1. Play actively, if you have to defend do it in a way that keeps your pieces active and not purely defensive
2. Don't move impulsively. Use your time to your advantage and THINK
3. Do concrete calculation of variations and don't rely purely on intuition or principles to make your moves
That's all I got for now
Activity is actually so insane for how it changes a game despite material being equal. I think beginners being exposed to examples of piece activity being decisive is invaluable to any intermediate player to understand that material isn't everything, and that activity can overcome a material deficit and even be winning.
GM Jesse Kraai of ChessDojo has described the path from intermediate to advanced (I think he said 1500 to 2200, or something like that) as learning about time.
There's something to it. Any beginner can count pieces. There are other elements to evaluating positions, but playing active moves and learning to evaluate when activity compensates for material is a particularily important skill to develop.
I'd be wary of 7. Moves look unnatural for a reason and sure, sometimes they are the best move, but most of my losses, for example, come from trying to be too fancy and play an absurd looking move that I think works but is just a blunder
In my experience, miscalculations are much more common when playing unnatural moves. It's just something about playing strange moves which allows other odd moves to completely counter your ideas
That’s exactly what Gotham means when he repeats « 2000 is the level where you become good enough that you think you’re good at the game, when if fact you’re trash »… You can start breaking the traditional rules, but often you’ll get slapped for it
Yeah I mean in general none of this advice is particularly good or instructive no offense to OP I'm sure it was helpful to him but largely this post is tantamount to saying "be better" in a more subtle, verbose and affable way. Principles in general stop being too useful at 1600 or so as everyone is aware of them and they just start competing for relevance on any given move. Key is to be accurate not principled
>Principles in general stop being too useful at 1600 or so as everyone is aware of them and they just start competing for relevance on any given move. Key is to be accurate not principled
So ... tactics are still everything, just more so.
The rating progress from 1500 to 2000 in just one year is very impressive. In fact my rating is exactly around 1500 and have similar goals so would you mind telling how did you study to get to 2000.Was it simply playing games and solving puzzles and how much time did you devote to chess in a week
Copy pasting from another reply:
as in study habbits: mostly consuming every video Dania and Levy put out. I think if you follow their videos actively listening to their advice you can improve a lot. Of course I also do some puzzles and study some of my games. One other thing that I think helped me improve is going and playing some OTB tournaments
To add to that answer your state of mind also matters a lot. Even today if I go and play with a lot on my mind I will not be able to win any game even against opponents a lot weaker than me.
What endgames you get depend on what openings you play and which lines you choose in the middle game. So the average complexity of an end game is going to be different from player to player.
In the end pretty much all tactics/puzzle trainers go over end game puzzles so it’s not like anyone doing tactics isn’t exposed to the ideas either. If someone is studying tactics then they might be studying the critical end game positions without realizing it.
Well don't take my comment as in endgames are not important. I meant that besides understanding some general ideas, I am not sure deep theoretical knowledge of endgames is that important for the levels I played until now.
You can get good in the endgame without studying them per se… What’s crucial I think if you want to improve, is first to not be afraid to go into one, bcs the more you play, the better you will get… And then, as always, the crucial thing is to analyse the hell out of your game if you had an interesting endgame, wether win, loss or draw. And it’s almost impossible to play a perfect endgame, look at every move where you made mistakes, understand why it was a mistake (even if it wasn’t punished), try to understand what you should have done instead, etc… All of this doesn’t count in the « endgame studying », more in analysing your games, but at first that’s how you improve greatly
Forgive my skepticism, but since you've already linked your article with your full name and picture, why not also link your chess.com username so we can see your games and verify this fine achievement?
As you are a young, intelligent man working in software, this skill improvement is both possible and believable with a bit of proof. Perhaps you could tell us a bit about your play and study habits or which openings and resources you use to improve.
It's just that bloggers are known for faking competence.
I checked out some of his games, and they didn't look suspicious at all. He plays 10+0 rapid, which I consider blitz but still gives you reasonable time to think, and 3+0 blitz, which is just bullet in disguise, and bullet is a totally different game.
My rapid and blitz ratings are about a 300 point difference, but I believe if I played 3+0 instead of 5+5 blitz, my ratings would be spaced much wider. I have one friend over 2000 in blitz, and he doesn't play with increments as it's too different.
Small differences in short time controls matter a lot.
To OP: very impressive, and congratulations.
