Self Improvement Plan

Hello All,

The following is how I am planning to start my chess studies starting next week

Do let me know what you think

Self-Assessment:
I am purely a hobby player and I have a new found drive to improve my chess understanding
I have learned the game purely by reading a few books. My play in the opening phase is purely mechanical and out dated. I have never studied endgames and very little knowledge on endgames. All the knowledge assimilated is by playing through annotated master games and watching games online for commentaries of games. I have a vague idea on what principle applies in a particular position and my play is based on general ideas. Thus I am weak in every area of the game.

Materials to be used:
Opening Phase: Grandmaster School Opening Repertoire + Chessbase Opening Encyclopedia
Middle Game: Grandmaster School Core Course + Practical Chess Course
Endgame: Fundamental Chess Endings by Karsten Muller (since this is comprehensive and engine checked. Hence should be relatively error free)
Practical Gameplay:
Saturday: Play 15 minute rated games with Chess Master 10000 using a custom character which is slightly higher than my own rating
Sunday:  Play 15 minute games online with any random human opponent
Analyze and annotate both the games irrespective of the result

Time Frame to improve my game: 1.5 years to 2 years. I do not intend to rush here. The time frame is not a rigid one and it is perfectly okay if I stay in one topic for too long. If I were to get stuck in one area I shall either stay on it till I grasp it or I shall move to the next topic and re-visit the topic later depending on how difficult the topic is

Action Plan
Unlearn everything I have gained over the years and approach chess learning with a fresh frame of mind.

Time to be spent on Chess
Weekdays: 1 Hour per day
Weekends: 2 Hours per day (1 Hour to study and 1 Hour playing games online trying to apply what I have learnt)
Total: 9 Hours per Week

Time Spent on Chess:
Detailed Breakdown
Mon, Tue and Wed – Study Endgames
Thu and Fri – Study Middle games
Saturday – Study Middle games and play 15 minute games with Chess Master 10000 (custom opponent). Annotate the game a few hours after it has been played to be objective in analysis.
Sunday – Study Openings and play 15 minute games online. Annotate the game a few hours after it has been played to be objective in analysis.

Looks good.

Since you have the Practical Chess Course on you list I'd suggest you set aside Fundamental Chess Endings and stick with the endgame videos ICS provides - they are excellent! FCE tends towards simply pushing reams of analysis without a lot of instructive value. I've said elsewhere that I like Endgame Challenge by John Hall, it is active "training" and introduces all of the essential endgame fundamentals.

Also, you might want to consider reallocating your time budget to achieve a 50/50 split between training and study. Training being playing training games and game analysis (yours and other games from the databases, particularly with your openings). This follows the recommendations of ICS as well as GM Smirnov in his courses.

Thank you for the suggestions.
I intend to unlearn everything, I thought approaching the endgame as well as every other phase of the game from scratch from a good source would help. I did browse through the Practical Chess Course and the endgame course seems to be a bit fairly advanced. If the basics are shaky then what one learns later wont be absorbed properly
I will check out the endgame challenge in the next couple of days. Also will try for a 50-50 split between the games and study

Good luck!

One other source for endgame study is the Theory problems on ChessTempo.com. No instruction, but some free practice playing out the basic endgames. My problem with the problem servers is that they can quickly become addictive so if you go that route be careful.

Hi Kramnik,

You certainly seem serious about improving.  I'm just an intermediate player myself, but here is my advice.  Do with it what you will.

1) Learn checkmate patterns.  A computer or books are great for this.

2) Learn tactics.  Books or an online chess site is good for this.  I recommend lichess.org because they give you unlimited puzzles without charging; whereas chess.com limits the number of puzzles you can do per day unless you purchase a membership.

3) Don't play anything less than 1-hour games if you plan on analyzing your games.  When you play longer games, then you can think through your position and moves, so when you analyze later, you can make progress by noting what you overlooked.  If you play shorter games, then you might play poorly because of time pressure and then your analysis might not tell you much of anything.  Basically, you want to factor out 'time' as a cause for your poor moves.    

4) I wouldn't play a computer.  They play like, well, computers.  Play people -- they play differently and they're whom you ultimately want to play and beat.      

5) You don't need much opening knowledge to get into the middlegame (without too much damage done) against beginning or low-intermediate players.  Just try to apply opening principles.  Of course, when you start to play better players, some will kill you with their openings, which is no fun because you're basically done for right out the gate.  You should slowly build a repertoire: one opening for White and maybe two for Black (against d4- and -e4 players).  And you don't need too go too deep.  Just learn the first ten moves of the mainline and maybe one side variation.  That's it.  If you're almost equal after 10-12 moves, I think your opening knowledge has served you well.  Don't focus too much on openings.  In a sense, it's not chess.  It's just rote memorization.  At some point you too will need to remember several openings and several variations, but for now I think you just want your opening knowledge to get you into middlegames somewhat safely.  

