Original Post 7/27/2010

I have slightly modified my training in the last week to include a new way of training tactics and a method to focus my training time.

A New Way of Training Tactics

I came across a forum post by IM David Pruess where he gives excellent advice on truly learning patterns when training tactics. Below is his advice:
The original post is titled Chess Advice Most Chess Player’s Don’t Like to Hear and it’s a must read.

or when i give players in the 1000-1800 range advice on improving their tactics, viz: 10-15 min per day of solving simple tactical puzzles. the goal is to increase your store of basic patterns, not to work on your visualization, deep calculation. remember that is your goal. you are not trying to prove that you can solve every problem. if you don’t solve a problem within 1 minute, stop. it’s probably a new pattern or you would have gotten it by now. (with private students i’ll take the time to demonstrate this to them: show them through examples that they can find a 3-4 move problem in 10 seconds if they know the pattern, and that they can fail to find a mate in 2 for 10 minutes if they don’t know the pattern). look at the answer, and now go over the answer 3 more times in your head to help the pattern take hold. your brain can probably take on 2-3 new patterns between sleeping, so you should stop once you’ve been stumped by 2 or 3 problems (usually will take about 10-15 min). there is no point in doing more than that in one day. and any day you miss, you can’t make up for. a semi-random estimate on my part is that you need about 2000 of these patterns to become a master. so you need to do this for 2 years or more.

i would guess that less than 1 in 100 of the people i have given this advice to have followed it to the letter. if they enjoy it, they’ll waste their time doing it for 1.5 hours in a day, choosing to ignore that it’s not helping them [after 15 min]. or some with ego issues will insist on trying to solve every single position (if only they linked their ego to their self-discipline ).

- IM David Pruess

A Specific CurriculumWhile I am disciplined in spending a minimum of 30 minutes per day doing chess studies, I am usually jumping from book to book and topic to topic which ends up losing valuable time. In the past I have tried to work from a training schedule, but the problem has been that the schedule has been too general. What I started doing is creating a specific training curriculum, where I create a schedule 2 weeks into the future, with the exact content I should cover everyday (an example can be seen here).  The schedule is created on a Sunday, and it takes no more than 15 minutes to create.

This week was the 2nd and final week of the first cycle of Phase I of the Extreme Chess Training Program which I began on 12/21/09.  Next week I start on Phase II, which focuses on the endgame. I am going to use the end of 1 full cycle of ECT, which is 45 days to play a tournament and do a progress report. I will also post more information on the program upon my completion of my first 45 day cycle.

Monday 12/28 - Chess Trainer at chesstempo.com. Increased standard rating from 1717 to 1725 1hr and 81% accuracy which is much higher than my 57% average.

Tuesday 12/29  - Played rated game on FICS & reviewed game afterwards.

Wednesday 12/30  - 2 Stoyko Tactics puzzles from Imagination in Chess using Tactics Checklist . Spent 39 minutes on 1 puzzle! Total training time was 1hr.

Thursday 12/31  - New years eve, sneaked in 15 minutes of unrated tactics at chesstempo.com.

Friday 1/1  - Did Speed Tactics from Bain’s Tactics for Students.  Exercises 93 through 197 with 95% accurracy.  Also, to makeup for Thursday I played a standard game against Fritz 5.32 1 ply (Playing against engine due to Internet issues).

Saturday 1/2  - Core Tactics from Chess Training Pocket Book. 76% accurracy.

Sunday 1/3  - Open day – Solved Step 3 tests of Step Method scoring 80%, 70% and 72%. Also did 20 minutes of  Tactics Trainer using chesstempo improved rating slightly from 1725 to 1727. Total training time 1 hr.

Monday – Performed 45 minutes of standard tactics at chesstempo.com

Tuesday – Played an ICC standard game and reviewed it afterwards.

Wednesday – Did 1hr of speed tactics, using Bain’s Chess Tactics for Students.

Thursday – Played standard game on FICS.

