Answers.Body: <p>There are many things that separate players of different levels, and I think you've definitely named two of the big ones: ability to calculate deeper and reducing the number of blunders. But there is more to it than just those two. Some (but not all) of the key qualities that stronger players (usually) possess are:</p>
  <ul>
  <li>More accurate calculation (not just deeper calculation).</li>
  <li>Recognizing the best candidate moves, which comes from the pattern recognition gained with experience, puzzle solving, and going through lots of grandmaster games.</li>
  <li>Better positional and strategic understanding, which allows for better planning.</li>
  <li>Better opening knowledge. Not just memorizing some opening lines, but actually understanding the key ideas and plans in the openings they play, and knowing how these plans extend into the middlegame and endgame.</li>
  <li>(This is a big one) Time management and recognizing &quot;critical moments&quot; in a game. You can't spend 15 mins on every move, but there are usually a few moments over the course of a game that require a deeper think. These can be a piece sacrifice that you need to make sure actually leads to mate, but they can also be a much more subtle idea like regrouping or a Petrosian-eque defensive move like Kh1 to preempt your opponent's attacking plan.</li>
  <li>Fighting tooth and nail for every half point. I remember noticing one of the biggest differences between US Class A players (ratings 1800-1999) and Experts (2000-2199) was how much harder it was to actually convert better positions to wins against the higher-rated players. Lower-rated players would often &quot;keel over and die&quot; when I had an advantage, but the stronger players would put up a lot more resistance. Take a look at games where top players lose, and pay attention to how accurate the winning side has to be. Carlsen, for example, doesn't go down without a fight and will still set traps for his opponents until the very end. Many of his draws are even games where he was worse or possibly even losing at some point, but he managed to create a narrower and narrower path to victory for his opponent until they finally made a small mistake that changed the evaluation.</li>
  </ul>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2022-09-02T14:09:00.933Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2022-09-02T14:09:00.933Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Cephalopod11
Body: <p>I have been playing chess for a while now and have played many national level tournaments as well. But I don't know if I know clearly or not what is a difference between a good player and an average player. Is it the no. of moves about which they think before playing a move or their continuous concentration which they maintain through out a complete game reducing the total number of blunders or what is it?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-09-03T02:25:02.157Z
Comments.Text: The only difference is the quality of the moves they play (and perhaps how quickly they can find said moves). If you're asking how to improve the quality of one's moves, that's the million dollar question :)
Comments.UserDisplayName: Inertial Ignorance
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2022-09-03T03:38:05.070Z
Comments.Text: Perhaps “The Amateur’s Mind” by Jeremy Silman is relevant here.
Comments.UserDisplayName: Rebecca J. Stones
Tags: <rating>
Title: What is the difference between a good player and an average player?
ThreadText: # What is the difference between a good player and an average player?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2022-09-02)
  
  I have been playing chess for a while now and have played many national level tournaments as well. But I don't know if I know clearly or not what is a difference between a good player and an average player. Is it the no. of moves about which they think before playing a move or their continuous concentration which they maintain through out a complete game reducing the total number of blunders or what is it?
  
  **Tags:** rating
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: The only difference is the quality of the moves they play (and perhaps how quickly they can find said moves). If you're asking how to improve the quality of one's moves, that's the million dollar question :)  
  > **username_2**: Perhaps “The Amateur’s Mind” by Jeremy Silman is relevant here.  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_3 on 2022-09-02. Score: 8
  
  There are many things that separate players of different levels, and I think you've definitely named two of the big ones: ability to calculate deeper and reducing the number of blunders. But there is more to it than just those two. Some (but not all) of the key qualities that stronger players (usually) possess are:
  
  * More accurate calculation (not just deeper calculation).
  * Recognizing the best candidate moves, which comes from the pattern recognition gained with experience, puzzle solving, and going through lots of grandmaster games.
  * Better positional and strategic understanding, which allows for better planning.
  * Better opening knowledge. Not just memorizing some opening lines, but actually understanding the key ideas and plans in the openings they play, and knowing how these plans extend into the middlegame and endgame.
  * (This is a big one) Time management and recognizing "critical moments" in a game. You can't spend 15 mins on every move, but there are usually a few moments over the course of a game that require a deeper think. These can be a piece sacrifice that you need to make sure actually leads to mate, but they can also be a much more subtle idea like regrouping or a Petrosian-eque defensive move like Kh1 to preempt your opponent's attacking plan.
  * Fighting tooth and nail for every half point. I remember noticing one of the biggest differences between US Class A players (ratings 1800-1999) and Experts (2000-2199) was how much harder it was to actually convert better positions to wins against the higher-rated players. Lower-rated players would often "keel over and die" when I had an advantage, but the stronger players would put up a lot more resistance. Take a look at games where top players lose, and pay attention to how accurate the winning side has to be. Carlsen, for example, doesn't go down without a fight and will still set traps for his opponents until the very end. Many of his draws are even games where he was worse or possibly even losing at some point, but he managed to create a narrower and narrower path to victory for his opponent until they finally made a small mistake that changed the evaluation.
  
  
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