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The Woodpecker Method
The quick explanation of the Woodpecker Method is that you need to solve a large number of puzzles in a row; then solve the same puzzles again and again, only faster. It’s not a lazy shortcut to success – hard work is required. But the reward can be re-programming your unconscious mind. Benefits include sharper tactical vision, fewer blunders, better play when in time trouble and improved intuition.
- GenresChessNonfictionReference
392 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
December 22, 2019
This book describes a method - “the woodpecker method” - of improving at chess. You solve the same tactics problems over and over, getting faster each time. One of the authors invented this method using a different tactics book, solving all the problems front to back, then starting over from the beginning and repeating. This book advocates using the same method, but using the tactics problems in this book, which were chosen for the purpose. The rationale is that you need your subconscious to recognize patterns and identify good moves for you rather than always relying on slow conscious analysis. Perhaps training on the same problems repeatedly will improve these subconscious skills better? The authors think so.
Let me be clear: I’m not good enough at chess for this method to make any sense for me. To improve at chess, I need to play more games, not drill tactics problems. But drilling tactics problems just sounds more fun to me than playing games, so drilling tactics it is!
Previously, I had been doing standard (not blitz) tactics problems on chesstempo.com. My ability to solve problems correctly by thinking carefully for 5-10 minutes had certainly improved, but this wasn’t carrying over well to games, where I am still missing simple one-move tactics every game. I tried blitz problems, but I didn’t enjoy them as much and didn’t feel like I was improving at them. Then I noticed that if when I come back to a problem I missed later the same day, I usually still can’t figure it out right away. I started thinking that repeating the same problems might actually work better than solving new ones each day. After trying it, I find repeating the same problems oddly satisfying, because I do at least make progress and get better at solving those specific problems. Will it generalize? Probably not. But I can hope.
Even having decided to drill tactics, I doubt it makes sense for me to use the specific problems and method from this book. The problems are beyond my level. They are divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced problems. The beginner problems are usually at my level, but even those sometimes have solutions that rely on more sophisticated positional evaluation than I have rather than clearly winning material. I haven’t tried the intermediate or advanced ones. The method of always starting over from the beginning seems like a decent technology-free solution, but I would rather solve them in a randomized order each time. I suspect that always solving in the same order would lead me to start remembering solutions based on the preceding problem, which obviously isn’t ideal. So instead of the physical book, I have been using the chessable.com implementation of the book, which uses spaced repetition to give me problems to review. This seems a bit better, but chessable has other tactics sets as well, and I probably should have just picked a different set.
Let me be clear: I’m not good enough at chess for this method to make any sense for me. To improve at chess, I need to play more games, not drill tactics problems. But drilling tactics problems just sounds more fun to me than playing games, so drilling tactics it is!
Previously, I had been doing standard (not blitz) tactics problems on chesstempo.com. My ability to solve problems correctly by thinking carefully for 5-10 minutes had certainly improved, but this wasn’t carrying over well to games, where I am still missing simple one-move tactics every game. I tried blitz problems, but I didn’t enjoy them as much and didn’t feel like I was improving at them. Then I noticed that if when I come back to a problem I missed later the same day, I usually still can’t figure it out right away. I started thinking that repeating the same problems might actually work better than solving new ones each day. After trying it, I find repeating the same problems oddly satisfying, because I do at least make progress and get better at solving those specific problems. Will it generalize? Probably not. But I can hope.
Even having decided to drill tactics, I doubt it makes sense for me to use the specific problems and method from this book. The problems are beyond my level. They are divided into beginner, intermediate, and advanced problems. The beginner problems are usually at my level, but even those sometimes have solutions that rely on more sophisticated positional evaluation than I have rather than clearly winning material. I haven’t tried the intermediate or advanced ones. The method of always starting over from the beginning seems like a decent technology-free solution, but I would rather solve them in a randomized order each time. I suspect that always solving in the same order would lead me to start remembering solutions based on the preceding problem, which obviously isn’t ideal. So instead of the physical book, I have been using the chessable.com implementation of the book, which uses spaced repetition to give me problems to review. This seems a bit better, but chessable has other tactics sets as well, and I probably should have just picked a different set.
