What Makes a Good Training Plan For Chess

Chess is hard. Improving is even harder. If you want to get better, you need a good training plan for chess. Here are six keys to success for any chess training plan.

1. Clear

A good training plan is not some vague idea of a hopeful improvement that will help you improve fast. If you want to improve at anything, especially chess, you need to clearly outline your objectives and what you hope to achieve by the end of your training. These objectives and goals can come in different forms. There are performance-based goals, skill-based goals, and content completion goals.

Performance Goals for a Good Training Plan for Chess

A good study and training plan for chess will likely include clear performance-based goals. Chess is great because we have very clear ways to track our improvement. In other games, sports, or hobbies, it can be tough to track just how much we are improving, but in chess we have ELO. ELO is the number that goes up and down when you win or lose. This happens in online games, but also there are official ratings that you can base your goals on like USCF ratings or FIDE. More serious players may make their clear performance goal for their training plan to reach 1800 Fide Classical, while a casual player who still wants to improve could be trying to reach 1000 rapid on chess.com. Either way, having that clear goal in front of you is important.

Skill-Based Goals for Your Chess Training Plan

Chess is a game full of skills you are learning, and depending on where you are in your chess journey you may have some skill gaps that need filling. Having clearly written out skills you wish to gain or improve on can help make an effective training plan. What are some examples of skill-based goals? How about learning the knight and bishop checkmate? Or perhaps you want to add a new opening to your repertoire. Adding new tactical skills in the game is a good way to track and feel your improvement.

Content Completion Goals

One easy way to track your chess improvement is to finish and check off certain chess materials. As you sit down to make your training plan, I’m sure you have a stack of unfinished chess books that you want to finish as a part of this plan. That is a great step to improvement. Having clear goals of what books, courses, or other learning material you want to finish from the beginning can help you track your progress. Nothing feels better than finally finishing a chess book that you have had for years on your desk.

Making your goals for your chess training plan clear from the beginning is the best way to make sure your desire to improve is more than just a hope and can become a reality.

2. Consistent Chess Training 

Being consistent in your chess training plan is the real key to improvement. No matter how good your training plan is, if you only do it for two weeks and then stop, you won’t see much improvement! So here are a few ways to help you make your training plan more consistent.

Structure

As chess players, we know the importance of a good structure. Using a uniform structure for your training sessions will help with the consistency you need. What does that look like? You could find a time every day, or every other day, or once a week even, that you dedicate to your chess training plan. Even one a week, consistently, will help you improve. But don’t just structure your vague “training” time. Be clear, remember? Figure out exactly what it is you will be doing during that training time. You should have different kinds of chess goals, which means different kinds of training. You will need different times for reading and studying, playing games, and reviewing games. If you sit down to just study “something” you will end up scrolling on your phone and learning nothing.

Play Chess Regularly

Playing chess doesn’t always have to be as structured. Find any time for a game or two that you can. It’s great if you can find a local chess club or group where you spend an afternoon getting to socialize while also playing chess games. Sometimes people get so invested in learning about chess that they forget to play. Playing chess at any time control can be built into the structure of your plan, but don't be afraid to play games outside of that structure, also.

“See You Next Week!” Planned Fun Chess Study Time

This is a part of your structure that you build, but more than just having a structured plan that includes ambiguous study time, I would advise you to plan chess study time in fun ways. Plan a dinner with some chess friends where you solve chess puzzles. Go to your favorite coffee shop, either by yourself or with a friend, and see how many puzzles you can do in an hour. Chess training does not have to be a boring and solitary activity! Plan fun chess study for yourself and you will find you enjoy this process much more. It also helps with consistency! “See you next week,” is a great motivation and consistent way to study if you can plan a consistent meeting time. Another great consistent chess meeting to help you improve is with a coach.

3. Coach Approved

Working with a coach is one of the best ways to improve your chess. Not only are they able to teach you what you need to know, but they can make sure your own training plan is going in the right direction. If you come to a coach and tell them that you plan on reading these three books about different chess openings and that you plan on playing bullet for three hours this week to improve your decision-making skills, they can set you straight! 

Collaborate to Optimize Your Chess Training

A chess coach will optimize the time that you spend on chess training. By reviewing one of your chess games, a good coach can point you in the right direction you need to improve. They can understand your individual needs, not just see you as a number or an ELO. No one wants to waste time, and having a chess coach involved in your process will help you use your time wisely. There are many ways to find a good chess coach, you can look online or at your local chess club.

Consistent Coaching

Coaching is also usually easy to keep consistent. You can plan ahead of time when you will meet with your coach and already have a scheduled long time dedicated to improving at chess.

4. Comprehensive Chess Training

Coaches can help make sure you do not have any gaps in both skills, but also in your chess study plan. A good chess training plan needs to be comprehensive. It should cover all levels of the game and lead you to the best player you can be. Especially if you are a beginner player, you may not even know all of the areas that you need to improve. Finding those missing areas in your knowledge will be a key to improvement. Have you ever studied endgames? Are there opening lines that you don’t have experience in? Find those areas where you lack knowledge, and fill in those gaps.

5. Challenging Yourself When Learning Chess

Challenge yourself! Don’t just do what is easy. If you do not challenge yourself in your chess training plan then you will not improve. If you combine consistency with challenge, you will come out of this training plan formed into a better chess player. What are some ways to challenge yourself? 

1. Play tough opponents: challenge yourself and start playing an OTB tournament if haven’t before. If you have, try putting yourself into a position playing up in a tougher section. When you visit your local chess club play against the tougher players. Any time you can challenge yourself during your chess training it will help you improve.
2. Push yourself to exceed your previous peaks. This may be a part of the goals you have set for yourself, so don't back down from them. Push yourself to get that new puzzle rush score, that new rapid ELO, or that FIDE Blitz rating. Whatever it is, push yourself to greatness.
3. Do the harder puzzles. If you are working in a puzzle book and you find the puzzle become difficult, don't give up. Push through and try them. Even if you can only solve one in the time that normally you do three or four. Push yourself in your tactics.

Challenging yourself in this journey is what takes a mediocre training plan to a good training plan for chess.

6. Celebratory: Have Fun and Celebrate Your Successes

Chess is hard. So have fun, and celebrate your small victories, and your big ones. If you win a game, finish a chess book, or solve your ten puzzles for the week, whatever it is, don’t let it go by without patting yourself on the back, and having fun. This will be a tough journey, but you are doing amazing. Keep up your hard work, and you will see improvement. That improvement may come in the form of reaching your measurable goals like ELO, or it may not. But know that if you are consistent in your chess training plan, you are doing something that is not just good for your chess, but it is good for you as a person. You are accomplishing something, and you should be proud of yourself.