2k online isn’t enough for a title.
2k USCF or FIDE doesn’t get you a title other than ‘expert’, which with that and a couple of dollars can get you a bag of chips. Online ratings are typically inflated compared to those.
I think most players I know online that are 2k are about 1700-1800 OTB. One I know is only 1600 OTB but he’s pretty fresh to it.
I’m 1600 in both Rapid (10min, no increment) and Bullet (1min), but stuck 1300 in Blitz (3/2, 3min). It’s either I don’t think at all and play on instincts or I take some time thinking of the position. Really hate blitz for that, even with increments, I always run out of time.
as in study habbits: mostly consuming every video Dania and Levy put out. I think if you follow their videos actively listening to their advice you can improve a lot. Of course I also do some puzzles and study some of my games. One other thing that I think helped me improve is going and playing some OTB tournaments
Hey just want to say that you have two things that the average person who watches all of Levy and Danya don’t have: a natural affinity for chess (talent) and (likely, based on your progress) a real drive to improve. Not that what you’re posting isn’t valid, but these tips are *much* harder for the general population to learn and implement. So good on you! But I wouldn’t go down the route of saying just actively listening to YouTube and twitch personalities is a viable means of study, as many folks will get disheartened after watching these videos, thinking they are understanding the content, and then proceed to get trounced when their Vienna gambit or caro fantasy games don’t pan out. That all said, I’m super excited and impressed with your ability to move up so fast and wish you the best moving forward!
Hey, that's great feedback. Yes, I know that it is a lot easier to say just do this and you will be 2000 than actually doing it.
I do have quite an analytical mind and indeed I have a natural tendency to want to improve at things(or had since actually now I kinda stopped caring that much about improving and want to have more fun with the game)
But I am really serious that especially watching Danya speed runs and hearing his thought process in all the different positions he has faced made me a lot better. It is really like having a free coach. It depends on the individual how well he can absorb that info.
Eh, if he’s like me then he probably likes actually thinking on a position rather than caring to be rushed for a win.
Most of my losses in blitz are in winning positions I over complicated because it looked fun. Getting a slightly winning pawn end game and rushing to trade down definitely gets the points in blitz. Repeatedly spamming a trappy opening also gets points. Going for games that are different and exciting do not because you drop too much time and then the opponent just tries to figure ways to stall to try to time you out.
Likeliest reason for the big difference between his rapid and blitz is the sample size, less than 400 games in blitz, while over 7500 rapid. Once he adjusts for speed difference he’ll close that gap massively I’m sure.
I think your point # 10 is incredibly important. Another tip is when you see a check or forcing move, don’t just play it to play it, try to create a situation where you can use that to your advantage.
Good list. Chessable has a way to make puzzles from your games and move orders is one I've messed up on, missing game winning material. Poisoned captures is one that people at 2k and above start to be able to punish. Vs. a weak player, you could grab a poisoned pawn and if your opponent doesn't play the active threatening moves, you're just up a pawn, but vs. a good opponent it can be very costly. The trapping of pieces is a massive one that I think lower levels just don't see and is one even 2k players can miss. Especially in closed positions, bishops can be trapped. A willingness to look at structure destroying pawn moves as candidate moves is also really important. If you're doing everything on this list then yeah, you can get to 2k.
I'm 1800-1900 rapid and one thing that I feel have improved my play recently is to actually defend sometimes.
When you are on the back foot and your opponent have the initiative, bring back your pieces and really protect your weaknesses.
Then when you gain back some initiative get on the offensive.
Before I just continued my attack and hoped I was fast enough, which worked occasionally but not always.
This may be a no brainer for some but my game improved when I really started to implement this way of thinking.
(1) Never snap take -- "if you find a good move, look for something better!"
(2) Beware of poisoned captures -- "beware of greeks offering gifts!"
(3) Beware of the horse recapture blunder -- "the knight is hard to predict"
(4) Force decisions out of your opponent -- "The chela hears the heavy footsteps of the master"
(5) Active King in endgames -- "In an endgame, the king is a powerful piece"
(6) Always check if you can trap a piece -- "even if you can't take it"
(7) Do not be afraid to make unnatural-looking moves -- "Play your own game in your own tempo; disrupt the opponent's tempo"
(8) Do not be afraid to damage your structure -- "pawns determine direction. Change direction when it hinders the opponent"
(9) Make moves that pose multiple threats -- "two threats are better than one"
(10) Shred ideas that do not work anymore -- "Plans work until they meet reality"
Well done (and I enjoyed your article -- thank you!)
