How to study for a tournament in 4 months time? • page 1/2 • General Chess Discussion • lichess.org

canberranchessguy

I am playing the biggest tournament of my life in January and im feeling good about my chess. My OTB rating is close to 1650, i just reached 1850 chess.com and i am coming of the back of a really good otb performance. In January i am fortunate to be going to the Australian Junior chess championships, and i have 4 months till then, do you guys know what to study? I am not really worried about blunders, and i have a basic plan of studying openings, endgames, tactics etc. but is there a certain order or something?

distro_bistro

idk what to tell you. just study your games, openings, endgames, tactics, and etc.

tpr

"i have 4 months till then"

Work on your physical condition.
Staying concentrated for hours during several days causes fatigue. Fatigue causes blunders.
'Above all else, before playing in competitions a player must have regard to his health, for if he is suffering from ill-health he cannot hope for success. In this connection the best of all tonics is 15 to 20 days in the fresh air, in the country.' - Botvinnik

"I am not really worried about blunders"

You should be.

"openings"

Not useful. If the tournament is say 9 rounds, that is 4-5 white and 5-4 black. That will be split on several openings. You cannot predict what you will face. Even if you know your opponent during the tournament, you can prepare based on his published games, but there is no guarantee that he will not play differently to evade your preparation.

"endgames"

Endgame study is very useful and brings most half points (win instead of draw, draw instead of loss) per hour study. However it is a long term enterprise. You do not reap immediate reward. If you study rook endings, then there is no guarantee you will play even one rook ending in your tournament.

"tactics"

You cannot really study tactics. You can solve tactics puzzles, but in a real game nobody tells you there is a tactic, or for whom.

"a certain order or something?"

Apart from physical preparation the best you can do is to study annotated grandmaster games.

"i have 4 months till then" * Work on your physical condition. Staying concentrated for hours during several days causes fatigue. Fatigue causes blunders. 'Above all else, before playing in competitions a player must have regard to his health, for if he is suffering from ill-health he cannot hope for success. In this connection the best of all tonics is 15 to 20 days in the fresh air, in the country.' - Botvinnik "I am not really worried about blunders" * You should be. "openings" * Not useful. If the tournament is say 9 rounds, that is 4-5 white and 5-4 black. That will be split on several openings. You cannot predict what you will face. Even if you know your opponent during the tournament, you can prepare based on his published games, but there is no guarantee that he will not play differently to evade your preparation. "endgames" * Endgame study is very useful and brings most half points (win instead of draw, draw instead of loss) per hour study. However it is a long term enterprise. You do not reap immediate reward. If you study rook endings, then there is no guarantee you will play even one rook ending in your tournament. "tactics" * You cannot really study tactics. You can solve tactics puzzles, but in a real game nobody tells you there is a tactic, or for whom. "a certain order or something?" * Apart from physical preparation the best you can do is to study annotated grandmaster games.

Rengoku_Tal1767

I think you should study openings more as most of the opponents get crush in openings. And also middlegame too as tactics might occur. Talking about endgames Then I'd like to prefer to watch magnus Carlsen's endgame games .To train your tactics I recommend Tactical puzzles on lichess or on any online chess platform.

Bonus tip:--
You can check out my first blog
https://lichess.org/@/Rengoku_Tal1767/blog/what-to-do-in-chess-a-beginner-guide/o4QFoB1W

Thank you!!!

I think you should study openings more as most of the opponents get crush in openings. And also middlegame too as tactics might occur. Talking about endgames Then I'd like to prefer to watch magnus Carlsen's endgame games .To train your tactics I recommend Tactical puzzles on lichess or on any online chess platform. Bonus tip:-- You can check out my first blog https://lichess.org/@/Rengoku_Tal1767/blog/what-to-do-in-chess-a-beginner-guide/o4QFoB1W Thank you!!!

lizani

Alexei Kosikov in 'Training for the Tournament Player' by Dvoretsky and Yusupov
'If you consider a game as a whole, then the endgame amounts to around 30% and the opening to about 20%, but about 50% of all events occur in the middlegame.'

That should give you an idea of the relative importance of each stage and how much time you should devote to each. For the middlegame, he recommends

Study classic games by outstanding players of the past.
Study tactical and strategic methods by examining games or fragments of games.
3, Study standard positions and their plans e.g. isolated queen pawn, Carlsbad structure, central pawn majority.
Study positions with a material imbalance e.g. bishop v knight, rook + bishop v rook + knight.

