What does a good self-directed chess training routine consist of?

What elements do you consider essential in individual or self-taught chess training? Tactics, endgames, analysis of classical games, opening preparation, self-analysis...?

As for my playing level, I consider myself a novice, but I've been studying the game for a couple of years and I'm now trying to structure a study routine on my own. I’m curious to learn what’s worked for others in this regard.

I’d appreciate any suggestions or approaches that have worked well for you.

Greetings.

for now work on simple end games, such as pawn and king or rook and king . The lessons in those will translate well into your playing. Then work on tactics. Lichess has excellent sources for all of those for you to train on, and training means going over the lessons until you start to understand them.

I want to add that especially knowing pawn endings helps your middle game. So you can steer the game into something favorable in the ending.

learning how to win the basic endgames is certainly a plus. But most games are won or lost in the middle game, the endgame is then a matter of technique (winning a won position. Rook endings are probably most common because rooks are usually the last piece to see action.

|I would recommend a solid opening repertoire in mainline well established openings such as Queen's Gambit Declined, which is played at all levels. Don't try to memorize the lines to deeply. Lot's of books for players of all levels. It's easy enough to get out of the opening in one piece, but you need to know how to handle the resulting typical middle games. For that reason I prefer opening books that have complete well annotated games. The "Chess Explained series is quite good imo. https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Explained-8-book-series/dp/B08P1K7185 Consider correspondence chess as part of your program. You can use books and database to support your play, and can play many games at once. It's an enjoyable way to learn the openings and it should get you to lots of decent middle games in the opening of your choice. I play a lot of thematic correspondence chess, such as tournaments in the openings of your choice. In my opinion chessworld.net is the best correspondence site for thermatic play.

Being old-school, I prefer tactics puzzles from books over online puzzle. Try them this way... First solve the problem in your head, then write down the solution in proper algebraic form, including the variations, without referring back to the diagram, and then compare your written solution to the one given in the back of the book. I would recommend John Nunn's book, "Learn Chess Tactics" as a way to get started. I imagine there are others.

Thanks for your answers, it seems convincing that there is general acceptance about prioritizing the endgame as one of the foundations of chess training, since my knowledge of the endgame is very elementary i believe these hints point out how it's something i shouldn't disregard in my own game experience.

Normally my approach consists of simply playing a bunch of games until exhaustion and briefly going through them with the engine in-between matches, without a specific instructive goal sometimes, although thinking about overall chess improvement it is reasonable to think about how in-depth attention to the endgame phase may support other areas of understanding in my own training processes, so the advice is appreciated.

To be honest, i would just like to settle on my own personal approach to study without having to depend on paid lessons to get exactly the specific advice i may be needing for a certain technical or conceptual idea, and turning to simple daily-experience from others who may have had or have a similar situation to mine is really an incentive source of comprehension on these themes.

I'll have in mind about puzzles and endgames, that may be a good basis for a long term approach to training chess :)

Any other idea??

I'm not sure if using meditation techniques alongside chess activities could be a reasonable framework as well, but as long as chess is concerned I think just keeping to the basics, like you have mentioned, may be enough for a consistent learning rnythm haha

Cheers!

Lichess has an excellent resource for learning basic endgames for free, take advantage of them.

A good chess routine should begin with 10-15 minutes of solving tactical puzzles to improve your pattern recognition and calculation skills.Then, focus on opening principles rather than memorizing moves. Play a slow game (30 minutes per side), and analyze it afterward, especially your mistakes. Spend time on endgames, practicing basic checkmates and pawn endings. Watch grandmaster games or read strategy books for new ideas. Reflect on your weaknesses and adjust your focus accordingly. Keep your routine flexible, so it stays interesting and fun, and make sure to stay consistent.