Friday – Performed core tactics for 1 hour. Focused on key positions from Chess Training Pocketbook

Saturday – Performed Stoyko Tactics from positions in Imagination in Chess.

Sunday – 20 minutes of chess trainer practice at chesstempo.com. Played over Alekhine – Duras 1913 on chessgames.com.

 The program calls for more of the same on the week of 12/28/09.

Opening

Principles
e4- opening name
d4 – opening name
Tactics

Middlegame

Tactics – Pin
Tactics – Backrank weakness
Tactics – Decoy
Tactics – Deflection
Tactics – Double Attack
Tactics – Exposed King
Tactics – Fork
Tactics – In-Between Move
Tactics – Interference
Tactics – Clearence
Tactics – Mating Patterns
Tactics – Overworked Piece
Tactics – LPDO
Tactics – Promotion
Tactics – Skewer
Strategy - BishopPair
Strategy – Good vs. Bad Bishop
Strategy – Bishop vs. Knight
Strategy – Open Lines and Diagonals
Strategy – Central Control
Strategy – Closed Positions
Strategy – Space
Strategy – Activity
Strategy – Isolated Pawns
Strategy – Backward Pawns
Strategy – Doubled Pawns
Strategy – Pawn Chains
Strategy – Passed Pawns
Strategy – Minory Attack
Strategy – Weak Color Complex
Strategy – Weak Squares
Strategy – Outposts
Strategy – Positional Sacrifice
Strategy – Harmony of the Pieces
Strategy – Development

Endgame

Theory (Mueller / Fine type content)

Theory – Lucena Position
Theory – Philidor Position
Theory – Shouldering
Theory – Opposition
Theory – Triangulation
Theory – K+P
Theory – R+P
Theory – RvR
Theory – Double Rook
Theory – Queen
Theory – Minor Piece  
Theory – Fortresses
Theory – BvN
Theory – Bishops of Same Color
Theory – Opposite Color Bishops

Practice (Shereshevsky type content)
Practice – King Centralization
Practice -  Principle of Two Weaknesses
Practice – Do Not Rush
Practice – Passed Pawns
Practice – Schematic Thinking
Practice – Exchanges
Practice – Fight for the Initative
Practice – Prophalaxis
Practice – Bishop Pair
Practice – Zugzwang
Practice – Fortresses
Practice – Converting and Advantage

Played G/15 game and drew against opponent rated 1826 in a winning position (I was up a minor piece), but opponent had counterplay and I was down to 4 1/2 minutes on the clock.

Tuesday 12.08.09

Reviewed game. Confirmed that position was won. Opponent made a tactical mistake where he lost the exchange. Focused study will revolve against playing this position against Rybka 3.

Wednesday 12.09.09

Played won position against Rybka and lost twice!!! I should have simplified the position, since I was up 3 pawns.

Thursday 12.10.09

Played standard game on ICC against opponent rated 1710 (I am currently rated 1780 with one more provisional game to go). Lost game due to tactical oversights.

Friday 12.11.09

Reviewed standard game. I played poorly, going from a better position to even and ultimately to a losing position. My first mistake was an exchange that gave my opponent lots of activity and counterplay even though I had a material advantage. It is interesting to note, how high Rybka evaluates activity giving it an evaluation of over 1/2 a pawn. I then fell victim to a removal of the guard / pin / deflection combination which netted my opponent my bishop. I kept on playing, and ultimately fell victim to a checkmate, which I totally missed. Focused study will revolve around doing extra tactics.

Saturday 12.12.09

 Focused on doing tactics at chess.com instead of chesstempo. Noticed that the timer is not helping my solving…dropped approximately 100 rating points!  I prefer solving the standard chesstempo tactics which allow me to take my time to find the right answer.

 Sunday

Doing extra tactics solving at chess.com.

Played G/20 20 game against opponent rated 1865. Played the Sicilian Grand Prix and lost in a rook endgame where I was a pawn down.

