1200 to 1600: improving player

Who this is for: you know the standard tactics and openings and want to win more of the equal games.

Goals

• Build a small repertoire: one system with White, one defence to 1.e4, one to 1.d4, 12 to 15 moves deep, with the ideas behind it.
• Calculate three moves ahead in forcing lines (checks, captures, threats).
• Play simple plans: open files for rooks, outposts for knights, a good bishop against a bad one.
• Convert a won position and hold a worse one.

Weekly plan (5 to 7 hours)

• Courses: Forks, Pins and skewers, Deflection and decoy, Sacrifices on the king, Defensive moves, Quiet moves, Endgame 5: Queen endings, Endgame 6: Bishops and knights, Middlegame 5: Attacking the king, Middlegame 6: Combinations and quiet moves.
• Puzzles (30 to 40 a day): mix themes. Try the rated puzzles for your level and your missed puzzles queue. Puzzle Rush 5 minutes, three times a week.
• Games (6 to 8 a week): rapid 15 | 10 as the main diet, a few 30-minute games for thinking. Review all losses and one win.
• Openings: pick a course in Learn openings and learn it to 12 to 15 moves. Use the opening explorer to see how strong players handle the positions you reach.
• Study: one opponent prep before a match, a tournament or a rematch with a friend.
• Ladder: climb the chess.com bots from about 1200 to 1600 for steady practice.

How to measure progress

• Rapid rating 1400 to 1600.
• Puzzle rating 1500 or more, solving at under 30 seconds per puzzle.
• Review accuracy 75 to 80 percent.
• Fewer blunders after move 15 than in the opening.

Common mistakes at this level

• Memorising lines without understanding the plan. After the book moves you are alone.
• Moving too fast when the position becomes complicated.
• Trading your good pieces for no reason, or keeping a tension you cannot handle.
• Neglecting rook endings.
• Using the engine to pick moves instead of to understand them.

Tip: write down (in your head) your opponent’s plan on each move. If you cannot, slow down.

Previous: 800 to 1200. Next: 1600 to 2000.

Open in the app: https://chessgm.net/train/openings