I'm a 1500 rating player, I know the basic thery of openings with some classical lines, and a little of endings theory...
I use chess just for fun, and I play only by email, because I have a little time to use for.
I want to improve my playing (not trying to be a great player) studying a cuple of hours a week.
What should I focus on, having so little time to do it?... tactics, endings, openings, analysing games ??
Any book is recomended ?
All opinions are welcome
Tactical puzzle books are only good up to a point. "White to move and win", how ridiculous.
The effective implementation of little tactics that improve your position while limiting the opponent is the key (most games are not won brilliantly). You must learn to analyze various lines and configurations to determine the secrets, strengths and pifalls of a position. You need to be able to discern which threats are serious and which can be dealt with. How to make the position creak, then crack. It's the subtle tactics of maneuver. Bottom line, learn to analyze variations.
Originally posted by MetalPigI'll go against the grain, and suggest endgame. It's something that you said you knew little of, and I find incredibly helpful. Being good at the endgame means you're free to trade down material, and have a good chance to win. The simple endgames are all quite logical, so not too much material is required. I'd recommend sticking to common endgames, as it's not very common that you'll need Q vs R etc. King and pawn endgames are the most important, and so few people know them well. Rook endgames are more complicated, but very common, so you may want to study them too. The other ones will fall into place once you've mastered tempo, positioning, and zugswang.
I'm a 1500 rating player, I know the basic thery of openings with some classical lines, and a little of endings theory...
I use chess just for fun, and I play only by email, because I have a little time to use for.
I want to improve my playing (not trying to be a great player) studying a cuple of hours a week.
What should I focus on, having so little ti ...[text shortened]... ctics, endings, openings, analysing games ??
Any book is recomended ?
All opinions are welcome
I say study tactics mostly but spend a few hours on endgames also. I started at 1500 and am at 1718 right now after a year and going up all because of tactics. Yasser Seirwan's tactic book is really good for that but also ct-art 3.0 is great since it has a variety or puzzles and not just the simple mate in 1 or 2 etc...