Having analyzed your last games, you realize you have a clear skill gap.
Missing opponent’s ideas is what costs you most points.
Now what?
Here is the framework I want you to remember:
- Have one focus point.
- Do it in puzzles.
- Do it in tests.
- Do it in real games.
This will help you make a new strength out of a previous weakness.
Why one focus matters
It is tempting to focus on several weaknesses at once.
But it won’t work.
There is a reason something is your weakness. To solve it, you need a lot of focus on one thing. You’ll then be rewarded by a new strength: something that happens automatically.
That’s also how you realize you can move to a new skill focus.
As an example, once scanning for opponent’s ideas happens pretty automatically, you know you are ready to work on something else.
Small Increments Instead of One Big Step
Common training looks like that:
- Solving tactical exercises, where you know there is a solution.
- Making the jump to real games.
Even if you put a focus on scanning for opponent’s ideas first, you likely will fail.
The jump is simply too big.
In puzzles, you won’t get punished for missing opponent’s ideas. If you are good at spotting your own, you’ll score well.
In your games, it is totally different.
And while games should be seen as a great training opportunity, applying a new habit under the pressure and stress of a real, rated game, is extremely hard to pull off consistently.
That’s where a test, like Real Chess Traning, comes in.
- You get punished for missing opponent’s resources
- You have limited time, just like in a game
- No hints
- But no rating pressure
To make it extra useful, you can set yourself a focus point before every RCT test. In our example, that is looking for opponent’s resources.
Note that the goal is process based, not outcome based.
You can look for them, yet still miss a tactical detail. That’s okay. We can’t do all at once. What matters is the consistent application of the scanning habit. That will already resolve a lot of issues in your game.
Rate Yourself Accordingly
One of the greatest perks of such a focus on a skill improvement is that it can also take away a lot of result-pressure.
You finally have something else to score yourself on.
Be it solving tactics, doing RCT or playing games, you want to look at all sessions through the lens of checking opponents resources.
You know that eventually, doing this well, will be much more important than a single win, a higher score in RCT or better puzzle rating.
And let me tell you very honestly: focusing on one skill often makes other skills temporarily a little weaker. That’s the price we pay for fixing a big leak.
It is a price well worth paying, because it will save you so many more points in the future.
Another Extra Step
To make the gap between the steps even smaller, you can add another extra step.
- Puzzles
- Tests
- Unrated games
- Rated games
For those with an OTB focus, I just recommend seeing online games, even when rated, as a learning opportunity. That’s how I did it during my career.
If you barely play OTB, or you have an online rating you care most about, using unrated games is a great training opportunity.
It builds the habit further, but without the added stress of ratings.
How do I realize it works?
The end goal is clear: looking at your last 10 losses and realizing fewer were because of opponent’s resources, or whatever your focus point was.
That can take a long time.
So on this road, it is important to have a correct metric to assess your progress.
And that is NOT results.
That’s why it is so important to rate yourself according to the habit, not the outcome.
You’ll notice that early on, you can check for opponent’s resources well in Tactics, but struggle in tests.
Then, with time, you get better at doing it in tests.
Slowly, it gets into less important games.
Finally, you’ll notice you can perform it well during your most important games.
Never expect perfection
One way to set yourself up for frustration is to expect that you’ll be perfect at anything in chess. That’s not going to happen.
The goal is simple: to change your biggest weakness.
Even in my best times, my check for opponent’s resources was at best shaky in highly important games in the time trouble phase.
That’s when we need to rely on intuition, pattern recognition and a decent calculation. Sometimes we manage to control the thought process even under pressure, sometimes not.
Notice that this is already a huge improvement from not doing it ever, or stopping to do it 10 moves into the game.
When you realize time trouble is what costs you most of the game, congratulations, you’ve unlocked another weakness to work on!
How to do the tests
The test-step is important to do, yet not many resources exist.
If you are between 1500-2000 Chesscom Rapid, check out Real Chess Training. With a weekly 6-position test, you will be able to work on any skill necessary for your games. The solution video focuses on skill improvements and better habits.
For 1000-1500 players, subscribe to the newsletter to get notified when your Real Chess Training membership is ready to launch.
For players above 2000, check out Aagaard’s Killer Chess Training homework, a similar approach for stronger players.
Next week, I want to share some ideas of how you can solve tests, especially for those who are outside the 1500-2000 RCT range.
Keep improving,
GM Noël
PS: This article was initially sent out to my Newsletter list. If you want to get chess improvement advice for free in your inbox, join 18,000+ chess improvers by signing up for Friday Grandmaster Insights here.
Whenever you’re ready, here is how I can help you:
- Want to know How to train chess well? Check out The Simplified Chess Improvement System. This course taught 1400+ students the How of Chess Training. Create your high-quality chess plan and learn how to study each part of Chess, from tactics to openings & endgames. Click here to learn more.
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- Rated between 1500-2000 chesscom Rapid? Ready for a hard challenge every single week? Check out Real Chess Training, my membership with weekly 6 position tests. Train your skills under game-like conditions.
