Upgrade Your Chess Game With The Woodpecker Method
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Winning With Chess Tactics
We have written before about why you should study the chess middlegame, and why it is probably the most important area for most chess players to focus their efforts.
Within that article, we talked about how the middlegame consists of both tactics and strategy. If you want to become a really strong chess player, it is necessary to work at both… along with every other area of your game!
However, the focus of this article is tactics: those short-term combinations which, when done correctly, lead to winning material, or checkmating your opponent’s king. Tactics are the moments where you have the chance to win the game on the spot.
Specifically, we are going to explain how to improve your tactics with the aid of one very special book: The Woodpecker Method. You will also learn the science behind the method, and - hopefully - convince you to become another one of the already-long list of chess players who have achieved outstanding results with it!
Source: The Woodpecker Method
The Woodpecker Method is a chess tactics training book. Here is one of the positions presented in it. Black to move. Try to calculate the forced way for Black to gain a big advantage - either checkmate, or a decisive win of material.
If you cannot see the solution, then you have a problem. Failure to see such opportunities during your own games will mean your results will suffer immensely. But with the right tactical training, you will be able to spot the right move in a matter of seconds. That’s where The Woodpecker Method comes in.
Where Chess Games Are Won And Lost
To motivate your study, the introduction of The Woodpecker Method contains some revealing statistics. Using a random sample of games, the authors analyzed the percentage which finished decisively (i.e. games which did not finish drawn), and which were decided by tactics.
- GMs: 42%
- 2200-2400: 44%
- 2000-2200: 63%
- 1800-2000: 72%
There are two key insights here:
- At master level, 40%+ of decisive games resulted from tactics. Even at the highest echelons of chess, tactics are one of the most telling factors in deciding the victor.
- The lower levels are even more likely to be decided by tactics. For beginners, intermediate players, and even most advanced players - the winner of the game will often be the one who best takes advantage of the tactical opportunities that arise.
The Tactical Process In Your Chess Brain
It is helpful to think about what actually happens when, during a chess game, you find yourself in a critical moment. There are two steps.
- Step 1 - Awareness: where you sense that there may be a tactic in the position. This awareness gets your chess brain on high alert. Thanks to this awareness, you start your search for where the opportunity may be.
- Step 2 - Calculation: where you look at the forcing moves, one-by-one: checks, captures and threats. By looking at each candidate move, along with your opponent’s best possible replies, you try and find a forcing way through the complications that ends in your favor.
It is important to emphasize that the two-step process presented above is sequential. Meaning, if you do not have the awareness to recognize that there may be a tactic in the position (step 1), then the calculation phase (step 2) does not occur.
The Woodpecker Method’s Approach
Most chess tactics books overemphasize the calculation element. They present positions for the reader to solve, but if you don’t have well-honed tactical awareness, then your calculation skills will be of no use. The opportunity will pass by.
The Woodpecker Method is different. Their approach is to get the reader to solve a large number of puzzles, repeatedly. This is designed to build your tactical intuition. By solving so many puzzles, your calculation will improve too, of course. But the aim is mostly to become a more intuitive player.
It is of much greater practical value to be able to solve the easier tactics correctly close to 100% of the time, than it is to accurately solve a puzzle of immensely deep complexity. The tactics which decide most chess games, even at quite high levels, are not so difficult that a human needs 30 minutes or an hour to solve them.
Rather, the trick is to be able to reliably spot and take advantage of more basic motifs when they present themselves - and to avoid offering up such chances to your opponents. That is what The Woodpecker Method is designed to help you do.
Woodpecker Methodology
The exact method recommended in the book is:
- Solve as many exercises from the book as you can in four weeks.
- Take a short break (the authors recommend between 1 day and 1 week).
- Solve the same set of exercises you already did, but this time in just two weeks. This shorter timespan becomes possible because you have seen the exercises before, and therefore you can start to rely on your intuition and pattern recognition more than pure calculation.
- Repeat the process, halving the time you take each cycle. So, your next cycle will see you re-solve the puzzles in one week, then in four days, then in two days, and finally in one day.
- If it proves impossible to solve the exercise set in these very short timespans, then do your best. Regardless, stop after seven cycles.
