Developing Chess Skill

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5055

There is, however, a foolproof method for increasing playing strength, improving chess judgment and combating, if not completely eradicating, blunder tendencies. This method targets the subconscious as opposed to the insufficient books and DVDs targeting the conscious. As rendered in Alexander Kotov’s Think like a Grandmaster, it goes as follows:

No matter what position you choose to analyse, opening, middle game or end game, complex or simple; find annotated games and play through them till you to come to the point with the greatest number of variations.

Cover up the annotations with a sheet of paper and, without moving the pieces, analyse the position from 30 minutes to an hour. If the variations are extremely complex, you might write down your analyses while analysing.

When time is out, stop analysing and uncover the annotations in the book or magazine, and compare your notes with the annotator’s. (This is crucial since this trains and disciplines the brain’s ability to perceive positions correctly)

Man that sounds like a lot of work.

Yes, there is no substitute for hard work 🙂

This is probably the best plan for club players and above. Below that you would want to put your hardwork into drilling tactics, rook endgames. After you read a book like "Reassess Your Chess" or "My System" this drilling would be the next step. Doing this religiously will get most people to at least expert.

Originally posted by Wyrick
This is probably the best plan for club players and above. Below that you would want to put your hardwork into drilling tactics, rook endgames. After you read a book like "Reassess Your Chess" or "My System" this drilling would be the next step. Doing this religiously will get most people to at least expert.