Improvement

Leaving aside the infinite why of chess improvement, let’s jump straight into the how. Today, more “self-help” style books, noisomely telling you “what they are going to do for you” or “what is going to happen” after you’ve read them, than books that will genuinely help you improve your chess, appear on the market. Let’s be clear, one does not improve at chess by reading 200 pages of text in a 300 page Moskalenko book, chess improvement is example and test based, and there is no substitute for hard work; you will gain more from studying 500 tactical problems than all the 200 page Neil McDonald talk-fests in the world.

There have been many famous quotes on chess in its long history, “pawns are the soul of chess” (Philidor), “chess is 99% tactics” (Teichmann), “modern chess is far too concerned with things like pawn structure; forget it! Checkmate wins the game.” (Nigel Short during his ’93 World Title match with Garry Kasparov, much to the horror of spectating GMs!) However the one we find most accurate is from that adonis of a teacher Andrew Soltis: “chess is 99% calculation”.

Calculation of what exactly? It is equally true to say that one cannot usefully annotate a game, or calculate properly until after one understands things like pawn structure strengths and weaknesses (and a plethora of other concepts that lie pushing and pulling like currents under the placid surface of this game). In any case, that is the simplification we will put: Chess is primarily a game of calculation, and to calculate we need not only spatial ability/mental muscles (which come from hard work and nothing else) but also the base understandings of the game in order to know what will be positive and negative for us.

Back on topic: Towards this end, some trainers have developed a training plan based on example and test based teaching, that require you to first study a position, calculate as best you can, offer a move, and then read the brilliantly instructive explanations of these hand picked positions. This is not only building our mental muscles, but improving our understanding of the game too. They have hit on several excellent books they feel are improving not just our ability but also our enjoyment of chess too. The two principle books they are using are:

Bent Larsen’s: Good move guide (1982)
Andrew Soltis’: Pawn Structure chess (1976)

Any serious player with a penchant for chess study should pick up Larsen’s book and work through the examples. He has a section with 100 mid-strength tactics, 50 invaluable (to any level) “find the plan” positions with instructive conclusions, a “find the master move” section with games, and a “practical end game” section- as it said what is invaluable in it is that it asks you to work rather than read. It is a no-nonsense book.

There are two types of genuine improvement in chess. Improvement of your “base strength” with things like tactics study, endgame study, pawn structure study and knowledge. This is knowledge that doesn’t go away and doesn’t lie; before one hopes to understand any opening book, or even remember the moves properly, one must have a decent “base strength”, as this is what helps us understand the opening moves. It should be the primary focus in chess improvement as everything flows on from your endgame, pawn structure and tactical understandings. And secondly, improvement of your “practical chances” via the annotated study of games in your chosen opening. This will not “improve your chess” as much as pure study of those basic chess materials, but may help you win some games anyway.

So the first message on chess improvement is this: ask yourself if you really want to work hard, or quit pretending now.

Mastering Tactics

Only a handful of chess authors truly understand the best method of mastering tactics. Most authors believe, as evidenced by the books and software available in the market, that puzzle exercises and solving them are the best approach to learning tactics. They could never be so wrong. The best way to learn tactics for most people is to actually learn them by seeing the transition point in its entirety from the opening phase to the beginning point of the puzzle.

It is easy for one to solve puzzles of the kind that goes "Black to play and mate in three moves." This sort of presentation artificially aids the learner in finding the solution. Not only that the solver is hinted which side wins, but he is told as well that it can be done in three moves. Knowing the number of moves it takes to mate is a key clue which aids the brain generate possible solutions in the solving process. And knowing which side has the edge eliminates an important learning opportunity to find the obvious and discern the nuances of the given position. This skill ought to be developed among improvers as an essential aspect of learning tactics. Just being able to find solutions to tactical problems does not equate to tactical understanding. The very reason the learner is doing the tactical exercise is to sharpen a tactical vision but he currently does not possess.

The mainstream approach to tactical learning in some trainers and coaches estimation is partially flawed because it tends to develop only the skill of finding tactical solutions, but not more. The skill with the most practical value during a chess game is the one that helps players recognize that a tactical opportunity exists on the board. This other skill is duly ignored by mainstream writers. An improving player needs to master foremost how to spot a tactical opportunity and only then should he learn how to work out the tactical solutions. 

