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How To Become A Chess Master
For an average beginner, the road to a rating in the range of 1400-1600 is pretty straightforward. Learn as many tactical patterns as possible, get yourself familiar with some basic opening principles, and you are there! Notice, I said that the road is straightforward, but it is not easy at all. Still, if you have desire and determination, it is just a matter of time till you reach this rating level. We already discussed the tools that might help you to achieve this initial goal in this, this and this article.
If you are making a quick progress in chess and your rating raises faster than the price of a bitcoin, congratulations! The good news is, unlike the price of the above-mentioned bitcoin, your rating will never drop to zero. The bad news is, unlike the bitcoin’s price, the higher your rating, the more difficult it is to get it higher. I bet you’ve seen dozens of players in your chess club whose rating permanently stuck somewhere between 1800 and 2000. What should such players do to become a master?
If you attend any big open tournament, you’ll see dozens of games opened with the so-called neo London (1.d4 followed by 2.Bf4). It is both funny and sad to see a 1200 player starting his games this way. Ask these players what attracts them to such a sophisticated (I almost used a “b” word, which rhymes with a word “snoring.”) opening, and they will proudly answer that it is one of Magnus Carlsen’s favorites. Never mind that Carlsen’s requirements for any opening that he plays are completely different from what a club player might have in his mind.
Moreover, while the neo-London is a perfectly fine opening, sometimes you can get yourself in trouble by blindly following somebody else’s recommendation. A case in point is the following position.87654321abcdefgh
Even if a very strong grandmaster called this position winning for White in a book, it is still a draw. Poor Sam Shankland trusted the book author, and as a result, he resigned in a theoretically drawn position.
One of the most important skills for any chess player is the ability to think critically. You should never accept any statement (including this one) without asking a simple question: “why?” By critically analyzing every single chess variation or a statement made by a strong players, you’ll learn to think like them and eventually become one of them!
I would like to share one memorable episode from my childhood where it took years for me to decipher one of Anatoly Karpov’s comments that consisted of just three sentences.
In my old article, I already mentioned one of my all-time-favorite chess books. It is a collection of Karpov’s best games, which was a part of the famous Soviet “Black Series” about the world’s best chess players. The book was translated into English in 1978 as “My Best Games.”
In order to understand the depth of Karpov’s play, you really need to read his annotations in the book. Here I want to talk about one of them after White’s 14th move. Karpov gives the following comment:
“The usual 14.Nd5 Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 Bxd5 16.Bxd5 gives White a definite spatial advantage. But it is not easy to win this position, if Black plays carefully, refraining from pseudo-active precipitous continuations like 16…b5??. You see, after the exchange of the major pieces, the two bishops versus bishop and knight endgame gives White excellent winning chances thanks to the presence of his opponent’s pawn weaknesses on the queenside.”
So, Karpov is talking about this variation:Anatoly Karpov vs. Lubomir Kavalek1-0 Olympiad Final-A Nice FRA 22 Jun 1974 Round: 8 ECO: A3087654321abcdefgh1. c4c52. f3g63. d4cxd44. xd4c65. e4f66. c3d67. e2xd48. xd4g79. g5O-O10. d2e611. c1a512. b3fc813. f3a614. d5xd2+15. xd2xd516. cxd5b5??
At the age of 10, when I read the book first time, the whole comment was absolutely incomprehensible for me. At that point, I thought that a move deserved a double question mark if it blundered a checkmate or lost at least a minor piece. I just couldn’t see why the move 16…b5?? was losing. Again and again, I returned to this comment trying to pick the twelfth world champion’s wisdom. It took literally years before I was able to put all the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle together.
Future grandmaster Rustem Dautov, who was the Soviet junior champion at that time, taught me the first lesson. He clearly demonstrated that if Black doesn’t play b7-b5, then it is indeed very difficult to win this endgame despite a significant spatial advantage. Black simply has no weaknesses White can attack.Serper vs. Dautov1/2-1/2 Sochi 1984 Round: 13 ECO: B3687654321abcdefgh1. e4c52. f3c63. d4cxd44. xd4g65. c4f66. c3d67. f3xd48. xd4g79. e3O-O10. d2d711. d3a512. c1fc813. b3a614. d5xd2+15. xd2xd516. cxd5b217. xc8+xc818. b1e519. g3c3+20. e2f621. c1f722. d2xd223. xc8xc824. xd2g525. c3e826. f4h627. d4g428. b4d729. e5d830. g6a431. f7c732. h4b633. g6a534. a3axb435. axb4b536. c3d137. e8+b638. d4
Later I found the following game in an old book about the world championship match Petrosian vs. Spassky. Notice GM Boleslavsky’s comment after White’s 17th move.Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian1/2-1/2 Petrosian – Spassky World Championship Match Moscow URS 18 Apr 1969 Round: 3 ECO: B3687654321abcdefgh1. e4c52. f3c63. d4cxd44. xd4g65. c4f66. c3xd47. xd4d68. e3g79. f3O-O10. d2e611. c1a512. e2fc813. b3a614. d5xd2+15. xd2xd516. cxd5d717. xc8+White could play 17.Rc4 trying to provoke 17…b5 in order to get some chances to run with his king towards the a6-pawn.17… xc818. c1xc119. xc1f820. c2e621. a4exd522. exd5e723. d3f824. g3e825. d2e726. b6e827. f4g728. g4d729. h3h530. e2hxg431. hxg4b232. e3c1+33. f3b234. d3c335. f5gxf536. xf5xf537. gxf5d738. e4e139. d3e840. c4d241. b4e142. b5d243. d4
During my game, and especially afterward when I analyzed it with Dautov, who was a big expert on the variation, I learned that had Black played b7-b5 at any point in the endgame, it would have given me good practical chances due to the a2-a4 break. Boleslavsky’s comment was just a confirmation of my findings. It is not the b5-pawn that becomes weak after b7-b5, it is the a6-pawn that can get into trouble!
