Jeremy's Chess Ascent · The Training Workbook
Thirty exercises for the climb from 1800 to 2000. Book Three.
Written for you, and with you, by Dad.
A letter before we begin
Jeremy,
You are high on the mountain now. This is Book Three, the 1800 to 2000 stretch, and up here the air is thin and the climbing is different. Below, a player improves by learning new things: a fork he had not seen, an opening he did not know. Up here, almost everyone already knows the same things. What separates you now is not what you know but how deeply and how honestly you look, and whether your judgement is true. So this book asks harder questions than any before it.
The combinations run three and four moves deep, with a quiet move hidden in the middle where you least expect it. The openings are your whole ten-weapon repertoire in depth, the new ones too, the London, the Ruy, the Catalan, the Sicilian, past the first plan and into the exact middlegame each is steering toward. There is a whole unit on the other half of chess, defence: the precise move under fire, the counter-blow, the art of giving material back at the right moment. And the endings are the ones a real player must simply own, the Lucena and the Vancura, rook against passers, opposite bishops with rooks on.
The habits do not change. Board first. Calculate to the quiet position. Say it aloud. Then score yourself with brutal honesty. But add one thing here: learn to know when there is no combination, and the right move is a quiet, patient improvement. That judgement, the humility to stop hunting for a shot that is not there and simply better your worst piece, is the mark of the master you are becoming. I built and checked every position in here against a chess engine, so where a puzzle says a move wins, or that there is nothing there, it is true.
Up here, the winner is not the one who knows most, but the one who looks deepest and judges truest.
Dad
How to train with this book
Work every exercise the same disciplined way, but now judge as much as you calculate: is there a combination, or is the honest answer a quiet improvement?
Set the position up on a real board before you read the question twice, then run the forcing-move scan for both sides.
Follow every forcing line to a position you can judge with certainty, past the obvious capture, before you commit to an answer.
Decide truthfully: a forced win, an unsound sacrifice, or no combination at all and a quiet improvement. The honest verdict is the answer.
Open the Coach Key, compare, and give yourself a fair mark out of three. No flattery.
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| 0 | No usable idea, or forced a shot that was not there. |
| 1 | The right feeling, but the calculation or the judgement was wrong. |
| 2 | The correct decision and move, clearly stated. |
| 3 | The correct decision plus the full line or reasoning to the end. |
Each unit is out of 18. Aim for 70%, but the real gate is unchanged: three scores of 70% or more on three different days, plus evidence from your own serious games. Return to each unit three weeks later and do it again from memory. At this level, retention is everything.
The difference between the strong player and the great one is not talent; it is trained judgement, the discernment that only comes from doing the hard work again and again until seeing truly becomes second nature.
“Solid food belongs to the mature, who by constant use have trained their senses to discern.” You are past milk now, son. This is the solid food, and it is constant use that trains the eye.
Hebrews 5:14
The exercises
Board first. Calculate to the quiet position, then judge honestly. Score yourself against the Coach Key. Whose move it is appears under every diagram.
Three- and four-move forcing sequences, the quiet move inside a combination, and the sacrifice you must calculate to the end before you trust it. Judge, do not hope.
1White to move. Black's queen has infiltrated to d1. Count the attackers and defenders on that square, calculate the whole exchange to its end, and win material by force.
Your answer, move or calculation
2White to move, from a Colle-style middlegame. Black's knight has left f6 for d7, so h7 is thinly guarded. Calculate the classic bishop sacrifice Bxh7+ to a clear conclusion: is it sound here?
Your answer, move or calculation
3You are White in your London System, and Black has just grabbed the b-pawn with ...Qxb2, thinking it free. Punish the greedy queen: find the forcing idea and calculate it to a clear advantage.
Your answer, move or calculation
4Opposite-side castling in your Open Sicilian. Before you touch a pawn, run the forcing-move scan for BOTH sides, then decide the plan. Is there an immediate blow, or is this a race to be counted?
Your answer, move or calculation
5You are White in the Closed Ruy Lopez. Search honestly for a forcing win. If there is none, what is the correct decision? Calculate, then choose.
Your answer, move or calculation
6You are White in the London with both bishops trained on the king-side. Is the Greek Gift Bxh7+ sound yet? Calculate the refutation before you decide.
Your answer, move or calculation
The critical tabiyas and exact move-orders of your full ten-opening repertoire, including the four new weapons: the London, the Ruy Lopez, the Catalan and the Open Sicilian.
7You are White in your London System. You have just landed the knight on e5. Lay out the whole attacking plan from here, move by move, and name the sacrifice you are angling for.
Your answer, move or calculation
8You are White in the Closed Ruy Lopez (the Chigorin), and you have just played the big centre with d4. Explain the pawn-tension decision Black now faces and your plan whichever way he resolves it.
Your answer, move or calculation
9You are White in the Open Catalan, and Black is trying to hold the extra c4-pawn with ...a6, ...b5 and ...Rb8. You have just played Nd2. What is the exact idea, and how does the pawn come back with interest?
Your answer, move or calculation
10You are White in the English Attack against the Najdorf, and you have launched g4. Lay out the whole king-side storm, name the break that opens Black's king, and state the one thing you must watch on the other wing.
Your answer, move or calculation
11You are Black in the Advance French, fully mobilised with the knight on f5 pressing d4 and ...Bd7 in. Name your two pawn levers, the order to play them, and the piece plan behind the whole set-up.
Your answer, move or calculation
12You are Black in the QGD, and you have played the Lasker Defence with ...Ne4 and traded pieces to free your cramped game. Explain what you have achieved and the exact plan to reach full equality.
