Are you tired of losing chess games because you can't seem to spot the right move? Improving your pattern recognition skills might be the solution. In chess, patterns repeat themselves over and over again, and the ability to recognize these patterns can give you a significant advantage over your opponent. In this post, we'll give you three simple steps to perfect your chess pattern recognition and take your game to the next level.
Step 1 : Common Patterns
In Step 1 of our journey to perfecting our chess pattern recognition, it's important to familiarize ourselves with common patterns that appear in chess games. Some examples of these patterns include forks, pins, skewers, and discovered attacks. You can learn about all the different tactics in chess for FREE on lichess.org. You can click on this link to find out all of the different patterns that you will encounter in chess. Plus it's great practice.
Step 2 : Set New Records
In Step 2 of our journey to perfecting our chess pattern recognition, we will need to train with exercises and puzzles. One great resource for finding these types of exercises is lichess.org again. This website offers a wide range of chess puzzles and exercises. There are even different games that you can play if you find yourself bored after repeating the same one over and over again.
There are 3 main games that we like to give to our students to help them improve as fast as possible.
The first game is Puzzle Storm. In this game, you have to solve as many puzzles as possible in 3 minutes. The puzzles gradually increase in difficulty and you get some time added to your 3 minutes when you solve a few puzzles correctly. This game is really good because you compete against yourself and you can clearly see results. Additionally, since at the beginning of a Puzzle Storm you always see similar easy tactics, after a while you will develop sharp reflexes and you will be able to find patterns more consistently and faster.
The second game is Puzzle Racer. In this game, you have to solve as many puzzles as possible in 90 seconds. You can either play against your friends or against people online. This is the favorite game of our students because it allows them to compete against each other.
The third game is Puzzle Streak. Again, you try to solve as many puzzles as possible in a row but in this game mode, you have unlimited time. This game allows for a deeper think because you don't have the additional time pressure. This game is great because it trains your focus, calculations and pattern recognition.
You can track you records and see your improvement over time.
Step 3 : Applying to Real Games
In Step 3 of our journey to perfecting our chess pattern recognition, it's important to be able to identify them in your own games. The solution is simply to play a lot of games. Now that you have engrained patterns in brain from all of the puzzles that you did, this shouldn't be too hard. Plus, the more you play, the more opportunities you'll have to encounter and recognize various tactics on the board. As a bonus, you will start winning more games since the skill that you have been practicing is super important in the game of chess.
It's also helpful to analyze your games, especially with a chess engine, because it will show you the tactics that you missed. It's very important to pay close attention to the moves that the computer is showing you because it allows you find out what patterns you have the most trouble to recognize.
Conclusion
In conclusion, improving your chess pattern recognition skills can have a significant impact on your overall chess game. By following the three steps outlined in this blog post, you can take your skills to the next level.
The three steps are:
- Familiarizing yourself with common patterns in chess
- Training with exercises and puzzles
- Identifying patterns in your own games
If you want more personalized coaching, you can schedule a free class by clicking on this link now!