
If you pre-print the dates and you miss a day, the dreaded guilt sets in and you feel the need to catch up and do twice as much the next day. I only fill in the day/date column after I complete the problems for the day. Whatever method you're using to track your progress, leave the date blank beside each row. Once I'm there - it's better to keep on going than to stop and try to find time to start again later in the day. It usually takes me a few problems to warm up and get into a groove. While this is easier for the early circles, it's definitely an advantage to do all the tactics in one sitting. The fact that the commitment seems so small makes it easier to do until you're well established in the habit of doing tactics every single day. Just treat the first circle as getting into the habit of doing tactics every day.

Once you know how many days the first circle will take, you can schedule the second, third and fourth and so on until you're doing all of the problem set in one single day.īy now you're saying: "20 minutes of easy two-move mates? That doesn't sound like it will help at all!" Even if you don't take my word that starting short and easy is the best way to guarantee you actually finish a seven circles, think of it another way. By that stage you will know how many problems you can do in 20 minutes per day (see previous point about being conservative with your time), and then let that determine how long the first circle will take. It's ridiculous to say you're going to do 700 problems in 45 days unless you know how long it takes to solve them. That way, the second circle will take 40 minutes per day and by the third circle you will be working 70 to 90 minutes per day. If you think you can dedicate 90 minutes a day doing tactics, start your first circle doing 20 minutes a day. Yes - eventually you get faster at solving the problems, but not for the first three circles. The number of problems per day doubles for each circle, so it's very easy to get yourself into a situation where you overcommit your time. Winning Chess Tactics for Juniors by Lou Haysġ001 Brilliant Ways to Checkmate by Fred Reinfeldġ001 Winning Chess Sacrifices and Combinations by Fred Reinfeld

Unless you're already rated 1800, I would suggest just focussing on simpler problems that win material or checkmate in three or four moves maximum.Ĭhess Tactics for Students by John Bain with some personal modifications The CT-ART 3.0 set has 1209 exercises which end up in very difficult "mate in nine" problems towards the end. This advice is geared to those who have tried and failed, or just need to know the best way to complete a seven circles exercise.Įspecially if this is your first seven circles, just pick a small set of easy problems. Now I've done it twice and I'm currently doing my third. It took me eight attempts before I completed it. In the book Rapid Chess Improvement, Michael de la Maza presents a method of intensive chess tactical study that allowed him to improve 400 points in 400 days.īut a lot of people have difficulty in accomplishing such a grueling schedule of problem solving.
