Best way to improve ???

I play chess at school (school league) and I am one of the best players...but I would like to be the best....and I was wondering : What is the best way to improve my game ?????

-Play many games
-Read books
-DVDs about chess
-Chess games on computer

As I said, I would like to improve my game, so if you have any suggestions on books, DVDs, or Chess games on Computer,
a little help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks🙂

find out what's your greatest weakness, and work on it?

Originally posted by erichockey55

-Play many games
-Read books
-DVDs about chess
-Chess games on computer

definitely
yes
no
maybe

Originally posted by erichockey55
I play chess at school (school league) and I am one of the best players...but I would like to be the best....and I was wondering : What is the best way to improve my game ?????

-Play many games
-Read books
-DV
-Ds about chessChess games on computer

As I said, I would like to improve my game, so if you have any suggestions on books, DVDs, or Chess games on Computer,
a little help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks🙂

dvds are not always great for someone whos life isnot based on the game. they can cost a lot and you often end up paying a lot for a dvd based on one move, for example the dvd that cost $15 and is only about (and even titled) bashing the sicilian with Bb5

Originally posted by erichockey55

-Play many games
-Read books
-DVDs about chess
-Chess games on computer

Personally, I recommend a lot of book study (particularily middle and endgame stuff - have just enough opening knowledge to get an equal middle game. From there play lots and lots of blitz, but not so fast that you don't think about what you're doing. Make sure to focus on whatever you're studying, tactics, or good bishop vrs bad etc. eventually the concepts should become second nature. When you sit down over the board for a slow game, take a deep breath and remind yourself to think more than you do in blitz.

Originally posted by erichockey55
I play chess at school (school league) and I am one of the best players...but I would like to be the best....and I was wondering : What is the best way to improve my game ?????

-Play many games
-Read books
-DVDs about chess
-Chess games on computer

As I said, I would like to improve my game, so if you have any suggestions on books, DVDs, or Chess games on Computer,
a little help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks🙂

I'm not sure what your level is so it's difficult to know where to pitch this. I was always the best for my age but unfortunately I stopped playing at about 14 years old and left it for 30 years (3 years ago). If I could go back to 14 (apart from not to stop playing) I would study openings (specialize in a 2 or 3 openings rather than spread myself too thin), on here its no problem your game history is there to analyze but record your over the board games (if you play for a club you will be doing/have to do this anyway). It is absolutely critical to examine and UNDERSTAND why you lost a game. This is also a reminder to myself because I am playing too much (not analysing enough). But most of all enjoy it! when you get beat (again message to myself) treat it as an opportunity to learn and improve. You will learn a hell of a lot more from a loss than a win. Good luck. On learning openings books/open databases but a word of warning do not slavishly follow open databases without understanding the reason for the move, this is where books help.

Another question thats similar that i have wanted to know. Do you think its better to play x games and spend y time thinking about each move or to play 2x games and spend 1/2y time thinking about each move?

Play slow games. In fast games, you see much less, thus learning less.

Would you recomend using a program like fritz (im not 100% sure what it does but I've heard good things) to anaylise my games or just think it over in my head.

Keep playing the best player in your school. Read some books. Analyse your games. Fritz is great for analysing your games but you should go over your game first and find your mistake and then let fritz go over it.

Kasparov, who knew something about this game, said recently, "The only way to improve one's chess game is to analyse one's games." There are a lot of wonderful posts here in this forum with lots of great advice on this perennial question of improving in chess. Read them. One primary theme I pick up from a lot of these posts is to work on tactics.

Originally posted by RahimK
Keep playing the best player in your school. Read some books. Analyse your games. Fritz is great for analysing your games but you should go over your game first and find your mistake and then let fritz go over it.

how do you use fritz to analyze?

I am going to post this answer from another thread again because I KNOW it works....maybe someone will take it seriously.

My "serious" rating with another postal organization is 2021. I went from about 1600 doing the following:

Play over a couple hundred UNANNOTATED master games using 5-10 min a game & trying to guess the next move. You are going after quantity here.

This reinforces pattern recognition; this is how GM's play simuls so successfully...they recognize patterns and know what to look for. US Master Ken Smith used to recommend this.

Next... (1) Only consider the first 2-3 moves that pop into your head (2) Only look 3-4 moves deep.

If you don't see how it loses a piece, play it.

(3) Pick the move that looks the most threatening, even if it’s only in a general sort of way.

(4) After your opponent moves and before you move, scan the ranks, files and diagonals.

You will find yourself improving because you start zeroing in on opponent’s weak squares, loose pieces, things like that, and that is what chess is all about – pattern recognition and tactics; at least below Master level.

You may also want to read Search for Chess Perfection by Purdy. It's a collection of his magazine articles, so you can open it up anywhere and find some really good advice.

Originally posted by trallphaz
how do you use fritz to analyze?

You enter your game into fritz and then click on the analyse options, select how long you want it to think and wait till its done. Check out chessbase support site or look at the manual. I just figured it out by messing around.

For improvement at any level, I like the "guess the move" system somebody mentioned before. Get a good collection of master games. You uncover the move one-by-one for the winner after you decide the best move. Read the annotations only after you make the move. In a way, it's like have a master tutor. If you play through the complete games, you get tutored on openings, middle game, and endgame. The best part is (at least for me) it's an enjoyable process, like solving puzzles. If you focus on only one part of the game, say like memorizing opening lines, you're like a body builder who just work with the biceps. Not good in the long run.