Organize Your Chess Training In 5 Simple Steps

You really want to improve your Chess, but you do not know how?
Then this Guide is perfect for you!
It is very important to understand that improvement takes time and effort. But with the right
mindset and strategies, it can be made much easier. Let us jump straight in the 5 Step Plan
to organize your Chess Training.

1) Set Goals
Setting goals is a great way to keep the motivation high. There will be days where you feel
like sitting on your Couch and doing nothing. Exactly for those days you need your Goals! If
in such a moment you can think of a big goal that really motivates you, you will sit down and
do the work.
Studying also on days when you do not feel like will make the difference. Everybody can
study when they feel great. Only the greatest study when they do not feel like it.
So go ahead and think about your Goals. Do not play small here. They need to have the
power to motivate you on bad days. Only thinking of achieving them must feel great.
If you want to go to the next level even faster, then do the following: Print your goals and
put them all over your apartment. The fridge and bathroom are two very good places. will
get an extra rush of motivation every time you see your goals.
To use your newly gained motivation, you need to do Step 2:

2) Set Up A Plan
If you really want to improve, you need to make sure to keep consistent with your training.
The only way to ensure you really do your training is setting up a Plan. Without a clear plan,
you will always have something more urgent coming up.
Not planned = not done

Or as Mikhail Chigorin said: “Even a poor plan is better than no plan at all.”

You need to go from thinking of doing to really doing. This is a big step!
And this step can be made much easier by planning out your own training. A clear plan
includes:

• When → Exact times for your training

• What → Clear structuring of WHAT you want to train
(Tactics/Openings/Playing/Endgames)
• How long → what is the absolute minimum you want to train for?

Disclaimer: This is for information purposes only. There is no guarantee of seeing results.
This plan should not only exist in your mind! Write it down. Put it in your Calendar. Inform
your loved ones that you need absolute silence during your planned training.
If you have no idea what to study exactly, then take this formula. This is only a rough starting
point and varies depending on your level, strength, and weaknesses.
40% Tactics
30% Games + analysis
10% Endgames
10% Openings
10% Classical Games / Strategical thinking

3) Track your Training!

Doing something you planned is great. That reinforces that you are serious about improving
your Chess.
I LOVE to Cross all the things off my to-do list for the day. There is something magical
about it. Make sure to use that magic.
And when you are just at it, you should write a very short summary about your training
session.
What has gone well? What can you improve on? And are there some deep insights you
learned that you never want to forget?
With only 5 additional Minutes you can not only improve your Chess, but also your training
strategies. That leads to more effective training and thus even better results!
Looking back over a week of fulfilled training sessions with many great insights will give you
another boost to do the same next week again. There is nearly no way stopping you now!

4) Start Small
I hope you can already feel the motivation for starting out immediately. Remember:
consistency is key. And that is why you should start SMALL and accumulate little wins.
The most important thing is that you can keep up with your plan on 90% of the days. If you
barely did 15 Minutes per day do NOT go immediately to 3 hours a day. You might be super
motivated in the beginning, but most likely you cannot keep it up.
And with every day you are not doing what you planned, the risk gets bigger that you quit
altogether.

Disclaimer: This is for information purposes only. There is no guarantee of seeing results.
To avoid this, you should start small. Go with 20 Minutes per day for the first week. Get
some first adrenaline shots of crossing off every day. Then you can slowly increase the time
you spend studying.
I also recommend taking at least one day completely off. This does not mean you are not
allowed to study chess. But on one day (I usually take Sundays) you do not plan to study
Chess. This increases the chances of you really sticking to the plan on the other 6 days!
Remember: the key is consistency and not giving up.

5) Quality > Quantity

Much more important than how much you study is how well/effective you study! You can
watch your favorite streamer for 3 hours and have a great time. But that does not really
improve your Chess!
To improve, you need to use your own head!
Whenever you train you should:

• Get rid of your phone!

• Be in a quiet place where you can focus.
• Think for yourself instead of just listening to someone explain something.
I also prefer training with a book on a real chess board to the digital training. Why? Because
on the computer you are one click away from distraction. Not having this temptation can
increase the effectivity of your training.
And that is it!
If you follow this plan, it is very likely your chess will improve over time. Be patient and
put in the consistent work. Keep at it and NEVER give up!
If you want additional resources, here are some articles I wrote about this theme:
- How To Set Goals And Achieve Them
- 3 Easy Steps To Your Training Plan
- The Most Effective Chess Training
Enjoy, Noël
Next Level Chess By GM Noël Studer

Disclaimer: This is for information purposes only. There is no guarantee of seeing results.