Graduate From "Club-Level" Status!

"Club-level player" is always a term I struggled with. It seems like an arbitrary skill level we designate for players who know what their doing over the chess board, but also they're not considered "advanced" players... especially in a tournament with masters and experts. 

Personally, I believe a "club-level player" is... say over 1000 USCF, and under 1600-1800 USCF. I've always thought that 1600-1800 is either the lower tier of advanced players, or the absolute gods of club players. I think once you're established over 1800, you're for sure an "advanced" player. That's my two cents.

A few days ago, I posted asking for volunteers, and I have to say, the responses were flattering. Some people were asking for advice breaking from say 1800 to 2000 rapid... you could legit beat me in a fair and square matchup, and you want advice from ME?! I know I'm a good player in my own right, and a fairly good blogger (this post might get 1K views depending on how my clickbait skills are), but it's still extremely flattering.

There were several people who posted, and I can't do all of them at once, but IF this series is successful, I will do this again. Meet @atbeaty. His rapid rating on Chess.com is over 1550, but as he stated in his pursuit for advice, he is stuck at around 1350 USCF/OTB, and wants to break through. And this is not to be taken as an insult (he's a strong player in his own right), but he's a good example of a "club-level player." 

First of all, 30 hours of chess study a week?! That's super impressive. If you keep that up, and study the right things, that will definitely help you. Also, if you go to his Chess.com profile, he plays a lot of SLOW games on Chess.com. Like 90|30 slow. That's the way to go! I think blitz/bullet/rapid can also be good, but playing slow games where you have time to calculate and analyzing them afterwards is super helpful.

He did send me some of his recent OTB games, and those will actually be the focal point of my "diagnosis" of his play, and what he needs to work on. I highlighted five "tips" for him... three of them are more innate, and more than anything may need reinforcing. Two of them are actionable "training tips" that helped me get from 1300-1400 to a solid (dare I say) 1700-1800 OTB, and even into 1900-2000 online.

TIP #1: Avoid "empty moves"

In other words, seek to make PRODUCTIVE MOVES. To put it informally, empty moves are moves where I review them, and think "Uhh, what the heck are you doing?" The position below was the most glaring example:

The position above is from a game vs a 1200-1300 provisional (under 25 games USCF/OTB) player. White played 29. a3? I'm guessing to defend the a-pawn. However, White has greater aspirations, and as he pointed out in his annotations (which is ANOTHER thing he's doing good... analyzing/annotating his tournament games), White is completely crushing with 29. Qc7! The threat of Qf7+, picking off the Rook on e8 is too great. And importantly, Rxe1, Qxd8+! followed by capturing the other Rook.

So try to make every move "productive", even if it's as simple as a waiting move, or slightly improving your position. You don't want to waste a move, especially in such an active position!

TIP #2: Don't excessively force trades

This is something I struggled with early in my chess career... and even to this day. There's some satisfaction to trading pieces. However, if you want to make the game as challenging for your opponent as possible, keep pieces on the board. Especially against higher rated players. 

This is his position vs a 2000-rated player. Better than me! I think Black is already worse due to misplaying the opening, but that's beside the point. I would castle, play Bb7, and try to put up a fight (engine suggests Ba6 immediately, which also makes sense, trading bad Bishop). However, the game saw 12... Bxc3?! 13. Qxc3, Qxc3 14. bxc3. White, the higher rated player happily traded Queens, and has a comfortable position due to the Bishop pair and pawn structure advantage. 

Tip #3: Don't rush! 

It's a feeling lots of people have. There's a pawn move you can make to attack an enemy piece. You feel so superior, FORCING your opponent to do move their piece away. However... you get beat 20 moves later due to the weakness your "forceful" move made. OK... that specific scenario didn't happen, but it's a good example. We don't want to "force things" just to make it look like we're asserting our dominance. Oftentimes, the best thing is to make "waiting moves", and let our opponent "self destruct". 

This was actually the same game from the first example. White was probably so proud that they spotted a Knight outpost on c4 (maybe even saw Nd6 potential), and proceeded to play 18. Nc4 without much thought. (OK, he didn't tell me that, it's just a guess). The problem is... after 18... Bxc4, the e5-pawn is a gonner. White needed to play a move like Bf4 or Qg3, defending the e5-pawn first. c4 will always be there. The e5-pawn may not. 

If you made it this far, time for tips #4 and #5, which I believe are much more actionable, and as I mentioned earlier, I did this when I was a "club-level player", and it helped me get as far as I did.

TIP #4: Blundercheck every move

I'm not one to make promises... but this could revolutionize your chess. If every move, you just ask yourself "is this a blunder?". Look for reasons it's not a good move. 

In the position above, vs a near 1600-level player, my guy actually did something I like to do against the Catalan... take the pawn on c4, play b5, and laugh at your opponent because they're down a pawn. OK, I hope he didn't laugh at his opponent, and it's still not that simple. In the position above, the move 10... Bb7 was played. Why is it not a great move? Hmm... 11. Nxb5, and the "Catalan Bishop" flexes it's muscles. It's easy to think about why your move is good... but also be open to the fact that it may not be a good move, and if it's not, look for alternatives!

TIP #5: Work on your calculation

You're at the level to where players are not hanging mate in one... especially in tournaments. Oftentimes, you need to outcalculate your opponent. Assessing miscalculations is actually more psychological, and I'd need to talk to the player to determine if a moment was a big miscalculation, or they just missed the opponent's idea from move 1. But here's a clear example of a miscalculation (by both players):

In the position above, White's Queen is in danger. They need to move it somewhere! White chose the potentially fateful 15. Qc4??, which actually loses material. After 15... Qxc4 16. Nxc4, Black wins a piece with Bd3! 

White obviously knew what they were getting into with the Queen exchange... but probably missed Bd3 in the process. Black actually didn't exchange Queens... so it was a two-way miscalculation! 

As for calculation resources, I used Chesstempo to get better. It really gives you challenging exercises. I also plowed through Jacob Aagard's book on calculation to help me get over 2000 online, and refine my play OTB. 

Ultimately, whatever resource(s) you use, make sure to spend 10-15 minutes per position, calculate as many lines as you can, and diagnose the flaws in your calculations. And consistency is important. Ideally, train your calculation 3-5 days per week, but every day is honestly ideal.

Whew... I had a lot of fun writing this! I hope you enjoyed this as well, and I definitely expect to continue this series. Have a great day! ✌️