- Move on to a new set of exercises, again solving as many as you can in four weeks and repeat the cyclical process.
As the book points out - The Woodpecker Method is not a shortcut to success. A lot of hard work is required to show up consistently and solve the puzzles.
To get the results the book promises, you must bring your best energy during your solving sessions.
- Try not to do your training when you are tired.
- Calculate as far as you can. Do not guess moves which “seem” correct without doing your best to foresee all your opponent’s best replies.
- Treat each position with as much seriousness as you would give if you were playing an actual tournament game.
Once you have done this for a while, your mind will be filled with the positions at a subconscious level. By ingraining the patterns into your chess brain. You will be more likely to be able to quickly recognize them when they arise in your own games.
A Vast Library Of Chess Training
The Woodpecker Method has five chapters:
- One chapter of “easy” exercises (223 puzzles)
- Three chapters of “intermediate” exercises (764 puzzles)
- One chapter of “advanced” exercises (145 puzzles)
Regardless of their level, the reader is invited to begin with the easy exercises. There is no harm in reinforcing the basics. Many of them are not so “easy”, by the way. While, depending on your level, you might solve some of them rather quickly - do not rush.
The middle three chapters with the “intermediate” exercises will be where the majority of readers spend most of their time. Many of these puzzles contain nuances designed to trick the careless solver. They reinforce the need to treat each tactical position with the utmost care - lest your opponent punish your inaccuracy.
The “advanced” chapter is only recommended for titled players (or those seeking to become one). These puzzles in this chapter are fiendishly difficult, and require a level of skill that is unnecessary for most chess enthusiasts.
Completing the easy and intermediate chapters will be more than enough to see a vast improvement in your tactical performance. After training with The Woodpecker Method, you will:
- See the tactical motifs more quickly and more reliably
- Be far less likely to blunder
- Win more games and make giant strides of progress in your chess rating
Ready To Upgrade Your Chess Training?
Click here to get The Woodpecker Method and take your tactical performance to the next level!
FAQ: The Woodpecker Method
What Is The Woodpecker Method?
The Woodpecker Method is a chess tactics training book compiled by GM Axel Smith and GM Hans Tikkanen, and published by Quality Chess. It has quickly become one of the most popular chess books for ambitious adult improvers. Readers have used The Woodpecker Method to drastically improve their tactical vision, and achieve large gains in their chess rating.
Who Is The Woodpecker Method For?
The Woodpecker Method is for those who want to improve their chess tactics. The puzzles presented in the book are suitable for intermediate chess players, advanced chess players, and titled chess players. However, beginning chess players (with an elo rating under 1000) will probably find the exercises contained in The Woodpecker Method too hard, and should instead do their tactics training elsewhere until their level improves.
How Does The Woodpecker Method Work?
The reader is invited to work their way through the exercises in the book, solving as many as they can in the space of four weeks. The reader should try to focus on both speed and accuracy - just like in a game situation. Once the initial four week period is over, the reader should take a break (between 1 - 7 days), and then attempt to solve the same set of exercises they already solved - but this time in just two weeks. The process is then repeated, with the reader then trying to solve the set in one week, then four days, then two days, then one day.
What Is The Benefit Of Chess Training With The Woodpecker Method?
By repeating the same set of exercises several times, the reader of The Woodpecker Method will improve their chess pattern recognition. This will mean the reader will be able to spot the tactics faster and more reliably in their own games. Greater tactical awareness will also help the reader blunder less, by becoming more wary of allowing such tactical opportunities to their opponents.
How Much Time Does Training With The Woodpecker Method Take?
For the busy professional with work and family commitments, the authors suggest 5-10 hours per week as an ambitious but achievable goal.
What Results Have Been Achieved With The Woodpecker Method?
The authors of The Woodpecker Method have trained using the same process they recommend to their readers. GM Hans Tikkanen states in the book that “using this method gave me a tremendous increase in stability in time trouble, improved my tactical vision quite a bit, and significantly reduced my blunder rate.” He also credits it with being instrumental in achieving his grandmaster title and surpassing a rating of 2500. Other readers report similar results: better tactical performance, and fewer blunders, and large increases in their rating.