Chess Tips, Articles and Guides to Help You Win Chess Games

Chess Skill That Cannot Be Trained: Most chess training routines are oriented to develop a player’s skills in typical scenarios that can appear on the chess board during tournaments. That includes tactical training which develops intuition and combinative vision, calculation, positional play, endgame play, etc. The list is large. In addition to this common training system, we add a player’s homework towards learning the opening phase.

Chess Training and Tournament Performance: One of the most difficult things to measure in chess is progress. No matter how much you train at home, how confident you are, or how many blitz games you win online it is the tournaments that will put a note on your efforts. As explained in several previous articles, improvement relies on many different qualities, not only on well-sharpened skills but also on a strong mind, capable of overcoming any difficult situation that may arise. It is hard to imagine that one can achieve success at a tournament without having previously worked hard in a consistent way.

Playing in chess tournaments is a completely different thing from studying chess or playing friendly casual games at the club with your pals. While we can do pretty well during our lessons, training sessions with friends or coach, an official competition forces you to make your best effort and put to work your best competitive skills and character. Of course, usually, there are hundreds of other colleagues doing exactly the same. And, as if this didn’t sound hard enough there is the time pressure.