14 June 2024 | Gradnmaster Tosic
In “How to Study Chess Tactics,” Grandmaster Tosic emphasizes that improving chess tactics involves training your mind to recognize opportunities and threats rather than simply memorizing patterns. He suggests focusing on understanding tactical motifs, making puzzles a daily habit, analyzing your own games to learn from mistakes, maintaining focus during long games, and challenging stronger opponents to accelerate learning. He highlights that tactical mastery is a gradual process, but with consistent practice and analysis, it will become second nature.
Improving your chess tactics is not just about memorizing patterns; it’s about training your mind to spot opportunities and threats, often in the heat of a match. Personally, when I started working on my tactics, it wasn’t an overnight process—it was gradual. Let me walk you through how you can do this in a personal, relatable way.
I remember when I first learned about forks and pins, it seemed overwhelming trying to remember them in real games. But over time, I realized it’s less about rote memorization and more about understanding **why** and **how** these tactical patterns appear. The more you practice, the more naturally they’ll jump out at you during games. So, instead of stressing over perfect recall, take it step by step. Every time you spot a tactic during a game, it feels like unlocking a small secret, and it adds up.
If there’s one thing that made a difference for me, it was turning chess puzzles into a daily habit. It’s kind of like exercising: the more consistent you are, the better the results. Start your day with a few puzzles, even if they’re easy ones. Over time, you’ll notice that these exercises begin to change how you see the board. Suddenly, things that seemed invisible before start to pop up—like realizing you can force a mate or win material in a position where you initially saw nothing.
I’ve found that one of the most effective ways to improve tactics is to go back and review my own games. Every loss becomes an opportunity. It’s easy to blame bad luck or distractions, but when you take the time to analyze, you often realize there were missed tactical shots or simple blunders that could’ve been avoided. Using a chess engine is helpful, but also try to do it manually first—it forces you to think critically, just like in a real game. And trust me, the moments where you see, “Oh, I could have forked him right here,” are the ones that stick with you the longest.
One thing that gets overlooked is focus. In long games, staying sharp for hours is tough, but it’s essential. What helps me is always reminding myself to double-check every move, especially when it feels obvious. It’s those “easy” positions where a small oversight can cost the game. Taking an extra 10 seconds to scan the board for tactics—both yours and your opponent’s—can make a huge difference. Over time, this becomes second nature.
I used to shy away from playing higher-rated opponents, fearing I’d just lose and not learn much. But I couldn’t have been more wrong. Playing stronger opponents exposes you to a variety of tactical situations that you might not face with people at your own level. Sure, you’ll lose more, but every game will teach you something new. It forces you to think faster, anticipate deeper combinations, and recognize the opportunities they’re exploiting against you.
Tactical improvement doesn’t happen in a week—it’s a journey. But the good news is that every game you play, every puzzle you solve, and every mistake you analyze helps you move forward. Over time, you’ll start seeing the board differently, and spotting those game-winning combinations will feel more natural. Don’t rush it—enjoy the process, and remember, it’s these small, incremental improvements that make the biggest difference in the long run.
Stick with it, and soon enough, tactics will feel like second nature to you too.
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