6) Find a partner to learn with or to follow your learning course with.  You will motivate each other.

7) Find a chess hero.  As grownups we are typically at a great disadvantage in that we don't idolize people anymore.  But most grandmasters tell of stories of pouring over the annotated games of their childhood heroes.  Having such a hero will motivate you to study his games, study how he thought and why he made the moves he did -- it will get you closer to playing like him, which is the goal.  I might be going on a limb here, but maybe you can study Kramnik's games.

That's all I can think of at this hour.  Good luck.  I just started the ICS program myself.

fiveredapples wrote:

4) I wouldn't play a computer.  They play like, well, computers.  Play people -- they play differently and they're whom you ultimately want to play and beat.      

This has become a controversial area the last several years as computers have become more positionally competent. In his course "Self Taught Grandmaster" GM Smirnov recommends a 50/50 mix of training games with people and computers, mainly because computers can bring complete objectivity to games. We all bring prejudices to the game and certain types of positions, and the computer will strip those away.

It difficult though, you have to play to learn, not win, against the computer - they have an unfair advantage (they a allowed to consult opening books, and they are allowed to write down their notes in hash files and your are not during the game). However, the computer's near infallibility makes it a great tool to test out your thinking system.

In some cases chess engines can become somewhat predictable, so it's a good idea to mix engines and opening books if you decide to use computers in your training games.

To clarify when I said I will be playing an engine , I had said "Study Middle games and play 15 minute games with Chess Master 10000 (custom opponent)"
Chessmaster allows us to choose a character against whom we can play the game. My plan is to choose a custom character, someone who is slightly more than my playing strength.
Based on my experience the engine usually makes weak moves in the opening , sometimes sacrifices a piece for 2 pawns and gives the human player a winning position. However in the middlegame and endgame it plays strong moves which makes it difficult to convert the advantage. I have lost many games where the engine says + 2.00 or + 3.00. Usually the engine sets up some cheap tactics which one has to avoid and more often than not , one always manages to fall into it.
I believe this would help one improve ones ability to win a won game

Week 1 Update:
I started training on Monday, 10th Oct and went through a few endgames.
I had some dental issues and had to get an extraction done which is still bothering me, hence didn't focus much on learning new stuff.
I Went through the first 2 pdf files of the chessmaster core course
While playing games online , I constantly pushed myself to think outside my natural "instincts" while playing blitz. Taking a few seconds extra to reconsider my decisions. While playing long games I forced myself to calculate more lines than I usually do. However I managed to lose two totally winning positions in the last week both of which were quite painful.
I usually play banter blitz on chess24. Out of all the people I play with I had marked kingscrusher as my first target because rest of the people hosting banter blitz are IM's and GM's. I was hoping that I was not unrealistic with my goals.
Over the past 7 weeks I have a score of 0 against KC out of 5 games.
I analyzed his openings and playing style for a few days and I played him on Sunday. Finally I managed to win a game against him with black
The next target to start consistently beating him and equalize my personal score with him over the next few months. (1-5)
I do feel that updating on a weekly basis would become tedious. Hence will try to update my progress as and when I make some progress.

Unfortunately I havent been able to study much from the ICS since the last update. Work had been a bit hectic. During the weekends I managed to have some training sessions with a user on chess24. We analyzed endgames with the White pawns on f3 and h4 , White king on g1 , White Rook on g5 , Black has a rook on a2 and King on f6. The position is a draw as per theory and tablebase but it was difficult to achieve it in a practical game. We played a few unrated games taking each side and then analyzing it with an engine. During the last weekend I again played Kingscrusher in Banter blitz , he had a win then I had a win and ultimately the game was a draw. So over the last 2 weeks I managed not to lose to him and hence seems like I am playing okay. I do still hang a piece occasionally and that is still an area of concern in my play. Its festive season in India and hence will start working seriously in a couple of days

After a long time I am writing again. Unfortunately my work circumstances on has made me move away from learning chess. I haven't yet started the Chess Course which makes me sad.
Even though I could not formally study chess, I found that there has been an improvement in my playing level (I can feel the difference!)
Over the past few months , I managed to get the following results on online Banter blitz games against pretty good players. During the period August 2016- Jan 2017 I was a kind of a pushover for the strong (IM players) having almost 0 chance of winning or drawing games against them, however over the past few months I have been getting into equal positions against IM's and even GM's. There has been a few disasters here and there but overall there has been a jump in my level of play and understanding. I managed to draw and win against an IM which seemed like an impossible for me 6 months back.
The reason for the jump which I have analyzed is as follows:
1) Working on Tactics Training : During work breaks I would open my app and solve a few problems. I realized that in many cases even though I got the answer right , I did not manage to calculate all the possibilities for the defending side. This was one area I worked on. Taking a few extra minutes to calculate further lines rather than thinking that there is only one main line leading to a win. Also when at home I would work on a few positions here and there when I could find some time
2) Endgame Studies: I attended Training Sessions on Chess 24 where in many cases the trainer would show us some studies to solve. I could solve 0 positions but it helped me to drastically improve my calculation abilities and ability to find resources in the positions.  I have come to the realization that many of us players have underestimated the value of solving chess studies and what it can do to ones chess
3) 0 Work on openings: I have stopped focusing on studying the openings of late. My opening knowledge is outdated (20 years old) but over the past few months my focus has been simply to get into a playable position and then take it from there
4) Stop making impulsive moves:Previously when there is a position where I am not sure what to do , I used to lash out and tried to make things happen. These days however I have become a bit more sober. I try to avoid making any move which will create a permanent weakness in my position.
I really hope I can start something from the ICS Course and I really hope I reach 2200-2300 level sometime in the future.

