Chess improvement blog
Practical, no-fluff guides on tactics and getting better at chess.
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What the Best Chess Tactics Trainer Actually Does
Four things decide whether a chess tactics trainer makes you stronger or just keeps you busy. How to test any trainer in ten minutes, and how we built ours around the one that matters most.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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Chess Tactics Trainer: How to Use One Properly
A chess tactics trainer will not make you stronger on its own. What the rating really measures, which modes are training and which are just a game, and the routine that works.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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Chess Problems: How to Solve Mate in 2, 3 and Beyond
A chess problem is not a tactics puzzle. Keys, tries and refutations explained, how to solve a mate in 2 or 3, and why every variation counts.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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The Woodpecker Method: A Practical Guide
Solve the same chess puzzles over and over, faster each cycle. The real schedule, how to build your own set without the book, and whether it actually works.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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The Best Chess Puzzles App for iPhone and iPad
Looking for the best chess puzzles iOS app? What separates a real tactics trainer from a puzzle tab, and why I keep recommending Chess.PhD on iPhone and iPad.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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How to Get Better at Chess Tactics
Tactics decide most games below master level. Here is a concrete, repeatable method to actually improve at them, not just solve more puzzles.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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How to Break a Chess Rating Plateau
Stuck at the same chess rating for months? Plateaus are almost never about playing more. How to find the leak that's actually holding you back, and fix it.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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Chess Tactics for Beginners: the First Patterns
The handful of tactical shapes that win the most games: forks, pins, skewers, and the back-rank mate, explained simply, with diagrams.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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How to Stop Blundering in Chess
Blunders cost more rating than missed brilliancies ever win back. A simple, repeatable blunder-check, and the training that makes it automatic.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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How Many Chess Puzzles Should You Do a Day?
The honest answer is fewer than you think, if you do them right. Why quality beats quantity, and a daily routine that actually builds skill.
· Sergei Tovmasian
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Chess Puzzle Ratings Explained (and How to Use Them)
What a puzzle rating actually means, why training at your level matters more than the number, and how to use ratings to find your real weaknesses.
· Sergei Tovmasian