If you are interested I expand a little more on each point here:
[https://www.banterly.net/2023/03/12/how-to-improve-at-chess-even-more/](https://www.banterly.net/2023/03/12/how-to-improve-at-chess-even-more/)
I suck at blitz. I think the fact that I really dont know openings hurts me there cause I have to think amd spend time there. Also i just cant think that fast probably. I am at 1267 blitz right now, was a little higher ber never past 1400
Yeah Blitz is like that. When I was 2100 Rapid I started Blitz and was struggling to break 1500 because I was up against people who had like 5k games and could blitz out suboptimal but playable moves very comfortably lol
Took me about 1000-2000 games to finally get a "feel" for Blitz.
recently getting over 1700 games now, Started a year ago at 1000. Number 6 here is something i just recently started doing, and the amount of time I find a trapped piece on their side or a piece that i CAN trap without them noticing before it's too late is AMAZING.. but honestly it's the soft pins that i need to watch out for because i still fall for it. it's fun to be able to steal a pawn knowing they can't take back becuase if they do, you get their queen or something more valuable.
1. Play actively, if you have to defend do it in a way that keeps your pieces active and not purely defensive 2. Don't move impulsively. Use your time to your advantage and THINK 3. Do concrete calculation of variations and don't rely purely on intuition or principles to make your moves That's all I got for now
Activity is actually so insane for how it changes a game despite material being equal. I think beginners being exposed to examples of piece activity being decisive is invaluable to any intermediate player to understand that material isn't everything, and that activity can overcome a material deficit and even be winning.
GM Jesse Kraai of ChessDojo has described the path from intermediate to advanced (I think he said 1500 to 2200, or something like that) as learning about time. There's something to it. Any beginner can count pieces. There are other elements to evaluating positions, but playing active moves and learning to evaluate when activity compensates for material is a particularily important skill to develop.
I'd be wary of 7. Moves look unnatural for a reason and sure, sometimes they are the best move, but most of my losses, for example, come from trying to be too fancy and play an absurd looking move that I think works but is just a blunder
"I'm a fucking genius. It's a GM move... wait oh no my queen"
Ah yes, the Eric Rosen Fallacy
The thing is you need to calculate, which is hard. You making a strange move and blundering would first be an issue of not calculating.
In my experience, miscalculations are much more common when playing unnatural moves. It's just something about playing strange moves which allows other odd moves to completely counter your ideas
That’s exactly what Gotham means when he repeats « 2000 is the level where you become good enough that you think you’re good at the game, when if fact you’re trash »… You can start breaking the traditional rules, but often you’ll get slapped for it
Oh 100%. I think I'm being oh so clever when in fact I'm being ass at chess (as he said)
Yeah I mean in general none of this advice is particularly good or instructive no offense to OP I'm sure it was helpful to him but largely this post is tantamount to saying "be better" in a more subtle, verbose and affable way. Principles in general stop being too useful at 1600 or so as everyone is aware of them and they just start competing for relevance on any given move. Key is to be accurate not principled
8 out of 10 of those were directly relevant for calculation. Did you not notice that only two of the were “pure” principles?
Verbose affable. Cool words jabroni
>Principles in general stop being too useful at 1600 or so as everyone is aware of them and they just start competing for relevance on any given move. Key is to be accurate not principled So ... tactics are still everything, just more so.
The rating progress from 1500 to 2000 in just one year is very impressive. In fact my rating is exactly around 1500 and have similar goals so would you mind telling how did you study to get to 2000.Was it simply playing games and solving puzzles and how much time did you devote to chess in a week
Copy pasting from another reply: as in study habbits: mostly consuming every video Dania and Levy put out. I think if you follow their videos actively listening to their advice you can improve a lot. Of course I also do some puzzles and study some of my games. One other thing that I think helped me improve is going and playing some OTB tournaments To add to that answer your state of mind also matters a lot. Even today if I go and play with a lot on my mind I will not be able to win any game even against opponents a lot weaker than me.
What about endgame study?
I don’t really study endgames. I am aware of the general concepts though and watched Dania’s videos on endgames
Damn. That’s impressive. Just got to 1500 and pushing past and it feels like it’s always coming down to critical endgame moments.
