Tactical Turbulence: Ride the Combinational Wave to Chess Mastery!

 

1. Why Tactics Matter

Tactics are the “edge” in most club-level games—forks, pins, skewers, discovered attacks, and mating nets decide the outcome. As GM Noël Studer notes, understanding motifs like pin‑skewer or windmill makes spotting tactics much easier medium.com+2github.com+2chessmood.com+2nextlevelchess.com.

2. Build Your Tactical Toolkit

Begin with motif-learning, then move on to pattern recognition and calculation drills:

• ChessMood’s “Improve Your Chess Tactics” course dives into motifs with exercises medium.com+4chessmood.com+4nextlevelchess.com+4.

• For free motif reviews, check out Chess.com’s 38 Definitions and Examples of Chess Tactics (includes pins, forks, skewers, etc.) nextlevelchess.com.

3. Drill, Drill, Drill!

Regular solving reinforces pattern recognition and sharpens calculation:

• Use Chess.com Tactics Trainer or Lichess puzzles—these tools let you work on speed and accuracy nextlevelchess.com+2en.wikipedia.org+2beginchess.com+2chessgames.com+11chess.com+11johnbartholomewchess.com+11.

• Try Chessable’s “100 Tactical Patterns You Must Know” for spaced‑repetition mastery chess.com+7chessable.com+7johnbartholomewchess.com+7.

4. Learn from Real Games

Studying grandmaster games grounds your tactics in real positions:

• GM Svitlana Demchenko’s “Smart Moves” from the recent Norway Chess 2025 showcases sharp tactics in GM play chess.com+10en.chessbase.com+10modern-chess.com+10.

• Chessentials.com provides collections like Best Chess Games of World Champions, downloadable in PGN chessentials.com+1beginchess.com+1.

• PGNMentor.com is a great source for recent games packs (events & players updated Jan 2025) pgnmentor.com.

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🔗 Tactic‑Boosting Resources

• Chess.com Tactics Trainer – massive puzzle bank + theme-based training.

• Lichess Puzzles & Database Download – over 3.5 million puzzles available chess.comlichess.org+1en.wikipedia.org+1.

• ChessMood: Improve Your Chess Tactics – a structured approach to motifs and exercises nextlevelchess.com+1chessmood.com+1.

• Chessmentschia’s PGN Downloads – free PGN packs of champion games github.com+9chessentials.com+9reddit.com+9.

• PGNMentor PGN Files – updated through Jan 2025 chess.com+2pgnmentor.com+2reddit.com+2.

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📥 Embed-Worthy Tactical PGNs

Here are two recent tactical gems you can embed in Chess.com:

1. Karpov vs Topalov, 1994 (Queen’s Pawn, rich in pins & forks)
Download PGN: PGNMentor → “Players” → search Karpov Topalov johnbartholomewchess.com+15chessgames.com+15modern-chess.com+15pgnmentor.com

2. Gukesh vs Giri, Tata Steel 2025 (complex combinational tactics)
You can grab the PGN from ChessBase or YouTube video description en.wikipedia.org+4en.chessbase.com+4en.chessbase.com+4

(Tip: Once uploaded to Chess.com, copy the “Embed” link and add it to your post.)

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🛠️ DIY Tactics Training Plan

Week	Focus	Tools & Material
1	Learn motifs	Chess.com motif guide, ChessMood course
2–4	Solve puzzles	Chess.com Trainer, Lichess, Chessable PGNMentor, Chessentials
Weekly	Analyze your own games with tactics	Use Lichess or Chess.com analysis tools

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✨ Final Thoughts

Tactics improvement is a cycle of:
Learn → Drill → Apply → Study
Stick with it, and soon tactical patterns will pop out during your games—it’s like having radar for combinational fireworks!

Reaching a grade of 2000 on lichess.org

I am not a very talented chess player, and I want to prove to myself (and everyone else) that hard work and dedication, might actually beat talent!  

I've spent hours and hours over the years playing blitz chess, but alas, my online grade only slightly improved.  So, I thought I'd slow it down a bit and play 10 minute games rather than 5 minute games and this has really helped.  Given that I am not a fast thinker, I am also generally a few minutes slower than my opponents even during these 10 minute games, so if I have a 'won game' I have learnt to speed up in the last 2 minutes of the game. 

Back in the summer of 2023 I set myself a challenge to reach 2000 on lichess.org.  (It should be noted that this server is not as strong as chess.com where my 10 minute grade still sits at 1801).  I found that it was simple enough to reach about 1800 without too much effort, but breaking the 1900 barrier was more of a challenge. Then one day I got past 1950 and realised that it might actually be possible!   

