>Especially at lower levels, chess is a game of short term patterns, not long term strategy.
That’s actually wrong. Short-term patterns will improve your chess short-term but you’ll hit the plateau pretty fast. They don’t teach you to play better at chess. It’s like copypasting some code from the Internet without fully understanding how it works.
In chess, it’s absolutely necessary to have a long-term plan: especially at lower levels, your ultimate goal should be attacking the king most of the time.
Use the engine smartly. Because it will tell you what move is objectively the best. It won’t tell you what move is best at your level. At different levels the best moves are different.
It’s important to train tactics but not with puzzles. Puzzles model situations that are out of context. It’s like training your swimming movements without hitting the water. It may be not harmful, but not particularly useful. Instead, you should get “puzzles” in your live games within the context, seeing the bigger picture.
Of course, you should play games. How can you expect to get better at playing chess without actually playing chess? Moreover, playing games and getting feedback on them should be the bulk of your training. Learning happens by trial and error.
Without dissecting this article any further, there is a battle-tested approach on how to get better at chess at any level and age:
- Be a kid. Don't overthink it. It's just a game after all. Feel it.
- Play as many games as possible. You can quickly get enough volume with bullet and blitz.
- Get feedback. You're able to give yourself decent feedback most of the time. Quickly analyze your games yourself or check them with someone, who can tell you what mistakes you have made at your level. Only afterward compare your thoughts to engine suggestions. Pay attention to the moves that drop the evaluation by more than (1, 2, 3, 4) points, depending on your level.
Of course, these are not hard and fast rules. But this is a solid foundation for the success.
> That’s actually wrong. Short-term patterns will improve your chess short-term but you’ll hit the plateau pretty fast
What you wrote, is exactly in-line with what the OT said: "Especially at lower levels, chess is a game of short term patterns, not long term strategy."
You are beginner, you need some opening, some little patterns to move out from the beginner level, and then you reach a new plateau, but you understand the basic, you have your "first stripe white belt" game and from there you should search for sure a way to move to the next plateau.
Not having a long-term plan and focusing on short-term patterns is fundamentally wrong. You won't only hit the plateau but will be stuck there unless you relearn chess the right bias-free way.
> Not having a long-term plan and focusing on short-term patterns is fundamentally wrong.
There is nothing wrong in just wanting to learn to play chess, have some tricks under your belt and having fun.. focusing on short-term patterns, as adult, maybe not having a lot of time to learn "the right bias-free way" is the easiest way to start having some fun.
That's right! If you want to spend on chess only a couple of months or beat your friends, then short-term patterns and gambits would be the best choice :)
> - Be a kid. Don't overthink it. It's just a game after all. Feel it.
> - Play as many games as possible. You can quickly get enough volume with bullet and blitz.
> - Get feedback. You're able to give yourself decent feedback most of the time. Quickly analyze your games yourself or check them with someone, who can tell you what mistakes you have made at your level. Only afterward compare your thoughts to engine suggestions. Pay attention to the moves that drop the evaluation by more than (1, 2, 3, 4) points, depending on your level.
I've tried learning strategies rather than tactics, but it's significantly harder both to learn and to use. I've learned a lot about imbalances for example, but all of this knowledge goes out of the window whenever I start playing.
You actually shouldn't learn any strategies. They're usually too difficult and very often don't make any sense.
There are two possible long-term plans: giving the checkmate and gaining more resources if you feel like you don't have enough to give the checkmate. In the majority of your middlegames (depending on your level) your plan should be attacking the king.
Attack the king and align your moves with this plan. That's the only strategy you should have. Don't overcomplicate chess. Then you should play as much as possible and get feedback. Most of the time you get it when you make a mistake and your opponent punishes you. This way you can slowly, game by game, build the next layer of your chess understanding.
That’s actually wrong. Short-term patterns will improve your chess short-term but you’ll hit the plateau pretty fast. They don’t teach you to play better at chess. It’s like copypasting some code from the Internet without fully understanding how it works.
In chess, it’s absolutely necessary to have a long-term plan: especially at lower levels, your ultimate goal should be attacking the king most of the time.
Use the engine smartly. Because it will tell you what move is objectively the best. It won’t tell you what move is best at your level. At different levels the best moves are different.
It’s important to train tactics but not with puzzles. Puzzles model situations that are out of context. It’s like training your swimming movements without hitting the water. It may be not harmful, but not particularly useful. Instead, you should get “puzzles” in your live games within the context, seeing the bigger picture.
Of course, you should play games. How can you expect to get better at playing chess without actually playing chess? Moreover, playing games and getting feedback on them should be the bulk of your training. Learning happens by trial and error.
Without dissecting this article any further, there is a battle-tested approach on how to get better at chess at any level and age:
- Be a kid. Don't overthink it. It's just a game after all. Feel it.
- Play as many games as possible. You can quickly get enough volume with bullet and blitz.
- Get feedback. You're able to give yourself decent feedback most of the time. Quickly analyze your games yourself or check them with someone, who can tell you what mistakes you have made at your level. Only afterward compare your thoughts to engine suggestions. Pay attention to the moves that drop the evaluation by more than (1, 2, 3, 4) points, depending on your level.
Of course, these are not hard and fast rules. But this is a solid foundation for the success.
P.S. My FIDE rating is 2423.