Given a typical position with equal material, oftener than not, the learner does not know which side is winning. This lack of knowing is more pronounced in unbalanced positions. This is so because the learner lacks a formalized system of spotting tactical opportunities. As it is during an actual game, neither player receives a cue that a tactical opportunity has just materialized. Such a formalized system could be the subject of a series in chess improvement.

In post mortem analysis, it is not unusual for players to find one-mover resources that could have changed the outcome from a loss to a win. Using computer engines in some of grandmasters' games reveal tactical oversights overlooked by both players during the contest. 

It is important to realize that learners or improvers to benefit from any tactical training must be shown how the tactical opportunity came about in the first place. So, including the opening moves is helpful as it gives learners chess knowledge that a certain tactical opportunity can arise from a certain opening with a certain pawn structure. The tactical skill must be learned only this way for the learner to beneficially accrue practical gains in this area of chess knowledge.

IM John Watson is one author who advocates learning tactics by also showing the learner how the tactical situation came to be. The learner can then play towards the tactical situation or choose moves in the opening or middlegame that will give rise to the tactical motif. But this does not argue that the learner need not know basic tactical motifs by name. But most learners already know what a double attack or a skewer or a pin looks like.

In one of a teacher's few lectures, he did exercises where he showed students puzzles, but with lacking in specifics. Some students would try to solve the puzzle from the viewpoint of the losing side, of course, not knowing who possesses the tactical opportunity. Some students could not recognize the opening from which the pawn structure arose. One must be reminded that a chess game entails the playing of the opening and sometimes the middle game before these opportunities present on the board. If chess begins with a static position plus a hint as to who is winning, and the number of moves it takes to deliver the winning blow, then the mainstream approach of learning tactics will make sense. This, however, simply becomes a puzzle solving contest.

It can be argued that the way we learn tactics is influenced in some way by economics. The traditional book is constrained by production costs in packaging its presentation of chess knowledge. In the interest of cost saving, it must present the puzzle to the solver at the point where the tactical sequence begins. This particular way of learning tactics benefits most the advanced players since they already possess the knowledge with regards to the source opening by simply noting the pawn structure. The tactical motif or picture becomes a knowledge entity where it is saved in the brain under a meaningful category for easy recall for over the board use. This is why advanced players will intuitively choose moves that channel the game to a recognized position where one or a number of tactical motifs fit.

For example, the well-known Greek sacrifice on h7 by a bishop is usually something an experienced player will intuitively recognize as effective if there is a pawn on e5 controlling f6 and d6. Another example would be some recognition that an advanced f-pawn will allow the rook lift to g3 or h3. When the position warrants this conduct of an attack, one must then avoid moving the g- or h-pawn as it will only impede the transfer of the rook to either file. Another example is the motif where there is a pawn on g6 and the white player sacrifices a rook on h8 to be followed by a queen check on the h-file which can result in a mate on h7 assuming of course that the f8-square is occupied, and the h-file is open.

This is where eBooks come in. EverymanChess.com is pioneering in this delivery method of chess knowledge. But an eBook covering tactics is still in dearth supply. With eBooks, the writer has the luxury of introducing the puzzle by allowing the reader to replay the game from the opening since space is no longer an economic constraint. As with chess books, space equals costs. And more costs means less profit. With the possibility that eBooks offer, it is proposed that it is time for us to reconsider novel but effective ways of learning tactics.

In the teacher's proposed approach, the reader also learns how the conditions for a tactical blow came about. These things do not just appear in thin air. Master players of the game in practice would laboriously maneuver their pieces to arrive into their respective striking points for which a tactical combination is possible. Just knowing the markers on the path will help us tremendously in getting there.

We hear amateurs lament to this effect when playing over grandmaster games, “If I can just get to this position, I will beat this grandmaster too.” Does it sound familiar? We hear ourselves say this all the time in the sound of a wish. And if only we can get ourselves to this “White to move and win in 5” positions, our brain can be easily primed and prodded to look for the winning tactical finish.
Only then can we outplay a master player and proudly share kinship with one. 

You should develop your own system to limit or minimize tactical blunders in your games.

