The 4 Pillars of Chess Improvement

If you prefer an interactive experience, feel free to check out this lichess study where you can read about everything while also solving exercises to hardwire it into your brain.

The 4 Pillars Consist of:

Pillar 1: Chess is 99% Tactics
Pillar 2: The Importance of Evaluation
Pillar 3: The Process of Calculation
Pillar 4: The Learning Environment

The fourth pillar is especially important, but before we go there let’s go through each one of them.

Pillar 1: Chess is 99% Tactics

The famous quote by Richard Teichmann is often debated, but in the trenches of a real game, it’s the absolute truth. You can play positionally like a Grandmaster for 40 moves but if you make a single mistake you can lose the game.

To master tactics, you must practice it. Unbeknownst to a lot of people there are actually more methods than just solving puzzles.

The Woodpecker Method

Developed by Swedish GMs Axel Smith and Hans Tikkanen. The secret isn't solving 1,000 new puzzles; it's solving the same 1,000 puzzles until the patterns are burned into your subconscious. Speed and recognition are the goals.

Endgame Studies

Unlike tactical puzzles, Studies are usually not taken from real games but are instead created. They often have fun and interesting solutions that force you to find the winning path through creativity and deep visualization.

Pillar 2: The Art of Evaluation

Why do masters find the right move so quickly? It’s because they’ve mastered the art of evaluation. When you calculate, you must assess. I teach my students to use the "Big Three" hierarchy:

1. King Safety

Even if you're 10 points up of material, you'll still lose if you're getting checkmated.

2. Piece Activity

Generally speaking a rook is worth more than a bishop, but occasionally the person wielding the bishop will be better simply because the piece is more active.

3. Material

The Russian School of Chess reminds us that a pawn is a pawn. Having extra material allows you to simplify the game or sacrifice back to stifle your opponent’s attack.

4. Other Stuff

Once these are clear, we look at the details, like Pawn structure, space, and outposts.

Pillar 3: The Calculation Algorithm

I see so many players calculating by looking at moves aimlessly until they get tired. To properly calculate you need to narrow it down. To do this efficiently you need a 3-Step Algorithm:

Step 1: Checks

Always. Even the ones that look "stupid." They are the most forcing moves in the game.

Step 2: Captures & Threats

If no checks work, look for the next most forcing sequences.

Step 3: Maneuvering & Planning

If the position is "quiet," stop looking for a tactical kill and start looking for your worst-placed piece.

The trick is Subconscious Automation. You practice this manually when solving exercises so that during a game, your brain does it in milliseconds.

Pillar 4: The Learning Environment

So, you’ve learned the methods. You have the puzzles and the evaluation checklists. But here is the hard truth: Information without consistency is useless.

Most players ask me,

"Vidar, how do I stay motivated to study?

The answer is simple: You don’t. Motivation is a feeling, and feelings are unreliable. It works for a few days, but the moment you’re tired or "bored," motivation disappears. Many people think the answer is "Discipline," but even discipline eventually feels like a chore.

The real secret is Habit.

When something becomes a habit, you no longer negotiate with yourself. You don’t "decide" to brush your teeth in the morning; you just do it. If you can turn chess study into a habit, your improvement becomes inevitable.

How do you build a habit?

Personally, I believe the key isn't willpower, it’s Environment.

As the saying goes:

"We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with."

I’m not saying you should leave your friends for chess players, but I am saying that as humans, we are wired to adapt to our surroundings. If you surround yourself with a community on the same mission as you, your brain subconsciously adapts. When everyone around you is practicing, chess stops feeling like a chore and simply becomes what you do.

The problem is that finding this environment can be hard. Not everyone lives near a bustling chess club or has friends who take the game seriously.

That is exactly why I founded The Chess University. I wanted to build a digital campus for people who don't have a local club, a place where ambition is the default and improvement is a shared habit.

I won't go into all the details here, but if you're looking for that environment, I wrote a post: The Chess University

Feel free to check it out!

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