Chess Training Program

Create a chess training program 'only' when you aim to achieve significant results. Indeed, if you wish to make the most of your time and effort, it is advisable to establish a structured program for study and practice. This holds true in any field but is especially crucial in precise endeavors like chess.

Consider setting your objectives for the lessons you plan to study within a year, as well as before your scheduled tournaments.

When you are organized and approach your studies correctly, even dedicating just 30 minutes a day can lead to noticeable progress. If weekends are your only available option, that works as well, provided you can allocate longer time slots. The key is to allocate consistent time for chess training every week.

Identify moments when you are least likely to be distracted and create a weekly chess training schedule accordingly. Initially, you may need to adjust your schedule a few times until you find the optimal routine.

Consistency in studying at the same time each day can help you develop a productive habit. Your mind and body will adapt to this planned mental workout, and eventually, you'll find yourself looking forward to it. When you reach this point, it indicates that you genuinely enjoy your study sessions and are making progress.

Maintain a training journal where you document your yearly study plan, scheduled tournaments, and your objectives (including specific lessons or chapters you aim to complete). Keeping records of your chess training is valuable. You can also use this journal to analyze your own games and document your conclusions.

General Chess Training Program

Now, we provide a general chess training program that outlines recommended time allocations for various aspects of comprehensive chess training. These recommendations are suitable for the majority of chess students below the master level.

For convenience, we have divided the week into 8 equal parts. For instance, if you have 8 hours available for chess per week, you can allocate 1 to 2 hours for the study of openings.

OPENINGS Training: 1/8-2/8 of Your Chess Time

The main opening lines play a crucial role in reaching known positions during the middlegame. It's essential to study these positions, understand their pawn structures, piece placement, and how to play them effectively. By doing so, you'll find it easier to memorize the opening moves because you'll recognize which moves lead to these known, studied positions.

Hence, a substantial portion of your openings training should focus on the middlegame. This can also include delving into model games that illustrate the correct strategies for various variations.

In our Opening Repertoire, we provide evaluations of positions and a TO-DO list at the end of the main opening lines. This ensures that you not only learn the opening but also gain insight into how to play the middlegame effectively.

MIDDLEGAME Training: 4/8–5/8 of Your Chess Time

The middlegame should form the core of your chess training. Not only is it the most captivating phase of the game due to its complexity, but it also allows for creativity in your play!

Through middlegame training, we understand foremost the study of strategy - also possibly called positional play. Study advanced chess strategy from Grandmaster Package or good books.
Middlegame training must also encompass calculation. A skilled chess player should be capable of calculating several moves ahead and accurately evaluate the resulting positions to make the best choices. Alongside the exercises provided throughout our core course, the last 4 months concentrate on honing your calculation and analysis abilities. This is presented in the second part of the course, as a strong foundation in strategic understanding and position evaluation is essential.
Annotated games constitute a very special training for the middlegame. It's very good if you try to guess the move before looking at the text. Longer games also include endgames and provide excellent training opportunities for this part of the game. The annotated games from our extra courses include instructive middlegames and endgames.

ENDGAME Training: 1/8 of Your Chess Time

Every player should learn basic theoretical endgames. The most common are the pawn and rook endings, which are not hard to learn and can be found in any endgame book.

For beginners/intermediates, we recommend Jesus de la Villa's book, "100 Endgames You Must Know", and, for advanced players, we recommend Mark Dvoretsky's "Endgame Manual".

After you know the important theoretical endgames, you may want to train with different endgame positions. This will also improve your calculation skills as endgames require precise calculation and a small mistake can change the result.

We study complex endgames in the second part of the core course, in the section titled Playing Technique.

TACTICS Training: 1/8 of Your Chess Time

First oif all, don't forget that tactics can happen when there are strategical imbalances, so tactics should not be the priority of a good chess training.

If you start your chess training sessions with tactics, you'll sharpen your brain for the rest of your training day. Tactics should account for around one-eighth of the total time that you spend training for chess.

Get a book with many tactical positions like the "Encyclopedia of Chess Combinations" (you can buy this from either Amazon or www.sahovski.com) and solve the exercises over the board. As the exercises are organized into different tactical motifs, you can learn well particular motifs. Another form of training is to choose positions at random so you won't know the tactical motif. Don't mark the solved exercises because solving a position more times will strengthen learned patterns. This way, a book with several thousand positions becomes an inexhaustible resource for tactical training.

It's important to do tactical training, but don't overdo it otherwise, when you play a game, you'll look far too hard for something tactical. In reality, tactical possibilities do not happen so often and do not always work.