How to Improve at Chess: 11 Expert Tips

progressing. How to improve at chess quickly is not a question of natural talent — it’s a question of method. Here are 11 practical tips, from beginner to seasoned club player, to raise your level and your Elo rating.

Table des matières

1. Master the fundamental openings

Don’t memorise variations by heart without understanding the principles. The best openings share common ideas: control of the centre, rapid development, king safety. Learn 2-3 solid systems with each colour and understand why each move is played.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 (Ruy Lopez) — the classic opening par excellence, played for 500 years.

2. Solve tactical puzzles every day

Tactics account for 80% of material gains and losses for players under 2000 Elo. Solve at least 10 puzzles a day on Chess.com or Lichess. Consistency matters more than quantity: 10 puzzles a day for a year achieves more than 100 puzzles in a single day.

Forks

A piece attacks two targets simultaneously. The knight is the specialist, but every piece can execute forks.

Pins

A piece is immobilised because moving it would expose a more valuable piece behind it. A favourite weapon of the bishop and rook.

Skewers

The opposite of a pin: you attack the valuable piece which, when it moves, exposes a less valuable piece behind it.

Sacrifices

Giving up material for a positional gain, a mating attack or a decisive combination. The pinnacle of tactical art.

3. Analyse every game you play

After each game, spend 10-15 minutes reviewing it. Identify your 3 worst moves and understand why they were bad. THEN check with an engine. Personal analysis first, the engine second — that’s how you develop your judgement.

📝 Keep a chess journal: note your recurring mistakes (forgetting to defend, time trouble, poorly prepared openings). By re-reading this journal every month, you’ll spot patterns and be able to target your training.

4. Study the endgame

Endgames are often neglected by club players, even though this is where the result is often decided. Master at least: king and queen versus king, king and rook versus king, pawn endgames (opposition, key squares, passed pawns), and rook versus pawns.

5. Play longer games

Blitz is tempting and fun, but to make genuine progress, play games of at least 15 minutes (ideally 30 minutes). Longer games force you to calculate in depth, plan long-term and manage your time — three skills absent from bullet chess.

6. Learn from the grandmasters

Study the annotated games of champions. Start with the classics: Morphy’s games for attack, Capablanca’s for endgames, Tal’s for imagination. The strategies for raising your Elo rating involve imitating the best.

7. Manage your time

Phase	Recommended time (30 min)	Objective
Opening (moves 1-10)	~5 min	Play quickly if you know the theory
Middlegame (11-25)	~15 min	Invest in critical decisions
Endgame (26+)	~10 min	Keep a reserve for precision

8. Work on your calculation

Concrete calculation is the ability to visualise sequences of moves in your head. Practise calculating 3-5 moves ahead in all your games. Gradually increase the depth.

Calculation exercise: Take a tactical position, cover the board and try to work out the next 5 moves mentally. Then check on the board. This exercise develops the “inner vision” essential for advanced players.

9. Find a training partner

A partner of similar level motivates you and exposes you to different playing styles. Play together regularly, analyse your games with each other, and set shared goals.

10. Use the right resources

The best chess websites offer analysis tools, courses and puzzles. Complement these with our digital courses for structured learning with a clear progression.

11. Stay consistent and patient

Progress in chess is not linear. You’ll have plateaus, dips in form, periods of doubt. That’s normal. The key is consistency: 30 minutes a day is worth more than 5 hours on a Sunday. Patience and perseverance are the true virtues of the chess player.

Every master was once a beginner. Every expert was once an amateur. What sets them apart is that they never stopped working.

— Aron Nimzowitsch