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Why your tactics aren’t improving

Thank you for this great article!
I'm working on a tactics training app (https://chessbuddy.app) that let's you define exactly what kind of puzzles you get: difficulty, type of tactics, puzzle length, etc. You can also define how many puzzles to solve or if you want to have a time limit per puzzle. I feel like it fits nicely with what you are describing here.

So what I wonder is: Do you think the tools that exist are good enough to support the kind of training you suggest? I mean, Lichess for example gives you some options to customize your training (as you pointed out), but on the other hand, it is still quite limited.

Thank you for this great article! I'm working on a tactics training app (https://chessbuddy.app) that let's you define exactly what kind of puzzles you get: difficulty, type of tactics, puzzle length, etc. You can also define how many puzzles to solve or if you want to have a time limit per puzzle. I feel like it fits nicely with what you are describing here. So what I wonder is: Do you think the tools that exist are good enough to support the kind of training you suggest? I mean, Lichess for example gives you some options to customize your training (as you pointed out), but on the other hand, it is still quite limited.

@kyanh said in #16:

What do you think about puzzle storm, puzzle rush or just doing tactics quickly in general for improving tactics?

I think they're useful for most people, say warming up before playing online and keeping sharp, or for the less experienced, just getting more exposure to tactics.
But say for your level, probably should work more on other things like calculation when thinking of best use of time and long term gain (can still do these things for particular reasons like the above).

@kyanh said in #16: > What do you think about puzzle storm, puzzle rush or just doing tactics quickly in general for improving tactics? I think they're useful for most people, say warming up before playing online and keeping sharp, or for the less experienced, just getting more exposure to tactics. But say for your level, probably should work more on other things like calculation when thinking of best use of time and long term gain (can still do these things for particular reasons like the above).

@Inter-temporal said in #18:

great advice. yet, i do wonder if you guys (titled players) tend to gloss over the difference in skill levels among players rated "Between about 1500 and 2000...." to me, it's huge & complicated. but maybe i'm misunderstanding and it is mostly just better tactics.

Good point, you'd expect a significant difference if you take a 1500 player and 2000 player and compare their tactics. I made the guidelines general and covering pretty broad ranges as there's variation between individual players anyway and it might be a bit confusing and clunky post-wise to say go with finer groupings (say 250) but when you look deeper maybe finer groupings would be accurate and more useful.
Thanks for the comment, good for me to keep being conscious of how those in different rating groups perceive my comments on them.

@Inter-temporal said in #18: > great advice. yet, i do wonder if you guys (titled players) tend to gloss over the difference in skill levels among players rated "Between about 1500 and 2000...." to me, it's huge & complicated. but maybe i'm misunderstanding and it is mostly just better tactics. Good point, you'd expect a significant difference if you take a 1500 player and 2000 player and compare their tactics. I made the guidelines general and covering pretty broad ranges as there's variation between individual players anyway and it might be a bit confusing and clunky post-wise to say go with finer groupings (say 250) but when you look deeper maybe finer groupings would be accurate and more useful. Thanks for the comment, good for me to keep being conscious of how those in different rating groups perceive my comments on them.

@PhamhoangquanBT said in #20:

Improving without books possible, isn't?

Definitely possible, I read a lot of books growing up and through my chess life as I started before the online environment became so convenient and I just love chess books, but nowadays you can get strong without books for sure.

@PhamhoangquanBT said in #20: > Improving without books possible, isn't? Definitely possible, I read a lot of books growing up and through my chess life as I started before the online environment became so convenient and I just love chess books, but nowadays you can get strong without books for sure.

@PixelPincher said in #21:

) that let's you define exactly what kind of puzzles you get: difficulty, type of tactics, puzzle length, etc. You can also define how many puzzles to solve or if you want to have a time limit per puzzle. I feel like it fits nicely with what you are describing here.

Cool idea and website! There are many websites and tools for tactics these days, but for someone who wants to knuckle down and solve tactics customising the puzzles more, I don't see why people wouldn't want to try yours and compare it to the other websites/platforms/apps.

@PixelPincher said in #21: > ) that let's you define exactly what kind of puzzles you get: difficulty, type of tactics, puzzle length, etc. You can also define how many puzzles to solve or if you want to have a time limit per puzzle. I feel like it fits nicely with what you are describing here. Cool idea and website! There are many websites and tools for tactics these days, but for someone who wants to knuckle down and solve tactics customising the puzzles more, I don't see why people wouldn't want to try yours and compare it to the other websites/platforms/apps.

I thank datajunkie for posting a topic on this.... :)

I thank datajunkie for posting a topic on this.... :)