Getting over plateaus in chess is one of the hardest parts of getting better. No matter how much you play sometimes, you won’t see huge improvement constantly, your path, like mine did, might be full of huge dips and valleys. I do hope that these tips help you, as they helped me, to overcome these challenges and focus on the long term improvement.
I want to start off with a disclaimer: these are tips for the intermediate chess player looking to improve as fast as possible while also having fun. These are tips I’ve employed in my journey towards improvement in chess, and I hope they bring you the same success as they’ve brought me. With that said, enjoy these tips to help you become a better chess player.
- Play spicy openings!
As a strongly tactical player myself, I always enjoy getting into the wild positions that arise after such openings as the Latvian Gambit (1. e4 e5, 2.Nc3 and the dubious, yet interesting move f5!!), the Wing gambit against the French (1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e5 c5 with 4. b4 intending to play a3 and sacrifice two pawns for central control) and the unassuming but powerful a3 Sicilian against the Sicilian defense(1. e4 c5 2. a3!). Not only will the positions out of the openings put you in a more comfortable position than your opponent, but they will also sharpen your tactical skills while creating wild and interesting games. One of the reasons I almost lost interest in chess was because each game seemed the same, but that was because I played boring openings that led to repetitive positions. Playing the openings suggested above will help avoid this by generating interesting and novel positions every time that really make you think. Honestly, this is definitely my playstyle so playing like this suits me and interests me, but you might have other openings that you love. I’m not saying that you absolutely have to play the openings I listed above, but find openings that you enjoy, study them, and play them to keep yourself interested.
- Play with friends!
One of the most important elements to keep yourself engaged with chess is to try to play with people who you know also enjoy playing chess. I remember as a kid I used to love playing chess with my dad (even though I barely knew how the pieces moved), and as a high schooler, playing chess with my friends is definitely one of my favorite ways to spend my time. The bottom line is that you’re definitely going to enjoy playing chess with others as opposed to just yourself so see if there’s anybody you know who’s also interested. In addition, friends can help you get through those plateaus by encouraging you to play chess. The only reason I got into chess was because I had a bunch of great friends who were always playing it and having fun, and I wanted to be a part of that. 4 years later, I can definitely say that the experience has definitely proved itself worthy. An interesting way to spice things up with chess against friends is to make bets with them about certain openings, time controls, or really anything to add some stakes on the line (I’ve bet a lot of pushups during my chess career).
- Watch chess streamers!
One of the plus sides of the coronavirus was that the online chess community experienced tremendous growth, especially in the rise of twitch personalities who regularly stream chess content. Watching these people play chess can be super fun, especially during time scrambles and exciting events. While some streams you can watch just to have fun, watching people who are better than me (GM Hikaru, GM Alireza Firouzja, IM Levy Rozman, and IM Eric Rosen have been my go-to streams) has actually helped me improve a lot. Often times, these amazing players broadcast their thinking processes and certain aspects of their play which you can then implement to play at a higher level.
While there are hundreds of other chess tips I could give, these three were definitely the most instrumental in getting me through the plateaus and dips in my online chess rating. Thanks to these outlets, I’ve never truly lost interest in chess, and will continue playing it for the foreseeable future. I hope you find these helpful! Happy chessing!