Adult Improvement
Journey to 1200
It is the players responsibility to take a full accounting of the board before every move made. If you continually note all of the undefended pieces and pawns for both sides you will improve. Restated, when you can all but eliminate blundering your own pieces, and capitalize on winning material from your opponents, you will achieve 1200 and greater.
Videos:
Books:
Online Resources:
Daily Regiment Example:
Notes:
Further Recommendations:
It is the players responsibility to take a full accounting of the board before every move made. If you continually note all of the undefended pieces and pawns for both sides you will improve. Restated, when you can all but eliminate blundering your own pieces, and capitalize on winning material from your opponents, you will achieve 1200 and greater.
- Watch the included videos at least one time each, and immediately put the Goldfish Method into practice.
- Study the concepts of basic tactics and strategy.
- Regularly play G/30 or slower whenever possible (see daily routine examples).
- Write your moves down when playing over the board for later study.
Videos:
- The Way of the Goldfish: https://youtu.be/ib4KyTGjDcs
- Secret to Stop Blundering Pieces: https://youtu.be/7vt5Lt5VUH4
Books:
- Winning Chess Tactics by Yasser Seirawan
- Winning Chess Strategy by Yasser Seirawan
- Complete Book of Chess Strategy by Jeremy Silman (excellent reference book)
Online Resources:
- All links on the Learning Page have been updated and tested as of 04/14/2023.
Daily Regiment Example:
- Start with 5 - 10 minutes of tactics to warm up (like stretching before exercising).
- Using the Goldfish Method, play a single Rapid or Classical game.
- Analyze the game with the online tools available, and record what went wrong.
- Study one aspect of Chess.
Notes:
- Learning and retention come slower as we get older, so this is tailored with that in mind.
- This is kept sparse by design, so there is far less taxation on your time.
Further Recommendations:
- Pick openings with "systems" to reduce memorization. The London System and Kings Indian Defense are great examples.
- Always practice the basic principles of fast development and King safety.
- Practice tactics often. Using the Goldfish Method will help you look at the board like a new puzzle with every move made (Checks, Captures, Threats).
- Kamryn went from 700 to 2000 recently, and her journey is still fresh enough to convey in her videos.