Rating Pathway
Under 1500
Under 1500 is the same sport, just a bit more grown up. Tactics still decide most games, but now endgame conversion and basic middlegame planning start earning their keep. You're not memorising theory yet, you're building the habits that make everything after this level possible.
Play serious rapid, warm up with the notebook, find the first opening mistake and the two or three moments that actually decided the game, then train whatever keeps repeating.
What Matters Most
Tactics first, endgames and planning close behind
Tactics are still the main event. But you should now be able to convert an extra pawn and understand roughly why you're making a move, not just that it looks safe.
Tactics, Still
Sharper now, and a bit less forgiving. Speed and accuracy both matter, split your practice between the two.
Endgame Conversion
Rook activity, king activity, and turning a small material edge into a full point. This is where "should have won" games actually get won.
Basic Planning
Weak squares, open files, and understanding why you're actually moving that knight rather than just moving a piece.
Weekly Plan
More structure, still built on rapid
Openings stay deliberately restrained here. One setup as White, one reply to 1.e4, one reply to 1.d4, capped at a short session a week.
| Activity | Frequency | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Rapid games (15+10) | 5x a week | Serious games, always preceded by a notebook warm-up |
| Tactics practice | Daily, 15–20 min | Split between fast pattern work and slower calculation puzzles |
| Endgame work | 2x a week | Rook activity, king centralisation, passed pawn races, converting an edge |
| Strategy | 1x a week | One topic (open files, weak squares, outposts, pawn breaks), then spot it in your own games |
| Openings | 1 short session a week | Plans and principles, not memorised lines, plus post-game corrections |
Warm-Up Routine
The same notebook, now with two puzzle types
You still write the line before checking. The difference now is you're training two separate skills, not one.
-
1
Fast pattern set first
A handful of quicker puzzles to get your tactical brain switched on before you sit down to play.
-
2
One slower calculation puzzle
Write the full line before you check it. Do not peek early, that's the entire point of the exercise.
-
3
Log a one-line reason for any miss
Missed resource, wrong evaluation, bad candidate move, or just a pattern you didn't recognise yet.
-
4
Weekly review, grouped by error type
If three misses in a row are the same type of error, that's your actual training priority.
Post-Game Analysis Checklist
Narrow but a bit more deliberate
Don't try to annotate every move. Find the moments that actually changed the result and stop there.
Where did you leave sensible, known ground, and what plan or principle did you miss?
The one or two moments that actually changed the result. Not every inaccuracy, just the ones that mattered.
Is this mistake already in your notebook? Group it if so.
The one training change for next week, tied to what actually went wrong.
Reading Shelf
Building on the basics
Logical Chess: Move by Move
Irving ChernevStill one of the best ways to absorb reasoning through annotated games, move by move.
Winning Chess Strategies
Yasser SeirawanIntroduces simple planning ideas without drowning you in theory before you're ready for it.
Silman's Complete Endgame Course
Jeremy SilmanKeep working through your section as your rating climbs, it grows with you.
Everyone's First Chess Workbook
Carsten HansenWorth revisiting if your tactical accuracy is still uneven under time pressure.
What Not To Do
Skip these, honestly
- Don't start memorising opening theory now either. Principles first, always.
- Don't chase closed or semi-closed openings yet, they demand structural understanding you're still building.
- Don't annotate every move of every game. Find the two or three moments that mattered and stop.
- Don't neglect the endgame because it feels slow or boring. It's where rating points quietly live.
Membership
Join the club for free
Join Inter Mezzo Sporting Club, prepare for Season 1, and put this plan to work.