Who has tried the woodpecer method and how much did you improve after it?

Hello everyone recently I have started the woodpecker method and was wondering how many of you have tried it, and what your results were?

I'm currently on Intermediate Exercises II and I've improved significantly from it (from 1400-1700 rapid, until I tilted to 1600) 

I haven't tried it but wondering if I should...

never tried it. i get better by playing with strong opponents. i get worse by being a victim of defamation

didn't try it

Nice! I'm on my first cylcle!

I would also like to know.

I don't know what this is

https://www.amazon.com/Woodpecker-Method-Axel-Smith/dp/1784830542

so I do the same puzzles over and over again?

so it's a tactic book with 1100+ puzzles. You will chose a set of puzzles (in my case the 762 intermiadiate ones) and solve them in 4 weeks. Once you solve them in 4 week you take a day off. Them after your break you will solve them again but, in 2 weeks and you keep doing this until you solve them all in 1 day

Interesting! How does that help though?

It helps your pattern recognition greatly!

Oho! I see.

Doing the same amount of work, but with different tactics puzzles books will undoubtedly bring much greater benefit. There are several tactics puzzles that I did when I was 12 that I still remember, despite never having done them again. You're much better off exposing yourself to as great many and varied of puzzles as possible, because improving your pattern recognition is not dependent on doing the same set of puzzles over and over, faster and faster. You'll benefit from improved pattern recognition by doing tactics puzzles, and the more you do, the better. Despite regularly doing the woodpecker method on the tactics puzzle book he used (volume I of a two volume work, by the way), one of the authors plateaued years before he finally reached the goal of solving them all inside 24 hours he'd set himself. That he finally scored his last GM norm to clinch the GM title a couple of tournaments after this feat was purely accidental. No doubt you will see great improvement after doing The Woodpecker Method once, but that's because you've done a book of tactics puzzles and worked at it with great focus, not because you're supposed to repeat them over and over (that would just be like any other memory exercize). Keep up the hard work, but with other puzzle books.

The best author of tactics puzzle books, Maxim Blokh (sadly departed), alone wrote three books with nearly 5,000 puzzles in total.

Thank you for the feedback! I still think I'll finish it as I've already gotten pretty far but, I agree with what you say!

Ricorat: Yes, it's great set of puzzles, so don't break off finishing the book just because I'm criticizing the basic idea behind the method.

 

Yes I think they chose some great puzzles

The method works for what it is meant to do. Which is to help you keep your tactics sharp through spaced repetition of a batch or multiple batches of problems. In general, your pattern recognition will improve. But more importantly, your ability to evaluate and calculate at least a few lines in any given game position -regardless of it being a totally new position to you- will also be improved.
Just please understand that there is no “Method” by which one acquires a “Permanent” ability in chess. You can do this method for 1 whole year and see great improvement, and then completely stop training tactics and go back to almost square one in playing strength.
Much like exercising your body in the gym, it doesn’t take long to lose strength and muscle mass if you stop lifting or substantially diminish the training intensity.
Tactics problems training and constant drilling are kept up throughout their lifetime by all major GMs who play competitively well into their silver years. It’s not a method you use once and that’s it. You need to keep some form of drilling your tactics, positional problem solving and opening preparation for life if you want to retain a good constant playing strength level.

Mornstar 7: Which is exactly my point, but the basic idea behind the woodpecker method is flawed. Having done them once, your pattern recognition isn't significantly improved by doing the same set of exercises over and over again. All the best players who have divulged their methods, have not followed the woodpecker method (which, coincidentally, may actually work better for strategy rather than tactics). Korchnoi used to do at least 30 minutes of different tactics puzzles every day, Timman claims to have done basically tens of thousands of tactics exercises. And I'm sure the Russian coaches would have advocated the method had they considered it worthwhile.

The point is that your pattern recognition will improve because you're doing tactics puzzles, not because you repeat the same ones. The more you do the better, including increased level of difficulty. The woodpecker method is basically based on the assumption that by doing the multiplication table faster and faster, you'll become better at advanced calculus and advanced algebra.

I'm well aware that I won't be able to convince adherents of the woodpecker method, but simply put: If you are prepared to put in the time and effort of doing tactics, don't waste your time going over the same ground over and over. Expand your horizon, stretch yourself. The payoff will be much greater if you vary the material you work on.