Almost a year after my first post I thought I should post about the progress I made.
Unfortunately many things in life happened , work got a bit hectic hence did not progress much in the course. However I managed to watch tons of banter blitz shows online and really tried to use them as training. Many of the players are beginners and middle range players. Thus I could understand the typical mistakes we players make.
In August 2016 , I played an IM for the first time in my life and the game lasted 20 moves or so with me blundering a piece. However with some application I managed to beat the IM multiple times on Chess24 and lichess.
Considering the gap I will be starting all over again with the course. Hopefully I can put about 10 hours a week

I havent had too much time to study the course on a regular basis. But I managed to beat a GM

https://lichess.org/j60slG46

https://clips.twitch.tv/JollySmallMartenRaccAttack
https://clips.twitch.tv/UgliestSullenDillHassaanChop
https://clips.twitch.tv/CautiousBadOkapiCoolStoryBob
https://clips.twitch.tv/PluckyFastAntBuddhaBar
https://clips.twitch.tv/CrypticDelightfulBearDendiFace
https://clips.twitch.tv/CuteRacyTroutWOOP

I won against a GM again

https://lichess.org/aqEUC48J1A42

Hiya Kramnikstudent, I think you have looked in this forum of late, so hopefully I won't be talking to thin air if I ask you how the improvement is going? What is your progress like and are you still at the ICS course etc?

Hello Hoskins,

Unfortunately many things happened in life and all the plan went for a toss. These days I mostly play games online (which also has reduced) and I do practice a bit on chessable. I did finish a few months of ICS and I had to revisit it again as I was on and off it

Thanks for getting back, KS - good to see someone still around!

I feel you about the damnable real life getting in the way of ches plans, but glad to hear you are still playing - in fact, yours was a name I recognised as I think we played in a Lichess tourney once that was a Chessable offshoot.

Seeing as you finished a few months of ICS - and presumably, life permitting, still have some to go - and I am starting Month Two in a few days, I wonder if you would like to buddy up when I get to around the point where you left off? No worries if not, but might be useful to both of us to help in the learning.

BTW - what sort of rating did you get to and are you still using anything you learnt from your months doing the ICS?

Anyhoo, glad to know this forum isn't totally dead!

I do keep checking this forum once a few months
My online rating reached 2470 something on chess24. Mostly achieved by watching Banter Blitz and Training Tuesdays on chess24. Unfortunately, it is going to take some time for me to get back to studying chess properly. Hence cannot buddy up with you Over the past week or so was quite depressed with my level of play as I could not convert winning positions. But its ok.. looking back I feel I got more than the effort I put in. Back when I posted this I was looking to play my first rated tournament in a few years. I think my deadline was 2019 something but I am nowhere close to it. I think my chess ambitions have to wait for a couple of years .
I did put the use a bit of my knowledge from the course t(the first few months I did) but it is not something which has become a habit. I think one needs to drill down the concepts so that it comes out of the subconscious. So I will have to restart the entire course once I find time

Nice work on the rating and yeah, chess takes time and dedication and that isn't always easy to find unless you have no life like myself!

I wouldn;t worry too much (or, more accurately, get too down) about a slump in play, I have found that these either mean one is learning something and will come back stronger, or one has perhaps just been playing for fun/the sake of playing and so has turned the brain off a little bit. A short break (or continued play with more thought) and I bet you'll be back in the groove in no time.

As for tourney goals - well, I think a year or so sound fair with the current world situation! I agree that the ICS knowledge needs to become deeply ingrained - very tough to do everything immediately (or even a quarter of it immediately!) but I think with baby steps over the year much of it (he says hopefully) will become second nature.

Understand you can't buddy up at the mo, but feel free to shoot me a message if you change your mind at a later date. Oh, and feel free to chat about anything chessy that crosses your mind if you like - might draw a few more lurkers into the forum or at the least pass some time between the waking and the drinking and the chessing and the sleeping.

Are you on lichess or chess24?
My id'z are
https://lichess.org/@/kramnikstudent1
https://chess24.com/en/profile/kramnikstudent

We can play a few games during the weekend if time is suitable for both

Apologies for super late reply to this - yes, I'm on Lichess and have sent you a message over there.