Tuesday 12.01.09

Reviewed game. Made an interesting observation that I would not have picked up on if I had not reviewed game. I lost 2 pawns during the game, because I failed to take back material. I chose to lose material instead of making an exchange that would benefit my opponent.  I have to remind myself during a game that material precedes any other strategic criteria.

Solved tactics for 15 minutes.

Wednesday 12.02.09

Did Chess Tempo for 45 minutes. Was aiming for accuracy, so I only got to do 10 puzzles 65% success rate. I am currently rated 1702.

Thursday 12.03.09

Solved tactics for 15 minutes.

Played G/20 20 game on ICC against opponent rated 1783, I won the game and I am now rated 1780 (still provisional).

Friday 12.04.09

Reviewed Thursday’s game. Opponent made several tactical oversights, I made several poor moves in the late middlegame, but my opponent did not take advantage of them. This leads to the importance of reviewing your games, even your wins. After the game, I felt pretty good about my play and I would have never guessed that I made two weak moves that would have converted a won game into a draw if my opponent had acted on them.

Saturday 12.05.09

Solved 1 hour of tactics

Sunday 12.06.09

Open day. Did 30 minutes of tactics on Chess Tempo. Reached my highest rating yet of 1714. Played a few blitz games on FICS.

Wednesday 11.26.09

Played G/15 5 game against an opponent rated 1687 on ICC (I am provisionally rated 1781 after this game). I plan on playing all of my standard games on ICC so that I can maintain continuity in tracking my ELO rating. ICC rating is approximately 250 points higher than USCF. At 1781 my rating is a bit inflated due to it’s provisional status…it should be more like 1600-1650 IMO.

Solved tactics on Chess Tempo (30m)

Thursday 11.27.09 [Thanksgiving]

Reviewed Wednesday’s game – I won the game, but I came out poorly out of the opening. I have always had issues with the French Defense Exchange variation, so my focus study will be reviewing the French Exchange variation. (1 hour)

Solved puzzles at Chess Tempo (15m)

Friday 11.28.09

Chess Tempo 30 minutes
Focus Study: French Defense Exchange variation (1.30h)

Saturday 11.29.09

Solved (easy non-rated) puzzles on chesstempo (30m)
Played G/15 5 game on ICC against opponent rated 1865 I am still provisionally rated with an ELO of  1768. NOTE: Next game will be a G/30 time control.

Sunday 11.30.09
Reviewed game. Loss stemmed from not calculating all possible candidates and faulty thought process, where I forgot threats I had assessed several moves before. Opponent came out of the opening slightly better. Opening played was the Caro-Kann Exchange variation. Going to focus on Stoyko Exercises to improve calculation skills as well as an intense tactics training session.

Did one Stoyko exercise from a correspondence game I am currently playing. Analyzed the position for approximately 10 minutes. I also did a ‘Guess the Move’ game on chessgames.com. I chose a Capablanca game where Capa played White against the Caro-Kann defense. The chessgames.com exercise took about 30m.

Tomorrow Monday I’ll restart the training schedule.

Long Term Goals

• Increase USCF rating to 1400 (currently at 1283)
• Increase Chess Tempo standard tactics rating to 1850 (currently at 1700)
• Increase ICC standard rating (currently have a provisional rating of 1750) will set appropriate ELO goals within the next 3 months once I get out of provisional status. update 01.03.10 Out of provisional rating after having played 26 standard games. Benchmark rating is 1781 goal is to reach an ICC rating of 1825 by the end of the year.
• Play in 4 tournaments within the next 12 months
• Play a minimum of 2 standard games G/15 or > per week
• Have a minimum of 6 training sessions in the next 12 months with FM Charles Galofre

Short Term Goals (goals for the next 90 days)

• Dedicate 1 hour per day to chess training
• Review all of my standard games
• Play in an OTB tournament before the end of February ’10
• Have a chess lesson before the end of February ’10
• Simplify my chess training, focus more on the practical side of chess
• Increase Chess Tempo rating to 1750 by the end of February ’10