So, in the last few weeks I have been playing between five and ten, 10 minute games.   I've been doing some very basic analysis of the games I lose, and use chessgames.com to play through the games of the masters where the same type of opening is used.  I find that this is very helpful, because you can get a very good sense of how to deal with the positions that arise from the particular openings.

I've played three, 10 minute games today and my grade started off at '1995'.  I won my first game and my grade went up to '1999'.  Bearing in mind that this had happened twice before, I realised I'd have to play another game to get over the 2000 mark, so I played another - but sadly lost !!! :(  So, my grade now sat at '1994'.  I then played a person rated '2019' and to my astonishment, got into a 'won endgame' with less than 1 minute to spare ... I managed to promote a pawn to a Queen - and given that my opponent had no chance whatsoever of doing the same I had a completely 'won game' and they resigned!!!  So I gained 6 grading points and reached 2000!! :)   Job done at last.  I've now set myself the same target for chess.com .  'Never giving up' applies here.   

 

When 1690 plays 1390

what are the differences between the styles of play in this game? The difference is that of technique - development and the conception of a plan. The lower graded player is not properly developed whereas the higher graded player considered development very carefully and capitalised on the 1390s lack of development.

The 1690 has managed to plan an attack against their opponents king, no matter how simplistic... 
Finally they used tactics to issue the knockout blows and checkmate the king!

The lessons for the 1390 player should be:
1) Bring all your pieces into play as expediently as possible.
2) Look out for enemy attacks and tactics against your king.
3) Plan your own attacks and make threats - the tactics will follow!

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Kings pawn

PGN Viewer courtesy of http://chesstempo.com/

The formula for a better chess blitz grade

Not an easy one - but some players would love to see their internet grade soar through the roof! I think that there is no easy solution to this, but with a strict framework in place, self discipline and with a little help from Fritz 13 I reckon it is indeed possible to see your grade increase by 200 - 400 grading points in one season. Here is my formula:

1) Play only 6 games (10 minutes each will be a maximum of 2 hours Blitz per day) in one session. Any more than this and your concentration will lapse and your grade will start to plummet.

 2) When you lose one game - STOP. Analyse the game on Fritz immediately, even if you blundered ... This is an excellent habit to get into because a computer can highlight all the weaknesses in game, and indicate exactly where either you or your opponent started to stray.

3) When you have lost just one game don't play any more games that day. Instead take the time to either -
 a) 'google' the opening and preferred plans for both sides,
 b) Play the game through on Fritz 13 and perform a 'Full Analysis'.
 c) Look a similar game up in a book to get and idea for the plans ...
 d) Do all of the above ... (preferable)

Fritz is an excellent tool when used to perform a full appraisal (Full Analysis) of the game.  I particularly appreciate the English Language commentary set alongside the moves that have a major impact on the game ... This helps me to put into perspective exactly where I went wrong.  I am gradually building up a database of 'losses', which over time will indicate how most games are being lost.

I think that by sticking to this strict training regime unwaveringly, you will start to see a steady improvement over time ...  

Play hard but study harder!

In my humble opinion it does not pay to play chess every day, expecting your grade to increase. This  normally doesn't happen.  If you want to see and more importantly enjoy real improvement, then you have to engage in a study plan. This entails the following:

- Analyse every one of your lost games.

- Engage in a tactics study regime - in other words study tactics like mad!

- Your never too old or too young to learn tactics (adhere to the note above)

- Identify the weak parts of your game and work on these more.

E.g. If you can't find the right plan in the middlegame or indeed any plan at all then maybe you need to   practice the 20min exercise I covered in an earlier post on this blog? This will encourage you to perform the correct evaluation in any given position, then decide on the right plan, whether that be tactical or strategical.

- Push yourself in rated club games by playing to win, NOT to draw. Nothing is gained when both players agree to a premature draw in ignorance of what could have happened. I would say that it is far better to lose that way than it is to draw because you learn more from your defeats. The only exception to this is when agreeing to a draw is the only option, because not doing so would make your position worse. In my experience, a player who has had many draws throughout the season may well be contented, but they are really only protecting their grade - what hope have they got of improving?

Note: Not every chess player wants to improve which is fine, but this is a chess improvement blog don't forget :)

- Have fun!  But don't expect to enjoy every second of studying - any chess study routine can become boring after a while, but those that stick to it despite the pain, normally go on to do very well and see a steady improvement.

Chess Improvement (20min exercise)

Chess: Why we lose and how to fix it!

