This is another frequently asked questions which I'm going to say something about in this post. It's human nature to feel awe when we see someone doing something very well. The question looks very innocent but it's not that simple to give one answer that says all. Let me elaborate on this.
When I started playing chess, it's more about fun and I had no idea about the existence of chess books or software. Only when I met my friend who played way better than me that I got curious. He told me that good chess players actually become good by studying the game. The question is how to study.
Some of the first books I read about chess :
1. Chess for beginners by James Harit
2. Techniques of endgames in chess by Philip Robar
3. 100 classic games on the chess board followed by lots of others.
I was reading those books and thank god, I've seen the greatest improvement from those. It was accidental.
In the beginning, I would read any chess books available on book stores, bought them and work like dogs. It was fun because during beginner's stage, improvement was rapid. Things got trickier as I move along, when I play someone who also read books. From the very beginning, I love studying the openings more than anything else and I would say that was a big mistake but how do I know that since no one in my locality was qualified enough to tell me anything about chess. I found out that even a mistakes like these were better than not studying at all.
Playing hundreds and hundreds of games both in chess clubs and online helps my improvement the most during those stage. Crossing the 1800 rating in yahoo was a real achievement worthy of fond remembrance. The real improvement and understanding of chess comes from tournament participation.
Now as a class A player, if someone ask me the above question, I would answer as follows :
HOW TO CROSS 2000
1. Building an opening repertoire :- The openings I play are my favourite. This is the first step towards your chess journey. It's starts from the first move and as experience grows, become wider and wider. Right now, I'm proud that in some variations, I even knew 20 moves deep. Say for example, the grundfeld and najdorf. My approach to building a repertoire is to have a book or software on the openings and analysed with computer as deep as I can. The trees or variations at one moment became too thick that it looks like I was working for my Phd.
2. Solving :- This is a well known proven method which I use. I would start solving from Anthology of chess combinations and end with positional play. In fact the most energy absorbing method. After solving few tactics and then analysing all the sub variations not given in the solutions, I derive a lot of understanding of certain patterns.
3. Endgames : - I started studying endgames more recently and I believe I should have done long before. Anyway, better late than never as the saying goes. My target is rook endgames. I watched dvds, go through endgame books and solve puzzles from john nunn's endgame challenge. Even now I find Dvoretsky's endgame manual a little too heavy. I had been studying the rook endgame chapter for more than a year and not yet completed.
4. Browsing master games from database :- This is one way that gives me the direction to study opening variations. I would go through a game played by Wang hao vs Svidler in the grundfeld defence and put on my computer to analyse. I would soon then employ those lines in my next tournament. This method is yet to be tested for further analysis.
5. Training games :- The tournament games for me are both challenge and a training. I learn the most from tournament play whether it's openings, tactics or endgames. Just after the game, I would analyse with my computer. Sometimes I would be frustrated when I missed a clear win or when my game shifts from win to equal etc.
6. Watch videos lectures from dvd, youtube or any source :- This is actually more fun way to learn. Though it's a passive way of learning, it has benefits. Say for example, listening the video lecture by Alexie Shirov in Grundfeld defence, I derived a much deeper understanding of how the top players think and prepare. This is invaluable.
So, finally this is what I do. I don't call this training because I don't do it everyday having clear goals in mind. Though crossing 2000 this year is a goal and then crossing 2200 in the near future. Right now as I'm writing someone of my level would be doing something else like analysing the position with a coach. Someone might be playing a stack game against players stronger than themselves. They might call it their training. At least, the above method touched on critical chess skills like analysis, calculation, opening knowledge, endgame techniques and the modern trend of preparation. I know that if I do this religiously, I would be unstoppable. We will see what this leads to.
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