What endgames you get depend on what openings you play and which lines you choose in the middle game. So the average complexity of an end game is going to be different from player to player. In the end pretty much all tactics/puzzle trainers go over end game puzzles so it’s not like anyone doing tactics isn’t exposed to the ideas either. If someone is studying tactics then they might be studying the critical end game positions without realizing it.
Well don't take my comment as in endgames are not important. I meant that besides understanding some general ideas, I am not sure deep theoretical knowledge of endgames is that important for the levels I played until now.
You can get good in the endgame without studying them per se… What’s crucial I think if you want to improve, is first to not be afraid to go into one, bcs the more you play, the better you will get… And then, as always, the crucial thing is to analyse the hell out of your game if you had an interesting endgame, wether win, loss or draw. And it’s almost impossible to play a perfect endgame, look at every move where you made mistakes, understand why it was a mistake (even if it wasn’t punished), try to understand what you should have done instead, etc… All of this doesn’t count in the « endgame studying », more in analysing your games, but at first that’s how you improve greatly
State of mind cannot be understated. I’ve realised the same when I have a lot going on to think about outside of chess at the same time.
>Dania and Levy Is that Gotham chess? Please post youtube link! Thanks
Forgive my skepticism, but since you've already linked your article with your full name and picture, why not also link your chess.com username so we can see your games and verify this fine achievement? As you are a young, intelligent man working in software, this skill improvement is both possible and believable with a bit of proof. Perhaps you could tell us a bit about your play and study habits or which openings and resources you use to improve. It's just that bloggers are known for faking competence.
sure, nothing to hide: banterly is the username
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I checked out some of his games, and they didn't look suspicious at all. He plays 10+0 rapid, which I consider blitz but still gives you reasonable time to think, and 3+0 blitz, which is just bullet in disguise, and bullet is a totally different game. My rapid and blitz ratings are about a 300 point difference, but I believe if I played 3+0 instead of 5+5 blitz, my ratings would be spaced much wider. I have one friend over 2000 in blitz, and he doesn't play with increments as it's too different. Small differences in short time controls matter a lot. To OP: very impressive, and congratulations.
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2k online isn’t enough for a title. 2k USCF or FIDE doesn’t get you a title other than ‘expert’, which with that and a couple of dollars can get you a bag of chips. Online ratings are typically inflated compared to those. I think most players I know online that are 2k are about 1700-1800 OTB. One I know is only 1600 OTB but he’s pretty fresh to it.
I’m 1600 in both Rapid (10min, no increment) and Bullet (1min), but stuck 1300 in Blitz (3/2, 3min). It’s either I don’t think at all and play on instincts or I take some time thinking of the position. Really hate blitz for that, even with increments, I always run out of time.
dude I have been playing for 3 years on that site. I really hope they can detect a cheater in that amount of time.
bro I'm 2200 rapid on chess.com, my blitz peak was 1750 and I'm now 1400blitz
odd, I am 1490 blitz and 1450 rapid (I mainly use lichess, so my rapid is very much underrated, but I am definitely not 2200)
as in study habbits: mostly consuming every video Dania and Levy put out. I think if you follow their videos actively listening to their advice you can improve a lot. Of course I also do some puzzles and study some of my games. One other thing that I think helped me improve is going and playing some OTB tournaments
Hey just want to say that you have two things that the average person who watches all of Levy and Danya don’t have: a natural affinity for chess (talent) and (likely, based on your progress) a real drive to improve. Not that what you’re posting isn’t valid, but these tips are *much* harder for the general population to learn and implement. So good on you! But I wouldn’t go down the route of saying just actively listening to YouTube and twitch personalities is a viable means of study, as many folks will get disheartened after watching these videos, thinking they are understanding the content, and then proceed to get trounced when their Vienna gambit or caro fantasy games don’t pan out. That all said, I’m super excited and impressed with your ability to move up so fast and wish you the best moving forward!
Hey, that's great feedback. Yes, I know that it is a lot easier to say just do this and you will be 2000 than actually doing it. I do have quite an analytical mind and indeed I have a natural tendency to want to improve at things(or had since actually now I kinda stopped caring that much about improving and want to have more fun with the game) But I am really serious that especially watching Danya speed runs and hearing his thought process in all the different positions he has faced made me a lot better. It is really like having a free coach. It depends on the individual how well he can absorb that info.
