Most players study whatever feels most interesting that day — usually openings, since they’re the most concrete and least uncomfortable part of the game. The result is a repertoire that’s overbuilt relative to everything else, and a rating that plateaus because the actual leaks (tactics, endgames) never get addressed.
Start with a real diagnostic
Before building a schedule, look honestly at your last twenty losses. Count how many were lost to a tactical oversight, how many to a misplayed endgame, and how many to genuinely being outplayed in the opening. For most players below about 1800, the split is heavily tactical — often 60% or more — yet opening study still eats the majority of practice time. That mismatch is the first thing to fix.
A weekly split that actually works
A reasonable starting split for most improving players: roughly 40% tactics, 25% endgames, 20% opening understanding (not memorisation), and 15% reviewing your own recent games. Adjust based on your own diagnostic — if your endgame technique is genuinely solid, shift that time toward whatever your last twenty losses actually show.
Review your own games weekly
The single highest-value habit most players skip is reviewing their own recent losses without an engine running first. Try to find the critical moment yourself before checking. This builds the actual skill you need at the board — the ability to notice when a position has gone wrong — far more than passively reading someone else’s analysis ever will.