Your answer, move or calculation
Prophylaxis, the good and bad piece, the weak square, the exchange sacrifice, and the hardest judgement of all: which pieces to trade and which to keep.
13You are White and you have just played the modest h3 in the Ruy. It develops nothing. Explain, in full, what prophylaxis is and exactly which of Black's ideas this one quiet move prevents.
Your answer, move or calculation
14A bishop ending, White a pawn to the good. Judge the two bishops: which is good and which is bad, why, and how the better bishop is turned into the full point. Give the plan.
Your answer, move or calculation
15Material is level, but Black is eyeing the ...Rxc3 exchange sacrifice against your queenside. Explain when the positional exchange sacrifice is worth a whole rook, and judge whether it works here.
Your answer, move or calculation
16You are Black in the Classical Caro-Kann, a rich middlegame with the kings about to castle on opposite wings. The hardest positional skill is choosing which pieces to trade. State the rule, and which trades help you here.
Your answer, move or calculation
17You are White in the Sveshnikov Sicilian, and you have planted a knight on d5. Identify the key weak square, explain why it is permanent, and give the plan to make the outpost decisive.
Your answer, move or calculation
18You are Black in the Carlsbad, defending against White's minority attack. White is set for b4-b5. Give your full three-part counter-plan and where the game will be decided.
Your answer, move or calculation
The other half of chess. Precise defence under fire, the counter-blow in the centre, returning material at the right moment, and the saving resources: perpetual check and the fortress.
19You are Black in the Advance Caro-Kann, a sound but slightly cramped defensive position. Defence is precise calculation, not passivity. Give the defensive method and the counter you are aiming for.
Your answer, move or calculation
20You are Black in the Winawer French, a razor-sharp position where White has grabbed two pawns on the king-side. Defence here means counterattack. Explain the plan and why you are not simply lost.
Your answer, move or calculation
21You are Black in the Queen's Gambit Accepted, and White has just struck with d5 to break the position open. The QGA's whole method is holding material loosely. Explain how you meet the break in that spirit.
Your answer, move or calculation
22White to move, the exchange down and worse. Do not despair: hunt for the saving resource, and calculate that it is truly there rather than merely hoped for.
Your answer, move or calculation
23White to move, a whole queen down, yet this holds. Explain what a fortress is and why White cannot be beaten here.
Your answer, move or calculation
24You are Black in a sharp Caro-Kann line where White has sacrificed a knight on e6 for a dangerous attack on your king. This is a genuine test: White has real compensation. State the defensive principles that give you the best chance to survive and consolidate.
Your answer, move or calculation
The endings a strong player converts on demand: the Vancura draw, rook against passed pawns, opposite bishops with rooks on, the outside passer, and the winning method of zugzwang.
25Rook and a rook's pawn against rook, the Vancura drawing method for the defender. Explain how Black draws even though White's pawn is already rolling, and why the method works.
Your answer, move or calculation
26Rook against two connected passed pawns supported by their king. Judge the race, and state the rule for rook against connected passers.
Your answer, move or calculation
27Opposite-coloured bishops (White's light, Black's dark), with a pair of rooks still on the board. Explain why this is completely different from the pure opposite-bishop ending, and which side wants to keep the rooks.
Your answer, move or calculation
28A king-and-pawn ending, two pawns to the good, where one weakness is not enough. Show how White wins by the principle of two weaknesses and the outside passed pawn.
Your answer, move or calculation
29The Lucena position, the most important winning method in rook endings. Pawn on the seventh, your king in front, the enemy king cut off. Describe how to win by building a bridge.
Your answer, move or calculation
30A rook ending, White a pawn down. The single most important principle in rook endings decides whether White holds. Name it, and explain the drawing method.
Your answer, move or calculation
Unit 06 · Track the climb
Score each unit the day you do it, and again three weeks later.
| Unit | First date | Score /18 | Retest date | Score /18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Deep Combinations | ||||
| 2 · Your Repertoire in Depth | ||||
| 3 · Positional Mastery | ||||
| 4 · Defence and Counterattack | ||||
| 5 · Advanced Endgames |
| Book | Why, for you, now |
|---|---|
| Boost Your Chess 1-3 · Yusupov | The orange series, the exact tier above Build Up. Work one lesson at a time and take every test honestly; it is the best structured training in print. |
| Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual | The endgame bible. Study the starred positions, including every ending in Unit 5. Learn the method, not the move. |
| The Woodpecker Method · Smith & Tikkanen | Calculation training by pattern repetition, exactly the skill that separates 1800 from 2000. Do the cycles as prescribed. |
| Grandmaster Preparation: Positional Play · Aagaard | To sharpen the judgement this book demands: the three questions of positional play, drilled on hard examples. Stretch into it a little at a time. |
A word before you close the book
Son, look how far you have climbed. Three books ago you were learning not to hang your pieces; now you are weighing exchange sacrifices, defending lost-looking positions with precision, and converting the endings that decide grandmaster games. The boy who started this journey and the young man closing this book are not the same person, and the difference is nothing but the quiet, honest work you have done where no one could see it.
Keep the two things this book has asked of you. First, look deeper than is comfortable, always one move past where your eye wants to stop. Second, and harder, judge truly: have the honesty to see when there is no brilliancy and the discipline to make the humble, strong, quiet move instead. Depth and honesty together, that is not just how you reach 2000, it is how you reach the top of anything worth climbing, and how you become a man people can trust.
The summit is closer than it has ever been, and you do not climb it alone. Those who keep going, one honest step after another, find that their strength does not run out but grows the higher they go.
I am so proud of the player, and the man, you are becoming. Onward and upward, to the last thousand feet.
Dad