Time Trouble
If you're constantly getting into time trouble then it is advisable to play at a quicker time control than you normally would in order to acclimatise to playing quickly under pressure. For instance if you normally play 90 minutes each on the clock and you are experiencing time trouble, then it is advisable to play some 15 minute games to adjust to thinking quickly and making some timely decisions. Certainly it is useful to analyse where in the game unnecessary time is being spent. If too long is spent getting out of the opening, then it is advisable to learn some openings that rely on a few hard and fast rules - rather than loads of theory. Those players that have prepared their openings invariably have the advantage of time. If you are spending too much time looking for tactics in the middlegame, then perhaps you need to spend more time in training solving tactics according to Michael De La Maza's 7 circles study plan, which will sharpen up your calculation speed.  Too much time spent on the ending means more practice in training specifically on endgame tactics puzzles only.


Hanging Pieces
Everyone does it! We all leave pieces hanging from time to time, but if this is a frequent occurrence, then it is necessary to consciously pause before every move you make and perform a 'blunder check' - a check to see whether or not the piece you are about to move leaves another piece undefended or whether the piece you are about to move will itself be 'en-prise'. Top players rarely need to blunder check because they have excellent 'sight of the board' and instinctively know how to coordinate their pieces and pawns.

Failure to see checkmate against you
Mate against you is easy to overlook. Really it is necessary to check for mates against you on practically every move. Mate can occur on move 2 in chess (Black can mate White) therefore it is necessary to remain vigilant from the outset. Mates against you commonly occur when you move a piece away from a square that had previously been guarding against a mate threat. E.g. Nf3 guarding against mate on h2 etc. It is advisable to play through the exercises in the following book to get into the habit of checking a situation first of all before being tempted into moving a piece or pawn that you shouldn't. I reviewed this book on Amazon some time ago.

Practical Chess Lessons: 600 Lessons from Tactics to Strategy - Ray Cheng
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Practical-Chess-Exercises-Lessons-Strategy/dp/1587368013/ref=cm_cr-mr-title


Failure to see checkmate that you could have played
As a chess player you should always be looking out for mating combinations. It is quite unlikely in long-play that your opponent will reward you with a mate in one, however, a forced mate in two or three should not be overlooked! Practice by running through mate in 2 and mate in 3 problems. Solve several of these for between 10 to 20 minutes per day. You will find great improvement in solving these if you stick to a daily regime.

http://www.chesspuzzles.com/mate-in-two



Failure to see a tactical combination against you
I chatted to chess colleagues in the car recently on the way to a match about how they look for candidate moves without blundering. The overall concensus or opinion and advice is this: When you are looking for a candidate move - check and double check what your opponent can do once that candidate move has been played first and foremost. In fact you should spend as much time analysing your opponents possible combinations as you should your own! There is a strong grandmaster that recommends looking at "squares you leave behind" once you move a pawn or a piece. This is a kind of retrospective way of looking at the situation but nevertheless very effective.


Failure to see a tactical combination that you could have played
Really there is no substitute for practice. Again, dedicate up to 20 minutes per day solving tactics problems and stick to a training regime that gauges your improvement and encourages you to 'speed up' progressively (E.g. De La Maza - 7 circles). Mates will come easy once you know the patterns to look for and the type of position where you can help to bring that pattern about. I train during the week with a strong intermediate player who, when solving chess tactics, advises me to "look for all the crazy sacrifices" even if they look ridiculous - they may actually work!

Queen sacrifices for instance, are often overlooked by most amateur players because their mind is telling them "never lose your queen - it's your most valuable piece" - but if losing their queen leads to mate in their favour - then why worry?  I recommend the following books strongly:

Sharpen Your Tactics - Arkhangelsky & Lein
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sharpen-Your-Tactics-Anatoly-Lein/dp/1880673134/ref=cm_cr-mr-title
(reviewed on Amazon)


Find the Checkmate - Gary Lane
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Find-Checkmate-Batsford-Chess-Book/dp/0713488611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1227616840&sr=8-1
(Reviewed on Amazon)


Inferior Opening leading to weak position
Great advantage can be gained from having a deep understanding of the openings. Relying on tactics alone in chess can get you into hot water when faced with someone who is clued up and has an encyclopedic understanding of the opening that you are playing. Lack of understanding of the opening WILL lead to an inferior middlegame. Please read this post for a study plan and advice on the openings ...

http://chess-tactician.blogspot.com/2011_05_01_archive.html


Inferior Middlegame Strategy
Middlegame strategy is an extremely difficult subject to master.  Indeed some players are brilliant combative tacticians while others are defensive, strategic 'diehards' who like nothing more than to to fight in the trenches until the last man!  Whatever your style, it is important to know the subtleties and characteristics of a position.

