A few comments from the author of the 7-Skills Chess Training Model

The 7 Skills Chess Training model is a structured study plan with a strong focus on the skills that will have the
biggest impact on your results. Acquiring these skills will also give you the confidence and knowledge you
need to consistently find good moves in your games.

The well-known saying goes: “Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed
him for a lifetime.” In chess, this idiom relates to the fact that while you may enjoy watching chess videos or
even to memorize a few opening variations, the real question is:

Do you have the skills to find good moves in positions you’ve never seen before?

Useful skills must be trained and a random approach to your studies will not give you consistent results. It is
better to work towards your goals by working on the skills that will get you there.

To this end, the 7-Skills Training Model will show you where to focus your attention so that you can maximize
the effect of your efforts. Use it as a guideline to pinpoint the skills you need to work on!

On my website I endeavour to expand on the most effective ways to train these skills.

Louis Holtzhausen
chessfox.com
 The “7-Skills” Chess Training Model
For quick improvement, focus your training efforts on these skills!

You don’t want to miss tactical opportunities in your games. That is

why you should train your mind to recognize tactical patterns quickly.

There aren’t always conclusive tactics in a position. That

is why you must learn how to improve your position with
the right strategy. To avoid mistakes and save time on the clock you must
improve the speed and accuracy of your calculations.

It is important to study endgame theory because all

your hard work in the middlegame can be undone if It’s hard to foresee the outcome of a move because
you misplay the endgame. you’re not allowed to move the pieces around while
thinking. But, you can train to visualize it in your mind!

If you don’t know how to evaluate a position then you will

also struggle to find, or assess, candidate moves that It’s unpleasant to be on the back foot from the start of the game. Learn
serve an appropriate strategy. to play the opening well and develop your personal opening repertoire.

Source: chessfox.com
 Suggestions on how to train the 7 skills
Tactics
The first step to improve your tactics skill is to make an in-depth study
of tactical motifs and checkmate patterns. You can read The Best Way
to Learn Tactical Patterns in Chess to help you understand how you
should train tactics.
Calculation
Train your mind to calculate all the “forced variations” in the position,
in other words all the checks, threats and captures. The 5-step
calculation process presented in the free 10-day chess challenge is a
great way to get you started on this.
Visualization
Your visualization skill will naturally improve over time if you are
disciplined in your tactics and calculation training, but you can further
boost your visualization skill by training with the Visualwize exercises.
Evaluation
Your ability to evaluate a position will also help you find appropriate
candidate moves. Again, the 10-day chess challenge (from day 2) will
get you started toward improving your evaluation skill.
Strategy
Your ability to find a suitable plan in the position relies heavily on
your evaluation skill. Working through my Free Chess Course for
Intermediate Players will go a long way to develop your positional
understanding.
Openings
While developing your personal opening repertoire, don’t rely on
memorization only. Aim to understand the typical ideas in the
opening of your choice by watching videos and/or reading books
and/or reviewing master-level games where the particular opening
was played.
Endgames
It is important to study endgame theory because all your hard work
earlier on can be undone if you misplay the endgame. You can
improve your understanding of chess endgame principles by
studying this list of chess endgame principles.