As a chess coach, I often come across eager chess players who yearn to improve their skills. One frequent question I encounter is:
How can one enhance their chess skills without the assistance of a chess coach?
Indeed, a coach is beneficial but not an absolute necessity. If you can't access one due to any reasons, don't worry.
You can still enhance your chess abilities by following these three efficient steps:
Self-evaluation: A critical step in self-improvement is evaluating your recent losses. Assess your last 10-15 games and scrutinize why you didn't win. Whether it was due to the opening, middle game, endgame, tactics, nervousness, negligence, fatigue, or another factor, this analysis is crucial. Employing a chess engine could be helpful but it's not mandatory.
Focused training: Having understood your weaknesses from the evaluation, you can now proceed to work on these areas. Avoid dividing your attention over all areas simultaneously. Focus on your weak points to convert them into your strengths.
Recurrence: As long as you face defeats, there's always room for improvement. Identify your weaknesses and tirelessly work towards correcting them.
In my view, repetitively participating in tournaments without devising a strategy for improvement isn't a productive use of resources.
The magnitude of your success lies in your hands. I've observed individuals with modest natural talent, including myself, evolve into proficient players due to sheer hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. However, if you aren't ready to address and rectify your weaknesses, enjoy the game for what it is but don't anticipate remarkable results. Best of luck