Quite often, when you have too many choices it is hard to make a decision.
In order to improve at chess you need to combine these pieces into the full picture, or rather a complete training routine. These training materials are like pieces of puzzle. Often these materials are not what they need to study to take their chess to the next level. Most adult chess players have plenty of training materials. The goal of this exercise is to train visualization and position memorization rather than look for tactics, etc. How should you train the ability to calculate chess variations? Solving chess tactics without moving pieces on the board, practicing in finding candidate moves, calculating a certain line as far as possible and evaluating the final position are some the most common techniques in calculation training.Īnother method you can try is to play a blindfold chess against a very weak opponent. It seems like they cannot visualize the position well enough that they can see what will happen further than 3 moves ahead. This is another huge problem that many adult chess players are facing. How are they expected to remember the game that was played in 2007 between Anand and Kramnik or a way to draw a certain rook and pawn endgame? You don’t need to have a Carlsen-like photographic memory to achieve the master’s title, but it always helps to improve it a bit.
Many adults cannot even remember an important phone number or a license plate of their own car. Opening preparation, typical endgame positions and even pattern recognition are all heavily relying on good memorization skills. Many adults have flaws in their memory which will make it difficult to remember certain things that are important for succeeding at chess. Memory is not as crucial at amateur level chess, but if you want to achieve something more, then it may be a problem. The only way to break an old habit is to replace it with a new one, for example to study chess at 7 pm (or any other time) for 1 hour, 3 weeks in a row. Trust me not many people can break that habit easily or even at all.
How many adults are willing to give up their TV time, newspaper reading time, socializing time or in favor of chess? They have spent years to develop a habit to watch that TV-show every day at 7 pm. They want to improve their game, but they don’t want it bad enough that they are willing to give up something valuable for it.
Many adult players are simply not motivated enough to get better at chess. Surprisingly, lack of motivation, is the biggest progress stopper at chess and life alike. Many players are asking me the same question, is it possible to improve at chess in their 30s, 40s or 50s? Is it possible to start playing at 30 or 40 and make it to at least a FIDE master’s level? What are the main obstacles that prevent the majority of adult players to make progress at chess and reach their goals? Let’s take a closer look.