CHESS HUNTER GUIDES
A chess training routine for improving amateur players
Build a repeatable chess training routine that combines tactical puzzles, calculation and review of your own games.
Give each session one clear purpose
Pick the weakness you want to work on. If you overlook double attacks, solve a short set of fork puzzles. If you can calculate tactics when someone tells you there is one but rarely notice them in games, use mixed puzzles instead. Choose positions that make you think while still leaving time to review your reasoning.
A 25-minute session to try
- Five minutes: warm up. Solve a couple of easier positions on a familiar theme. Name the pattern and check the opponent’s reply.
- Fifteen minutes: calculate. Choose one or two harder positions. Write a promising move, the opponent’s strongest reply and your continuation before opening the solutions. If two moves look good, say why you prefer one.
- Five minutes: review. Mark each answer as solved independently, solved with help or worth another try. Keep one position to solve again next session and write down what you missed.
Give the skill a job in your next game
If you trained forks, look for pairs of undefended targets before you commit to an exchange. If you trained defence, ask what your opponent’s last move threatened. After the game, note one moment when the habit helped or would have helped. That position becomes material for your next review.
Choose a book that supports the routine
Fork Hunter gives you a single pattern to work on. Combination Hunter gives you sequences to calculate and verify. Chess Hunter mixes tactics, defence and endgames so you can practise recognising the problem for yourself.
For a method you can apply straight after a game, read How to stop missing tactics in your chess games.
Further reading
In Chess Life (November 2020), GM Jacob Aagaard’s article on analysing with engines discusses how solving exercises and reviewing your own games fit together.