Read the following books if possible for a complete study program:

Mastering Chess Strategy - Johan Hellsten
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mastering-Chess-Strategy-Johan-Hellsten/dp/1857446488/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317395109&sr=8-1

Reassess Your Chess Workbook Imbalances - Jeremy Silman
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reassess-Your-Chess-Workbook-Imbalances/dp/1890085057/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317395181&sr=1-7

Inferior Endgame Technique
The chess endgame concepts can be grasped from CM9000 at amateur / intermediate level.  Knowledge of chess endgames is essential if you want to improve ...

http://chess-tactician.blogspot.com/2011/09/chessmaster-9000-for-endgame-tactics.html


Please read this post as well if you are fairly new to chess endgame technique.

http://www.mychessblog.com/endgame-tactics-rook-and-pawn-endings-%E2%80%93-part-1/

For those parents interested in chess for their children ...

I found an interesting article on the BBC website recently ...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13343943

I wonder if chess in schools will ever take off SERIOUSLY in the UK? Apparently some countries are planning to make chess a compulsory part of the school curriculum!

The key to becoming a better chess player

Some improvement tips that worked for me
Finally on 14th May 2011 approx. 1 year after becoming a member of chess.com rated 1200 I achieved an ELO rating for online chess of 1602. An increase of 402 points in 1 year! To get there I had to prepare openings, study tactics and analyse my games.


Openings
Here are a few of the openings you might choose to adopt in your games.

GP Attack: When playing e4 decide on a system for confronting c5. An example might be the Grand Prix Attack because it is quite good for surprise value and avoids well trodden lines such as the Sveshnikov or the Dragon.

Scotch: When playing e4 decide on a system for confronting 1 .. e5 2. Nf3 Nc6. An example might be the Scotch game or even a sharper tactical line such as the Scotch Gambit or the Goring Gambit.

Alekhine’s Defence: When faced with 1.e4 decide on a system. For instance, learn a sharp line for Alekhine’s Defense. This can prove tricky for White to break down because there is a tendency for them to leap into the “chase” variation and become undermined by making one too many tempo losing pawn pushes.

Latvian: Be prepared for opening novelties such as the “Latvian” 1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5!

Reti/English: Be prepared to play a strategic battle against openings such as 1. g3 the “Reti”.
1. c4 the “English”.

Budapest/KID: Look for ways to confront 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 examples: 2. ...e5, Budapest
2. ...d6, Kings Indian Defence
2. ...g6, Pirc

Generally speaking if there is a gambit line in any of your chosen openings then it is necessary to learn it, whether that be for or against you. It is up to you how you approach this. Some players like to buy books and learn that way while others prefer to learn the hard way by playing hundreds of games and learning by repetition. Online discussions through email, blogs and forums can also be beneficial. It is simply a matter of what works best for you.

Bullet Chess
I was always advised not to play bullet (1 min) chess. I don’t agree entirely with this advice. I would say that there are occasions in Rapid-Play games when you may have only a minute left on your clock and your opponent might have considerably longer. You need to be able to ‘play out’ the remaining minute as quickly as possible to have any chance of victory. I have found that playing quickly in an ending can sometimes give you a significant psychological edge and throw your opponent off guard. I maintain that if you are only quick enough to find 3 good moves in the last minute, then unless it’s checkmate, what hope have you got of winning?!

Analyse your games
I have only recently started analysing the games I lose. In the past, this was always too much trouble, but now I realise it is absolutely paramount. If you don’t spend time looking at mistakes, then there is a very strong likelihood that you will repeat the same mistakes again and again. Use computers where necessary and always play the game back to yourself to find the move(s) where the error occurred.

Tactics
I have to admit that my increase of 402 rating points in 1 year was mainly due to an awful lot of tactics study! I would say that 80% of my wins revolve around superior tactics. The remaining 20% is either due to advantage gained in the opening or superior endgame knowledge. I think, to make a similar gain of 402 ELO points in 1 year, you have to be VERY regimental about solving tactics on a daily basis for 3-4 month periods. This solving should amount to a minimum of 1 hour per day. In some cases I have spent 3 hours per day both on the train and in the cafe solving tactics problems – and this has been a very hard slog. Note: I have reviewed several tactics books on Amazon (see previous posts on this Blog).

Strategy
I would say that the most inferior aspect of my game is that I am guilty of not conceiving of the correct plan, or indeed not having a plan at all. Hence I will be concentrating a lot more in future on strategy. The connection between tactics and strategy of course being that tactics are born out of good strategy!

Summary
So, having cracked this goal, I will now set the bar higher and aim for 1700 ELO. In summary, a year ago I was a weak player. I promised to myself that if I set myself a goal, I would do whatever means necessary to accomplish it! If I had to play more games, I would. If I had to study more tactics, I would. If I had to analyse my mistakes, I would etc. It’s been a long year of ‘trial and error’. During the rocky periods when my grade went down instead of up I felt like throwing in the towel, but now I’m a far, far more confident chess player than I was a year ago.