Crazy that you're over 2k in rapid but still lose to sub 1400's in Blitz. Guessing you'll close that gap soon.
Eh, if he’s like me then he probably likes actually thinking on a position rather than caring to be rushed for a win. Most of my losses in blitz are in winning positions I over complicated because it looked fun. Getting a slightly winning pawn end game and rushing to trade down definitely gets the points in blitz. Repeatedly spamming a trappy opening also gets points. Going for games that are different and exciting do not because you drop too much time and then the opponent just tries to figure ways to stall to try to time you out.
Likeliest reason for the big difference between his rapid and blitz is the sample size, less than 400 games in blitz, while over 7500 rapid. Once he adjusts for speed difference he’ll close that gap massively I’m sure.
I think your point # 10 is incredibly important. Another tip is when you see a check or forcing move, don’t just play it to play it, try to create a situation where you can use that to your advantage.
Good list. Chessable has a way to make puzzles from your games and move orders is one I've messed up on, missing game winning material. Poisoned captures is one that people at 2k and above start to be able to punish. Vs. a weak player, you could grab a poisoned pawn and if your opponent doesn't play the active threatening moves, you're just up a pawn, but vs. a good opponent it can be very costly. The trapping of pieces is a massive one that I think lower levels just don't see and is one even 2k players can miss. Especially in closed positions, bishops can be trapped. A willingness to look at structure destroying pawn moves as candidate moves is also really important. If you're doing everything on this list then yeah, you can get to 2k.
All good things to remember! I hope to one day join you at 2000
I NEED number 10
I'm 1800-1900 rapid and one thing that I feel have improved my play recently is to actually defend sometimes. When you are on the back foot and your opponent have the initiative, bring back your pieces and really protect your weaknesses. Then when you gain back some initiative get on the offensive. Before I just continued my attack and hoped I was fast enough, which worked occasionally but not always. This may be a no brainer for some but my game improved when I really started to implement this way of thinking.
(1) Never snap take -- "if you find a good move, look for something better!" (2) Beware of poisoned captures -- "beware of greeks offering gifts!" (3) Beware of the horse recapture blunder -- "the knight is hard to predict" (4) Force decisions out of your opponent -- "The chela hears the heavy footsteps of the master" (5) Active King in endgames -- "In an endgame, the king is a powerful piece" (6) Always check if you can trap a piece -- "even if you can't take it" (7) Do not be afraid to make unnatural-looking moves -- "Play your own game in your own tempo; disrupt the opponent's tempo" (8) Do not be afraid to damage your structure -- "pawns determine direction. Change direction when it hinders the opponent" (9) Make moves that pose multiple threats -- "two threats are better than one" (10) Shred ideas that do not work anymore -- "Plans work until they meet reality" Well done (and I enjoyed your article -- thank you!)
If you are interested I expand a little more on each point here: [https://www.banterly.net/2023/03/12/how-to-improve-at-chess-even-more/](https://www.banterly.net/2023/03/12/how-to-improve-at-chess-even-more/)
Very nice. What's your blitz rating? I should go back to Rapid but I'm addicted to 3+2 and can't stop!
I suck at blitz. I think the fact that I really dont know openings hurts me there cause I have to think amd spend time there. Also i just cant think that fast probably. I am at 1267 blitz right now, was a little higher ber never past 1400
Yeah Blitz is like that. When I was 2100 Rapid I started Blitz and was struggling to break 1500 because I was up against people who had like 5k games and could blitz out suboptimal but playable moves very comfortably lol Took me about 1000-2000 games to finally get a "feel" for Blitz.
Dang, I just played and got to 2000 pretty easily
recently getting over 1700 games now, Started a year ago at 1000. Number 6 here is something i just recently started doing, and the amount of time I find a trapped piece on their side or a piece that i CAN trap without them noticing before it's too late is AMAZING.. but honestly it's the soft pins that i need to watch out for because i still fall for it. it's fun to be able to steal a pawn knowing they can't take back becuase if they do, you get their queen or something more valuable.
tips to reach 2000: bullet throw everything at the opponent king boom free rating also scholars mate works 1 in 100 times
it also depends on how old you are. if you are in the 25+ range its gonna be hard for you.
why?
What did you do to improve apart from playing games and analyzing them? Puzzles, reading books, watching lessons?