tactics

    Tactics Training the Right Way(s)

    Tactics training right way.

    In the grand scheme of things1—even before losing the ability to visualize—I’ve never been a particularly good chess player. But I’m an excellent educator and learning designer with a passion for chess.

    Through a combination of my own experience, exploration of pedagogy2 and research, and synthesizing the advice, regimens, and recommendations of a host of chess coaches, players, and improvers, I’ve put together solid approaches for adult chess improvers3.

    Over the next few days4, I’ll be sharing some different techniques, tools, sites, and apps for tactics training for three different5 purposes:

    1. Pattern Recognition
    2. Calculation
    3. Visualization

    While these will necessarily contain some idiosyncratic choices, they will together provide solid, specific answers to some of the most common questions about tactics training.

    There is almost no question that tactics training is at the heart of any chess improvement program, though arguments about the specific proportion of time one should spend will never be settled6. I’m focused on enjoyment and chess as a support for positive mental health, so not particularly interested in those debates…and they are largely irrelevant to what I will be sharing anyway!


    1. In the minuscule scheme of things, for that matter! ↩︎

    2. Most often, if one wants to be pedantic about it, andragogy, but in practice practically everyone uses “pedagogy” to refer to the art and science of teaching both children and adults. ↩︎

    3. There’s been a marked increase in resistance to, and complaints about, the term “adult chess improver” lately. I’m not one of those folks. If you are, substitute whatever term makes sense to you. ↩︎

    4. Ideally. It could be the next few weeks or even months. ↩︎

    5. Naturally, there will be a fair amount of overlap. ↩︎

    6. Such are the vagaries of education research, in general, and the paucity of research into chess improvement, specifically. ↩︎