The following game encapsulates the results of my multiyear research. Notice that I played Nc3-d5 only after the move b7-b5 was already played. Then I indeed pushed a2-a4 to break Black’s queenside. After that, just as I expected, Black’s a6-pawn became very weak. At first it had to move to a5, but eventually all was lost anyway. As a result, White got a passed a4-pawn which decided the game. Serper, Grigory (2560) vs. Permiakov, Vladimir (2330)1-0 Kemerovo2 Kemerovo 1995 Round: 4 ECO: B3687654321abcdefgh1. c4g62. e4c53. f3c64. d4cxd45. xd4f66. c3d67. e2xd48. xd4g79. g5a510. d2e611. c1O-O12. f3fc813. b3a614. h4b515. d5xd2+16. xd2xd517. cxd5e618. dxe6fxe619. xc8+xc820. a4!bxa421. bxa4a522. c1xc123. xc1d524. d3dxe425. fxe4d726. d2c527. c2b728. d1f629. g3f730. e2e731. e1d632. g4c633. h5gxh534. gxh5h635. d2g736. d3b637. e3+c638. d2b639. e1c640. f2f641. e3g742. e5c5+43. c4d744. e4+c745. b5xe546. b6+c847. xa5f748. g2d449. d2g550. c6f751. h3g552. g4d853. a5e754. b4+f655. c5
It goes without saying that spending years trying to understand the meaning of just one brief Karpov comment is very unusual, but try the following exercise. Find a very good game played by a great player with his own annotations. Then try to understand every single comment. If the player says “White is better,” ask yourself,
No matter where you are in chess, you can always get better. And with the right habits and attitude, getting better at chess can be both fun and simple. To get better at chess, you will need to learn the rules, play a lot of games, review your play, practice puzzles, study the endgame, not waste time on openings, and double-check your moves.
7 Tips to Become a Better Chess Player:
- Know The Rules
- Play Lots Of Games
- Learn From Your Games
- Practice With Chess Puzzles
- Study Basic Endgames
- Don’t Waste Time Memorizing Openings
- Double-Check Your Moves
1. Make Sure You Know The Rules
It doesn’t matter if you aren’t exactly sure of the rules, or if you think you already know the rules of the game. Unless you are already a serious chess player, it’s a good idea to review the basic piece movements and special rules of chess. You can find the rules and basic strategies here and here.
2. Play Lots And Lots Of Chess Games
You can’t get better at anything without a lot of repetition, and chess is no different. Take every opportunity you can to play a chess game – whether on the go, on your computer, or at home.
3. Review And Learn From Your Games
Playing without reviewing your games is not the best path to improving. Each game contains many mistakes and opportunities. In order to improve, you need to learn from both playing and reviewing! Our analysis tool can help you understand each game you play.
4. Practice With Chess Puzzles
Chess tactics are little bite-sized chess problems waiting to be solved. They represent real game situations where you have a chance to win. It’s like playing chess, but skipping ahead to the good part where you are already winning! Try some free puzzles.
5. Study Basic Endgames
Surprisingly, most chess games don’t end quickly, but only after many, many moves and after most of the pieces have been traded away. This will often leave just kings and a few pieces and/or pawns. This is the “endgame,” where usually the goal is to promote one of your pawns to a queen. Learning to navigate the endgame will help you win many games. You can practice some of the most common endgame drills here.
6. Don’t Waste Time Memorizing Openings
Many chess players make the mistake of spending time tediously memorizing sequences of chess moves (the “opening”). The problem is that most players don’t know very many openings, or even if they do, the chances they play your specific lines are very small. Just learn good opening principles from the start and don’t stress about memorizing a bunch of “book moves” and chess theory—that step can wait until later.
7. Double-Check Your Moves
One of the most important parts of playing better chess is avoiding making bad moves. Most games are lost by blunders. So before you move one of your pieces, always double-check to make sure that your king will be safe and that you are not giving away any pieces for free.
When you are ready to improve your chess game, sign up at Chess.com. It is free and easy, so what are you waiting for?