Alexei Kosikov in 'Training for the Tournament Player' by Dvoretsky and Yusupov 'If you consider a game as a whole, then the endgame amounts to around 30% and the opening to about 20%, but about 50% of all events occur in the middlegame.' That should give you an idea of the relative importance of each stage and how much time you should devote to each. For the middlegame, he recommends 1. Study classic games by outstanding players of the past. 2. Study tactical and strategic methods by examining games or fragments of games. 3, Study standard positions and their plans e.g. isolated queen pawn, Carlsbad structure, central pawn majority. 4. Study positions with a material imbalance e.g. bishop v knight, rook + bishop v rook + knight.

kindaspongey

"... For many people with little time for chess the default option is internet blitz, in which the players have five minutes or less for the entire game. I cannot warn too strongly against taking this route if you want to improve, the problem being that playing too many games at a fast time limit will corrupt the decision making process. Instead of playing good moves, a player honed on blitz will look for moves he can make quickly and perhaps bring himself closer to a win on time. ...
... you need to keep to time limits in which the chess position is more relevant than the thinking time, and, ideally, much more relevant. I actually believe that only Grandmasters (2500+) should play five minute blitz, ... 1500 players should have at least 25 minutes thinking time for a game -- or a rough equivalent if they are using an incremental time limits. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010)
"... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

"... For many people with little time for chess the default option is internet blitz, in which the players have five minutes or less for the entire game. I cannot warn too strongly against taking this route if you want to improve, the problem being that playing too many games at a fast time limit will corrupt the decision making process. Instead of playing good moves, a player honed on blitz will look for moves he can make quickly and perhaps bring himself closer to a win on time. ... ... you need to keep to time limits in which the chess position is more relevant than the thinking time, and, ideally, much more relevant. I actually believe that only Grandmasters (2500+) should play five minute blitz, ... 1500 players should have at least 25 minutes thinking time for a game -- or a rough equivalent if they are using an incremental time limits. ..." - GM Nigel Davies (2010) "... Review each of your games, identifying opening (and other) mistakes with the goal of not repeatedly making the same mistake. ... It is especially critical not to continually fall into opening traps – or even lines that result in difficult positions ..." - NM Dan Heisman (2007) https://web.archive.org/web/20140627062646/https://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman81.pdf

AlexiHarvey

edited

Giving your level then I would definitely polish up your endgames knowledge as a priority. Intermediate OTB players really don't make unforced tactical errors compared to typical on-line play, consequently endgame knowledge/skills are far more important and if you're mainly an on-line player you're likely to be weaker in this area compared to your other strengths.

Aside: Dan Heisman has an excellent book called 'Maximising your chess potential' that is full of advice from a chess coach of 50 years! Additionally he has 100's of half-hour ad-free lessons on youtube which in my opinion are far better that the more popular/entertainment stuff.

Giving your level then I would definitely polish up your endgames knowledge as a priority. Intermediate OTB players really don't make unforced tactical errors compared to typical on-line play, consequently endgame knowledge/skills are far more important and if you're mainly an on-line player you're likely to be weaker in this area compared to your other strengths. Aside: Dan Heisman has an excellent book called 'Maximising your chess potential' that is full of advice from a chess coach of 50 years! Additionally he has 100's of half-hour ad-free lessons on youtube which in my opinion are far better that the more popular/entertainment stuff.

kindaspongey

Maybe, you can find something useful at https://lichess.org/forum/general-chess-discussion/i-need-advice?page=2 .

BIGBIG31

edited

@canberranchessguy said ^

I am playing the biggest tournament of my life in January and im feeling good about my chess. My OTB rating is close to 1650, i just reached 1850 chess.com and i am coming of the back of a really good otb performance. In January i am fortunate to be going to the Australian Junior chess championships, and i have 4 months till then, do you guys know what to study? I am not really worried about blund...

My personal suggestion: chess tempo opening trainer, and familiarise yourself with how grandmasters win at the end game. When I was at my peak, I couldn't believe I let my opponent playing Black double up rooks on the 2nd rank. Also another advice is ready the confidence to tell the arbiter if someone has a phone in the pocket or if youre hearing people talking about moves. I saw both but was too shy to say anything last time i did Australian chess open back when I was 16. I also think sub-2000 lichess rapid are blundering too much.

@canberranchessguy said [^](/forum/redirect/post/n3fQDu5L) > I am playing the biggest tournament of my life in January and im feeling good about my chess. My OTB rating is close to 1650, i just reached 1850 chess.com and i am coming of the back of a really good otb performance. In January i am fortunate to be going to the Australian Junior chess championships, and i have 4 months till then, do you guys know what to study? I am not really worried about blund... My personal suggestion: chess tempo opening trainer, and familiarise yourself with how grandmasters win at the end game. When I was at my peak, I couldn't believe I let my opponent playing Black double up rooks on the 2nd rank. Also another advice is ready the confidence to tell the arbiter if someone has a phone in the pocket or if youre hearing people talking about moves. I saw both but was too shy to say anything last time i did Australian chess open back when I was 16. I also think sub-2000 lichess rapid are blundering too much.