October 5, 2018
I own the hardcover book but did my later cycles on chessable (https://www.chessable.com).
I've wanted to try this method since reading about it in Pump Up Your Rating. However, even though that book has instructions I never quite felt I was doing it right and abandoned the method after a couple of short attempts. When I heard this book was coming out I was very excited and bought it day 1 in hardcover.
I was not disappointed. I felt much more motivated working on this than other tactics training I've done in the past on chessable and online tactics trainers (chesstempo, chess.com, etc.).
Also, I have a fairly strong belief that the specific repeated training of these tactical problems will pay off much more than just doing hundreds/thousands of problems without repeating them - never truly internalizing them into my subconscious.
RESULTS (for reference on my playing strength I'm ~2000 USCF):
Cycle 1: 984 problems | 40 hours* | 87% accuracy**
Cycle 2: 984 problems | 18 hours | 92% accuracy
Cycle 3: 984 problems | 10.5 hours | 92% accuracy***
Cycle 4: 984 problems | 7 hours | 92% accuracy
Cycle 5: 984 problems | 4.85 hours | 96% accuracy
Cycle 6: 984 problems | 3.28 hours | 98% accuracy
*The time I tracked in cycle 1 did not count looking at solutions or adding up my score
** I kept strict score according to checkmarks and with a simplified method (1 point for fully correct, .5 for partially correct) and ended up with the same % both ways so in subsequent cycles switched to the simplified method
***My 3rd and subsequent cycles were done on chessable.
ADVICE:
- Calculate out all important variations before making a move!! The authors stress this but it is very easy to skip.
- Use simplified scoring system (1 point for correct, .5 points for partial) vs. complex checkmark system
- Your time will magically get much faster each cycle so be ambitious for your first cycle!
- Trust the process. Yes, you can spend your ~2 months solving twice the tactics instead of doing this method, but I have faith that doing half the tactics 7 times in an intensive training program will pay much better long-term dividends
I've wanted to try this method since reading about it in Pump Up Your Rating. However, even though that book has instructions I never quite felt I was doing it right and abandoned the method after a couple of short attempts. When I heard this book was coming out I was very excited and bought it day 1 in hardcover.
I was not disappointed. I felt much more motivated working on this than other tactics training I've done in the past on chessable and online tactics trainers (chesstempo, chess.com, etc.).
Also, I have a fairly strong belief that the specific repeated training of these tactical problems will pay off much more than just doing hundreds/thousands of problems without repeating them - never truly internalizing them into my subconscious.
RESULTS (for reference on my playing strength I'm ~2000 USCF):
Cycle 1: 984 problems | 40 hours* | 87% accuracy**
Cycle 2: 984 problems | 18 hours | 92% accuracy
Cycle 3: 984 problems | 10.5 hours | 92% accuracy***
Cycle 4: 984 problems | 7 hours | 92% accuracy
Cycle 5: 984 problems | 4.85 hours | 96% accuracy
Cycle 6: 984 problems | 3.28 hours | 98% accuracy
*The time I tracked in cycle 1 did not count looking at solutions or adding up my score
** I kept strict score according to checkmarks and with a simplified method (1 point for fully correct, .5 for partially correct) and ended up with the same % both ways so in subsequent cycles switched to the simplified method
***My 3rd and subsequent cycles were done on chessable.
ADVICE:
- Calculate out all important variations before making a move!! The authors stress this but it is very easy to skip.
- Use simplified scoring system (1 point for correct, .5 points for partial) vs. complex checkmark system
- Your time will magically get much faster each cycle so be ambitious for your first cycle!
- Trust the process. Yes, you can spend your ~2 months solving twice the tactics instead of doing this method, but I have faith that doing half the tactics 7 times in an intensive training program will pay much better long-term dividends
November 1, 2025
This is a puzzle book, one of the better ones. There are online course versions of this book as well as a print edition. Get the latter. My experience is that using the print edition and doing the puzzles on a real board is excellent for chess improvement (along with learning openings). Indeed, my performance in tournaments over the past year (I gained about 400 points at 42-years-old) was positively correlated with how many over-the-board puzzles I did in the preceding weeks.
