Chess Training Plan for Intermediate Players

The following chess training plan is geared for adult intermediate players with a current rating between 1500-1800. The goal is to gain 100-200 rating points in one year following this plan.

This training plan is made to be:

  • Practical for those with limited study time
  • Focused on deliberate practice (active learning)
  • Relies on spaced repetition training (more on this in future posts)
  • Builds on a foundation of pattern recognition
  • Focused on sports psychology
  • Uses endgame studies as a way to improve calculation skills
  • Is meant to be self directed
  • Uses the Pomodoro Technique

Training Resources

Training Schedule

Time requirements: 1 hour per day in one session or two daily 30 minute sessions.

Monday
Tactics 10 minutes Test Your Chess IQ
Solve Studies 20 minutes Endgame Challenge
Break 5 Minutes
Study Strategy 25 Minutes Chess Training for Post Beginners
Tuesday
Tactics 10 minutes Test Your Chess IQ
Solve Positional 20 minutes Can You Be a Positional Chess Genius?
Break 5 Minutes
Study Positional 25 Minutes Can You Be a Positional Chess Genius?
Wednesday
Play G > 15
Thursday
Tactics 10 minutes Test Your Chess IQ
Game Review 20 minutes
Break 5 Minutes
Game Review 25 minutes
Friday
Tactics 25 minutes Test Your Chess IQ
Break 5 Minutes
Study Endgame 25 Minutes Chess Endgame Training
Saturday
Tactics 10 minutes Test Your Chess IQ
Solve Openings 20 minutes Work on your opening repertoire
Break 5 Minutes
Solve Studies 25 Minutes Endgame Challenge
Sunday
Mnemosyne Drill 25 minutes
Break 5 Minutes
Solve Positional 25 Minutes Can You Be a Positional Chess Genius?

 

chessbuzz has written 57 articles

2 thoughts on “Chess Training Plan for Intermediate Players

  1. chessbuzz says:

    A couple of tweaks can make it useful for a 1300-1500 level player. I would replace the Nunn Endgame Studies sessions with general endgames using the Chess Endgame Training book.
    I would also replace the study positional and study strategy sessions with content from the Yuspov Chess School starting with the Build Up Your Chess book.
    Hope this helps.

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