "read around" openings where you have bad results.

Play in higher sections

Even if your grading implies that you should be playing in a certain category of tournament, you may feel yourself that you have improved fundamentally. If this is the case, consider playing in a higher section than you would normally to test yourself against tougher opposition.

4. Resources & Tools

Books

Software

ChessBase: Essential for game collections by opening or by player.

Tactical Analysis: Engines (like Stockfish via Fritz or ChessBase) are excellent for checking your games. They will find unexpected tactical resources where both players may not have suspected them.

5. Mindset & Knowledge

Feedback Mechanisms

Do not be obsessed with grading systems. Be aware of the fundamentals of your game and the efforts you are making to improve these. The measurable results (e.g. chess rating) should come naturally from this process.

Knowledge Priorities

Improve your middlegame as a priority over opening knowledge. If you are a more resourceful player than your opponent, it does not matter if they get a slightly better position out of the opening. If you are better tactically and positionally, you are more likely to win in practice than by simply memorising more variations.

Know the Endings

Rook and Pawn endings are very common (approx 50% of all endings). Study them!

Further Reading