Answers.Body: <p>What you describe as the Woodpecker method is a standard training regime many players do. Solving tactics over and over is one of the best ways to improve. Explicitly identifying all the critical lines can only help.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2019-05-18T00:14:12.290Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-05-18T00:14:12.290Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Inertial Ignorance
Answers.Body: <p>In the chapter <em>Woodpecker History</em> from the book <em>The Woodpecker Method</em>, Hans Tikkanen says this:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>I was obviously asked by many people about what I had done to finally
    take the step from IM to GM. I described the method and my rationale
    for adopting it, and several others decided to give it a go. One
    Swedish trainer has apparently invited his students in the north of
    our country to work dedicatedly on the method for a while.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>But, tantalisingly, he does not name names.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2019-05-17T20:47:08.177Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2019-05-17T20:47:08.177Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Brian Towers
Body: <p>The Woodpecker Method was introduced in the book <em>Pump Up Your Rating</em> (<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=avlCnwEACAAJ" rel="noreferrer">Google Books</a>) by GM Axel Smith (<a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1707930" rel="noreferrer">FIDE</a>), who was inspired by a training method used by GM Hans Tikkanen (<a href="http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1706446" rel="noreferrer">FIDE</a>), who used it to improve his chess.  A subsequent book <em>The Woodpecker Method</em> (<a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=HfUQvgEACAAJ" rel="noreferrer">Google Books</a>) was published by the two GMs.</p>
  
  <p>A description of this method is given in <a href="https://chess.stackexchange.com/a/19568/2785">Brian Towers's answer</a>, but it involves repeatedly solving tactics problems (not only <em>what's the best move?</em> But, also, <em>what are the critical lines?</em>).</p>
  
  <p>There's some debate online (see e.g. <a href="https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chesscom-tactics-trainer---the-woodpecker-method" rel="noreferrer">chess.com</a>) as to whether this helped Axel Smith improve, or if this was attributable to other aspects of his chess training.  Hence my question:</p>
  
  <p><strong>Question</strong>: Has anyone other than GM Axel Smith and GM Hans Tikkanen had success improving their chess through the "Woodpecker Method"?</p>
  
Comments.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Comments.CreationDate: 2019-05-17T19:36:26.963Z
Comments.Text: I'm hoping for an answer along the lines of "John Smith used this method for training starting 2013, and his rating improved from 1200 to 1900 in 8 months."  Or some other evidence that this method works in practice.  [I gave a simple description of the Woodpecker method, and a link to a more detailed description.]
Comments.UserDisplayName: Rebecca J. Stones
Tags: <training>
Title: Has anyone other than GM Axel Smith and GM Hans Tikkanen had success improving their chess through the "Woodpecker Method"?
ThreadText: # Has anyone other than GM Axel Smith and GM Hans Tikkanen had success improving their chess through the "Woodpecker Method"?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2019-05-17)
  
  The Woodpecker Method was introduced in the book *Pump Up Your Rating* ([Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=avlCnwEACAAJ)) by GM Axel Smith ([FIDE](http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1707930)), who was inspired by a training method used by GM Hans Tikkanen ([FIDE](http://ratings.fide.com/card.phtml?event=1706446)), who used it to improve his chess. A subsequent book *The Woodpecker Method* ([Google Books](https://books.google.com/books?id=HfUQvgEACAAJ)) was published by the two GMs.
  
  A description of this method is given in [username_2's answer](https://chess.stackexchange.com/a/19568/2785), but it involves repeatedly solving tactics problems (not only *what's the best move?* But, also, *what are the critical lines?*).
  
  There's some debate online (see e.g. [chess.com](https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/chesscom-tactics-trainer---the-woodpecker-method)) as to whether this helped Axel Smith improve, or if this was attributable to other aspects of his chess training. Hence my question:
  
  **Question**: Has anyone other than GM Axel Smith and GM Hans Tikkanen had success improving their chess through the "Woodpecker Method"?
  
  **Tags:** training
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I'm hoping for an answer along the lines of "John Smith used this method for training starting 2013, and his rating improved from 1200 to 1900 in 8 months."  Or some other evidence that this method works in practice.  [I gave a simple description of the Woodpecker method, and a link to a more detailed description.]  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2019-05-18. Score: 4
  
  What you describe as the Woodpecker method is a standard training regime many players do. Solving tactics over and over is one of the best ways to improve. Explicitly identifying all the critical lines can only help.
  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2019-05-17. Score: 4
  
  In the chapter *Woodpecker History* from the book *The Woodpecker Method*, Hans Tikkanen says this:
  
  > I was obviously asked by many people about what I had done to finally
  > take the step from IM to GM. I described the method and my rationale
  > for adopting it, and several others decided to give it a go. One
  > Swedish trainer has apparently invited his students in the north of
  > our country to work dedicatedly on the method for a while.
  
  But, tantalisingly, he does not name names.
  
  
  ---
  
  