How To Improve In Chess Using László Polgár Method (Lifetime Training Plan) 

I can recommend also Pozharsky’s books. They are 3 books with approximately 1200 problems totally. 1st book: opening mistakes, middlegames (combinations, attack to king) 2nd book: middle game strategy (pieces, pawns, weak squares, coordination) 3rd book: Endgames

It really appeals to me, the simplicity and straightforwardnes of such approach. Separates the wheat from the chaff. And sure, you will suffer in the process, no hints, no narrative. But the idea of giving your best in a focused manner for say 15 mins, then checking the solution - there is value in it, and it cuts through the biggest drama of our times: the overwhelm from access to infinite material and a limited time. I would even suggest that you could do all three books at the same time: one position from Chess, one from Middlegames, one from endgames. That way you could be more well-rounded, rather than wait for 5 years before you finally hit the chess endgames, wouldn't you agree?

this video is a underrated gem

Love the way you approach chess, I can totally relate.

Hi to the author of this video: here on youtube you can find the polgar solutions, so you dont have to check the solutions in the book. This saves a lot of time

Ur an inspiration dude keep it up going to buy the 1st book and solve it also in physical board

Absolutely true. I'm at my peak in lichess ratings by doing this for months now

Please do a follow up video on this in a year or so! I would love these how your feelings progress.

Sounds like these are really good, underappreciated workbooks

This is more than a bit simplistic. The Polgar sisters did a lot more than thrash mates in 2. In particular they had GM coaches, including Benko and Florian. Also it is hardly obvious that laboriously putting simple mates in two on a chess board is a productive use of time.

I found this video and channel very late, but I'm glad to see some Polgar book endorsement on RU-vid :) i don't see much about them but grew up solving the Chess book (i think my dad wanted to shut me up and give me something to do) and recently started the middlegame book. I'm a firm believer in the practical, tactical approach!

El método Polgar es el pionero del ajedrez actual, como se explican los maestros de 10 años? Sencillo, horas resolviendo posiciones, analizando sus propias partidas y aprendiendo la estrategia basica. Saludos desde Argetina 👍 Muy instructivo el video.

Very usefull sugestions - I will try to use this books in my students training

In the beginning you said, “Susan polgar is the best female player”, I think you meant Judith polgar.

Sound great! Good luck!

I think writing your thoughts down during analysis is a good idea when searching for the truth of a complex position, where moves come from understanding strategic ideas and making a plan is the point. When you're trying to find a combination, it might be better to emulate OTB play, where you have to keep everything in your head. It’s rehearsing real world conditions and probably better for improving visualization, which I believe is the point. If a new insight is gained, a new theme is discovered etc, then writing that down afterward would be a good idea. Is writing things down afterward what you meant? BTW, for years I have only been interested in interactive digital books and courses, but I'm finally persuaded by you that part of my chess studies should include using a physical set. I'm also persuaded that Lazlo Polgar's Chess is the book to start this with. Thanks.

Saludos desde Mexico

Do you think that your consistent practice of tactics has given you any other benefits in other areas of your life? I mean...increase of working memory, better focus while reading, better abilitty to solve real life problems....? I've always thought that the reason the tactics study works is because it improves the working memory capacity of the brain, and there's a lot of studies linking working memory with fluid intelligence. There's also a study that linked high visual memory capacity with good undergraduate mathematics students. It's clear that tactics training and visual memory are related.

How are the Polgar books going? How far are you in each? Any updates? Do you still believe this to be a worthwhile series of books to go through? One better than the others? Sections to skip? Focus on?

1:04 Wasn’t Judit the strongest of the three sisters, not Susan?

Great content as always. As a 56 year old adult improver I admire your dedication ! What do you think of the Yusupov books ?

Excellent video and huge commitment! I totally relate to the overwhelming amount of material available online and offline. I'm 50 and I definitely struggle to carve out uninterrupted time for chess study in my daily schedule. At the same time I think Polgar's puzzles should come after having consolidated some chess basics in middlegames and endings... do you agree? Which books (1 or 2 each) would you recommend to get the fundamentals about middlegame and endings before going on with puzzles only? Thanks!

Just to help those who cannot afford to purchase the books your local library may have a copy. Also studying mate in one or two moves can also help you get a queen or rook in one or two moves. Good luck friends.

GM-RAM is a good book as well, along these lines

I have all three of these books by Laszlo Polgar as well as the Susan Polgar series of five books My questions are as follows Are PDF versions good enough? second question Do you recommend a physical board all the time or only once you cant solve them in the book quickly? i recognize quickly is subjective thx for the content

I recently discovered your channel, what a lucky guy I am. Please, can you tell me your thoughs on the Polgar method vs De La Maza/Woodpecker for an adult with limited time to spend on chess? Thank you very much. Greetings from Argentina.

Luka, I watched a video by David Preuss yesterday, "How to learn tactics 1", which is about building up a memory store of simple tactics and patterns, eg discovered attacks, (not complex tactics involving calculation or combinations). What surprised me is that he says (according to neuro-scientists), you can only learn about three patterns a day - more than this and you don't store them. You have to do 3 a day every day, and over three years, you will have done 1100. You need a pattern vocabulary of at least 2000. Once you have this vocabulary, you are equipped to solve tactics really quickly, and this is how masters do it, rather than by brute force calculation. Any thoughts on the 3 a day? It seems to take an extraordinarily long time! Here is the video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Mvkuji08dMc.html

I've moved from 2000 to 2250 using this in 4 months in lichess rapid

Dear friend, do you set up the pieces in a phisical board even for mate in 1 or 2? Thank you very much indeed for your video.

I'm curious, do you feel that the Polgar method of no explanation is better than other position collections you have used such as Lev Alburt's book that has explanations?

Sir: Do you have a view of Arthur Yusupov's 9 Book series? Thank You.

Great video, as usual. So no more use of computers for studying ? That's very similar to my conclusion. Computers make it too easy to just hand waive and try your idea, without needing to look for every possible reply, and to really calculate thoroughhly. But my question to you is why stick to Polgar's books in particular? What makes them so special in your opinion? (In comparison to tactical problem books of authors like Ivatchenko's "The manual of chess combinations" or Blokh's "Combinative Motifs") ?

Hello! Here we are about 4 months since you posted this video. Do you still keep up the regimen you described here? Have you finished the 5334 book yet? What practical difference (ratings, wins versus losses) has it made for you? Thank you for your encouraging and informative lessons!

How are you doing? Tks for the channel

What is your opinion on CT-Art 4.0 after working with it in comparison to Polgar?

How is it going? Has your rating improved?

Do children run the world ??? No adults do. Who made the greatest inventions ? ADULTS !!! So forget the nonsense about children learning more and faster than adults. Adults learn more and faster than children if the adult puts their mind in to gear and focuses on the task in hand !!!!! It's only your own ability to find the time to practice that slows your learning and development. Now kids have the advantage which is they have more time available to them to practice, due to not having any responsibility in life. So progress to progress as fast as possible is only down to time. Once you find this time then practice, practice, practice and practice some more. This is the lock you must find the key for. Namely finding the time to practice. That's why the kids seem to progress faster than adults. They don't have any greater ability. What they have is free time !!!!! There that's my rant for the day.......

1:00 I believe you meant Judit. Susan is great, but Judit was better

Really interesting. Curious like all others I guess how are you doing a year later

Chess has changed. The board game has become 2D so doing tactics from diagrams helps too

Interesting approach! What rating you are at this point?

Please may ask what is your native language?

👍🏽

Zsuzsa Polgar is nowhere close to Jutka Polgar!

Needs to be reprinted