Chess: The best study method

MEXICO CITY (process.com.mx).-GM Nikolas Krogius says, in his book “Psychology in Chess”, that a player can see more on the board (in a tournament) than in the tranquility of his study. And he indicates that he is convinced that no one can become a strong player just by studying books. The quote is interesting because it is known that one of the most frequently asked questions by players is: What should I do to improve my game? And there probably isn’t a single answer. However, what is clear is that playing in tournaments is almost an obligation to try to improve.

Says IM John Donaldson: “You have to play. If your goal is to become a strong tournament player, you have to compete. I would say a minimum of 5 games a month is about right. This means about 60 games per year. And this could happen in a weekend tournament a month or playing a tournament (or several), a game each week in a chess club”, and be careful, Donaldson talks about games lasting 3 to 4 hours, that is i.e. slow (or classic) tournament games. It should be said that the former world champion Mikhail Botvinnik said, back in the 1950s, that a chess player should play about 50 games per year.

Although other coaches make similar comments, not all of them agree with the number of games per month to play. Despite this, it is inevitable to think about the effect that participating in tournaments has on the brain. In fact, going to a championship, perhaps outside the city where one lives, traveling, paying for a hotel, meals, etc., ultimately implies the idea of ​​a serious activity (even if it is recreational). And this cannot be easily simulated in the quiet of the home. It is obvious that hard lessons are hardly forgotten and it is clear that tournament chess provides many of these lessons, which are usually no longer forgotten.

According to Peter Browen, Henry Roediger, and Mark McDaniel (Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning), learning is stronger when you care, when the abstract becomes concrete and personal. And any chess player will then understand why it hurts so much to lose in chess. And think about it, if you decide to travel to a tournament, invest hours and more hours in the games, play many times in 6 days 9 rounds, many times against very strong players, it is clear that you have to put in the effort, calculate, Take care of your positions and not go crazy in your attacks. In other words, tournament chess carries many lessons.

Today we can, for example, play a lot over the Internet, but that does not remotely replicate the feeling of a serious tournament. In this last type of event everyone wants to win and often fights to the limit of their strength. And that is why going to tournaments is one of the best ways to study chess. GM Andrew Tang says “playing in tournaments is by far the best way to practice.”

It must be said, however, that we all know adults who continually go to tournaments but do not improve. Here’s some factor we’re not looking at, but that could be important: age. But beyond that there are more obvious factors: a lax attitude when facing the games, inability to focus properly in front of the board due to life issues, for example, family or work, and even a lack of minimal talent, why not.

GM Ben Finegold says that there are two recipes to apply to improve in chess: 1. Play with rivals better than yourself and 2. Analyze the games played, either with the opponent, with a coach, with a chess program (or using the three options), where the player can see what he has to do to improve in the near future, that is, in his next game.

The conclusion seems obvious: go to tournaments and play. This practice is the hardest and most difficult to simulate at home, although it is possible, and we will talk about this soon.