Chess improvement : the ideal apprenticeship

    In his book Mastery, Robert Greene divide the first step to mastery in three parts:
⦁    deep observation (the passive mode) : in chess, the study of grandmasters' games
⦁    skill acquisition (the practice mode) : the study of different topics, one at a time (10 topics to master)
⦁    experimentation ( the active mode) : playing games

    According to Greene, the most natural learning process is the apprenticeship of the Middle Ages: mentorship. Apprentices committed to following a master for 7 years. "The apprentices would learn the trade by watching Masters and imitating them as closely as possible."



    For chess, it means that the best way to improve is to choose a titled player, study his games (deep observation), study all of his books, DVDs and courses (skill acquisition), and try to emulate him in your games (experimentation).

    There are a lot of mentors to choose from. For example:
⦁    Andrew Soltis
⦁    Jeremy Silman
⦁    Jacob Aagaard
⦁    Artur Yusupov
⦁    Dan Heisman
⦁    Mark Dvoretsky
⦁    Nigel Davies
⦁    ICS
⦁    Igor Smirnov
⦁    Daniel King
⦁    ...
⦁    or you can hire a chess coach

    To choose your mentor, keep in mind your learning style . For example: if you are an auditory learner, DVDs would be best for you, if you are a "hands-on" learner, choose study materials with a lot of exercises. Take also into account your affinity with the mentor and your affinity with his system. If you don't like his tone or the way he teaches, try another one. Even if he has great reviews, an author might not be right for you.

    In conclusion: choose a mentor, follow his training plan, his system (= study everything he authored), study your mentor's games as they are concrete examples of his system in practice and try to emulate him in your games (don't forget to analyze your games to see what area to improve next).

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