Alle vet at en må lære av sine feil, men det er de færreste som gjør det. Nedenfor er det et forslag som den engelse stormesteren (GM) i sjakk, Nigel Davies, har brukt til sine sjakkelever. Den fungerer vel så bra for håpefulle spekulanter.

Her er hans råd til hvordan du kan sette deg mål og evaluere dine ferdigheter. Som spekulant må du tenke metodisk og systematisk:

A Plan to Improve Your  Chess (copyright Nigel Davies, 2003)

A) Setting Realistic Goals

1. How strong would you like to be in chess?
2. What are the realistic chances of achieving this goal
(remembering that age is no barrier, only the time we have
to work on the task and the perception of what we might
achieve)?
3. How long will you give yourself to get there?


B) Strengths and Weaknesses

1. Judging from your last 20 games, what are your current
strengths and weaknesses?
2. Can you break these strengths and weaknesses into specific
areas for improvement, such as tactics, strategy, clock-
handling, specific openings or endgames?
3. Have you obtained a trustworthy second
opinion on your
assessment of your play?


C) Improvement Methods

1. What specific methods can you think of to eliminate your
weaknesses and improve your strengths?
2. Have you obtained a trustworthy second
opinion on these
proposed actions?


D) Scheduling

1. How much time can you make available to work on your
chess?
2. Are you able to set aside some study time, every day or
every week?
3. Is your plan to improve your chess appropriate within the
time available?

E) Feedback

1. As your study program progresses, are there signs of
improvement in your results?
2. What does an analysis of your games
reveal?
3. If you keep a tournament diary, what are your major concerns?