The Woodpecker Method: How to get the best of both worlds
The woodpecker method was first described by GM Axel Smith in his seminal training book. Increase your rating. Despite its somewhat clickbait title, it’s a serious, top-notch training book that covers a wide range of topics from preparation to tactics to arithmetic and more. On the subject of tactics, the author mentions the woodpecker method, named after the Finnish GM Tikkanen, whose name can apparently be translated as “little woodpecker”.
The book that started it all
Tikkanen credits him with getting him out of a rut and helping him earn the GM title in a short span of time. Another player who was aiming for his IM title also experienced a big jump after accepting it. The promises are big, but most importantly, know this: it’s serious work, not a silver bullet, with chess skills seeping into your brain if you tap your ruby slippers three times.
Magic of chess tactics 2
FM Claus Dieter Meyer has examined a comprehensive pool of current and timeless games / fragments. In the video, Hamburg-GM Dr. Karsten Müller outlined key points of Meyer’s work and created 14 tests plus 10 interactive test sets.
The idea goes like this: You take about 1000 positions from different chess literature, neither too difficult nor too easy, and have to solve them all. Once this is achieved, you can take a break (a day, a week, you decide) before executing the same 1000 positions a second time. This time you should aim to solve them all in half the time, or whatever you can manage. Regardless of whether you remember the solution, you should carefully play through the entire series and even alternatives that you may have previously calculated. When you’re done with this process, take a break and… do it again!
If you have the stamina and time, you might want to try to solve all 1000 in 24 hours. Smith says he just about made it, taking just under 23 hours. Yes, really.
The challenges
In both cases, Smith himself and Tikkanen, the problem they faced was actually using a variety of chess tactics books and then referring to the solutions at the end. Even if you assume the solutions are correct, they often only cover the main line and omit important side lines that help confirm the solution. Here is an example:
The main line of solution is 1. Qa8+ Kg7 2. Bxe5+ Qxe5 3. Qh8+ Kxh8+ 4. Nxf7+ and is usually the only line found in books that share them. However, a player would first have to consider why taking it immediately on f7 wouldn’t work (it allows for constant check).
Also, if you think a move you’ve found is good and don’t see a refutation, you’ll either have to be content with knowing that it’s not the main line, or…set it up in a chess program and consult it engine, which can be very time consuming.
Smith comments in their collaborative follow-up book, entitled “The woodpecker method‘ that one of the tactics books he was using was so worn it was falling apart at the seams.
Why repetitive training is best for the woodpecker method
The Replay Training feature in ChessBase 16 lends itself extremely well to this method, as it not only allows you to test against a large database of tactical positions, but also gives you detailed feedback on each move you wish to test. It will also help you with the last problem that can happen: wrong solutions.
The following chart is a famous combination that has been passed down from book to book for almost 100 years:
The solution is 1…Rxf3! 2. Bxf3 Qxf3+!! 3. Kxf3 Nxd4+ 4. Kg4 Bc8+ 5. Kh4 Nf3 Mate. Awesome right? Aside from what you see when you solve it in rep training:
It tells us that we played the move of the solution, and it also tells us that this is a mistake that costs more than seven pawns. The position has a winner, but it is 1… Nxd4! The net result is that we avoid learning wrong analysis and calculations.
It also means you can test different moves before memorizing the solutions and patterns.
Arithmetic training booster
This video course presents twenty-nine multi-question examples in an interactive format ideal for a range of skill levels. Step by step you will be guided through the complex positions.
How to train with this combination
The first thing you need to do is have a database of tactics to work through. This can come from a digital product such as one of the many excellent products in the ChessBase Shop or other sources.
A look at my personal 1000 exercise database
Open the first exercise you want to start with and make sure you click on the Replay Training tab above the notation.
Also disable hints. You can ask for a tip via the lifesaver button.
No matter how many times you’ve looked at the position, whether this is your first run or your 10th, remember to work through the entire solution meticulously. Once a position is ready, press the F11 key on your keyboard. This is the ChessBase shortcut for ‘next game‘ and the next one will open automatically.
ChessBase keeps track of how correct your solution was, but you may want to consider a spreadsheet to keep track of how many you got right and how much time you spent in each session. The idea is that you want to compare a reference in terms of improved solutions and total time spent.
I hope you find this guide useful and also use it vigorously and successfully.
Video of the woodpecker method
In the video I show how the method works in practice. In the video description you will find a link to the PGN of 1000 exercises that I use.