How to improve at chess at 800 Elo
Something specific happens between 600 and 800. Checkmate stops being the answer to half the positions, and one tactic takes its place almost entirely.
- 19 of 67 answers are a fork
- mate falls from 58% to 27%
- 10 need three moves from you
- 10 are a kingside attack
The band where the fork takes over
Of the 67 rating-drawn positions between 800 and 1000, 19 are a fork. That is 28% and it is the highest fork share anywhere on the ladder -- by 1800 it is down to 9%. If you fix one pattern at this rating, fix this one.
Meanwhile checkmate stops carrying the band. It answered 58% of positions below 800 and answers 27% here. Mate in one drops from 12 to 7. The wins are still short, but they are now material rather than mate.
The other visible shift is the second move. Below 800, 12 of 45 answers were a single move. Here it is 7 of 67, and 50 of the 67 ask for two. Two moves is now the normal length of a win.
Where these numbers come from. The trainer holds 10,440 positions from the Lichess puzzle database. Most were chosen by theme, so counting themes across all of them would only measure what we picked. Six of the 87 skills were drawn on rating alone and nothing else -- 720 positions in total -- and every band figure here is counted out of the 67 of them rated in this band.
Two limits worth knowing. No position in the trainer needs more than 3 moves from you, which is a rule we applied when selecting them and not a fact about chess. And Lichess tags one label per idea, so a move that is a fork and a deflection at once is counted once, under whichever tag it carries.
What a fork actually asks of you
A fork is one move that creates two problems when your opponent only gets to answer one. Knowing that is not the skill. The skill is noticing, before you move, that two of your pieces are a knight's jump from the same square -- and noticing when two of theirs are.
- Learn the knight's geometry cold. Every square a knight attacks is the opposite colour to the one it stands on, which means a knight can never fork two pieces on its own colour.
- The king is half of most forks at this level, because a check is the one threat your opponent has no choice about.
- When you count your pieces before moving, count them in pairs. Two undefended pieces on the same colour square are a fork waiting for a knight.
What to train at 800
- ForksThe pattern that owns this band -- 30 positions rated 700 to 1100
- Getting StartedRating-drawn, no theme, no warning -- 83 positions rated 700 to 1100
- Mate in TwoTwo moves is now the normal length -- 30 positions rated 700 to 1100
- Free PiecesWhat a fork is usually punishing -- 28 positions rated 700 to 1100
- Mating AttacksShapes to finish with -- 30 positions rated 700 to 1100
- PinsNext band's pattern, worth meeting early -- 29 positions rated 700 to 1100
Work on paper if you prefer
- Fork worksheetsTwelve positions and an answer key, three difficulty bands
- Free pieces worksheetsThe other half of the same habit
- All worksheetsEvery motif with a printable set
Why do I keep losing my knight at 800?
Because the fork is the most common tactic in this band -- 19 of 67 positions -- and a knight is both the usual attacker and a frequent victim. The fix is counting in pairs: a knight forks two pieces only when they sit on the same colour square.
Should I learn openings at 800?
There is very little to practise on if you do. Every opening pool in this trainer starts above 1000, because that is where opening positions start producing tactics people get wrong. Two more months of forks will do more.
How many puzzles a day at 800?
Small and daily beats large and occasional, and that is about as far as anything here can honestly take you. One lesson is four positions and takes roughly two minutes, which is the size this trainer is built around.