How to improve your Middlegame

As a chess player, you have likely cultivated some favorite chess openings and defenses to strengthen your game. Similarly, you may have polished your endgame. You know how to capture and defeat your opponent once the ground work is laid. All that is left to improve upon is the battle itself: middlegame. The middlegame is where the real action takes place. It is often the lengthiest portion of chess, since many established players have all but memorized the opening game. Aside from slight alterations to the familiar gambits and defenses, openings often play out by rote. The middlegame in chess is the battle. Though the opening sets the stage for how the battle plays out, there are specific choices to be made as to how to approach the protracted struggle. This is where it gets interesting. There are two different ways of approaching chess, and the emphasis of the middlegame depends upon a player's approach. One of the methods which was nearly perfected by chess champion Jose Capablanca, is to create a positional strong-hold early on and play a careful, progressive game that exploits the weakness in your opponent's position, slowly pushing a material advantage until you gain absolute dominance. For the careful mind that can exploit weakness, this is an effective method. Trainers and coaches also feel that it squeezes the joy out of chess. The best minds in chess have tended to be experimental. Some masters have this in common: They all experimented beyond the established boundaries of the game. These masters rejected the stronghold-and-advance method, sometimes to tragic end; but their experimentation also lead to some of the greatest victories in the history of the game.

The difference between the two approaches is that of an advancing army compared to tactical guerrilla warfare. A great chess mind can conquer the middlegame through positional advantage alone, even if they may seem impossibly outstripped in material. In fact, many brilliant chess players will sacrifice material for position. Controlling the center of the board is the goal in chess, but there are specific squares that a great player will seek to conquer.

For the experimental middlegame, these guidelines apply:

  1. Position over material.
  2. Give until it hurts.
  3. Do not trap your king.
  4. Be fearless.

Position over material means just that: Let go of your preconceived notions that a chess game cannot be won without a queen. Understand that there are opportunities that arise for those willing to sacrifice a rook for a pawn. You must have the skill to execute the trap once it is set, but a great player will disregard established rules of value on the board, and see each piece for it's capabilities alone. Value systems are often flawed, and it is a fact that the position of the lowliest members of chess rank, the pawn, often determines the outcome of a game.

'Give until it hurts' compliments 'position over material'. Do not waste valuable moves protecting pieces that are not intrinsic to your game plan. Once you see how to trap your opponent, determine which pieces are necessary, and allow others to be sacrificed by way of distraction, and to give your opponent a false sense of confidence.

The exception to 'give until it hurts' is 'do not trap your king'. You must protect your king or any elaborately set escapades in the middlegame are wasted. Be consistently aware of threats to your monarch, and do not hedge him into a position where he cannot escape. The experimental game requires attention to many pieces, so freedom of movement for your king is more important than a great fortress of pieces to protect him. You do not want to tie up all your material for defensive purposes.

Finally, the brilliant middlegame is not by nature consistent. You can not be a perfectionist and improve at the same time. Leave perfectionism for the safe, advancing middlegame players. Do not be afraid to fail, or you will find yourself too stunted to succeed.

Tactical Puzzles

Tactical puzzles are often difficult and you may be tempted to guess the solution. This is wrong. Don’t be lazy. You must calculate the variations to the best of your ability. Do not guess the answer, because even if your guess is correct you are still doing harm to your subconscious decision-making process.

It’s all about habits. When you guess the solutions to chess tactics puzzles, you are subconsciously developing a habit of guessing.

The problem with this habit becomes evident when you play a real game. What you will do in the heat of the game has a big impact on the result. You might even have a good position and you sense there might be tactical opportunities and you start searching deeper but you just don’t seem to find a crystal clear way forward. So what happens next? You guess a move and hope for the best.

The bad habit wins and you lose.

When things get tough, your mind tends to fall back to old habits. More often than not your “guess-move” is in fact a mistake. 

Several Hundred Tactical Positions

For beginners and improving players, it's very important to start tactics study with a set of fairly simple tactical positions, and to go through them repeatedly, over and over, until you can instantly recognize them, spending only up to a minute or so on each position, then looking at the answer and decreasing this time each pass through the set, and moving on to the next problem. Recognition is the goal in the beginning, not building tactical analysis skills.

One of the best ways to do this is to use randomized flash cards with the only instruction being White (Black) to move. One excellent source of suitable positions is John Bain's book: "Chess Tactics for Students" as recommended by Dan Heisman, the top guru of beginning and improving chess instruction. 

Tactical ability is certainly right at the top of importance, but along with it is developing a proper thought process. Without a consistent thought process, all tactics, strategy, endgames, opening knowledge is basically useless. It takes just one bad move to lose a game.