“Life is a puzzle to be solved, rather than chaos to be endured.” (p. 14)
The puzzles in this book are from world champions’ games and are broken up into sections by difficulty. No doubt, doing the puzzles multiple times, and aiming for faster completion in each iteration, as the “method” involves, would be useful, albeit time consuming. However, it might be more efficient and possibly equally effective to only repeat the puzzles you failed, after adequate spacing (waiting for a period of time), and then to move on to other puzzle books.
“Life is a puzzle to be solved, rather than chaos to be endured.” (p. 14)
The puzzles in this book are from world champions’ games and are broken up into sections by difficulty. No doubt, doing the puzzles multiple times, and aiming for faster completion in each iteration, as the “method” involves, would be useful, albeit time consuming. However, it might be more efficient and possibly equally effective to only repeat the puzzles you failed, after adequate spacing (waiting for a period of time), and then to move on to other puzzle books.
September 1, 2019
The book is addressed to chess players and shows (according to authors) how quickly increase playing strength. The method in nutshell consists of repeated solution of hundreds of tactical exercises, albeit faster every next time. Authors claim that in this way the player can increase his/her ranking rapidly. One of them, International Master Tikkanen, after implementing the Woodpecker Method scored quickly three GM norms. The book is mainly the collection of tactical exercises and their solutions. Only on thirty pages (out of 400) the authors describe the method and give instructions.
When I read the introductory chapter I had a strong feeling of deja vu, well this book essentially repeats the seven circles method proposed by Michael de la Maza in his book 'Rapid Chess Improvement'. De la Maza claimed that implementing his method gained him many ranking points, but the whole story is completely unconvincing for me. First, the fact that Ms Tikkannen and de la Maza benefited from above method does not mean that every other chess player will. Second, seven circles or woodpecker method put excessive and in fact exclusive weight on tactics completely ignoring other aspects of development of the chess player. Third, respected chess coaches and writers, IM Silman, IM Dvoretsky, NM Heisman, GM Nunn do not support this method, some of them (Silman) ridicule it. So I think this method is kind of curiosity, which should not be taken very seriously. At least the book is a good collection of tactical exercises, one of the many on the market, nothing more.
When I read the introductory chapter I had a strong feeling of deja vu, well this book essentially repeats the seven circles method proposed by Michael de la Maza in his book 'Rapid Chess Improvement'. De la Maza claimed that implementing his method gained him many ranking points, but the whole story is completely unconvincing for me. First, the fact that Ms Tikkannen and de la Maza benefited from above method does not mean that every other chess player will. Second, seven circles or woodpecker method put excessive and in fact exclusive weight on tactics completely ignoring other aspects of development of the chess player. Third, respected chess coaches and writers, IM Silman, IM Dvoretsky, NM Heisman, GM Nunn do not support this method, some of them (Silman) ridicule it. So I think this method is kind of curiosity, which should not be taken very seriously. At least the book is a good collection of tactical exercises, one of the many on the market, nothing more.
December 31, 2025
good for beginners to intermediate players, sharp, no-nonsense approach to improving tactical vision through repetition.
It’s demanding but effective.
patterns stick, calculation speeds up, and mistakes reduce over time.
It’s demanding but effective.
patterns stick, calculation speeds up, and mistakes reduce over time.
September 4, 2022
Did I improve? I believe so. Do I hurt? Yes. Will I do it again? Ask me when I'm 1600+. I'm proud I finished, but that was a brutal journey.
Revised: Months later, I'm still feeling burnt out by this book. I had to deduct a star.
Revised: Months later, I'm still feeling burnt out by this book. I had to deduct a star.
December 8, 2018
An interesting collection of chess puzzles. The advanced part was too advanced for me but it was short and I had fun with everything else.
January 18, 2023
I'm thinking there was an issue with downloading the digital version because all the diagrams of the board are squares and the annotation looked like gibberish. I was looking forward to the challenge as a beginner for more insight as this was recommended by a training/coach I follow.
January 1, 2026
I read The Woodpecker Method many years ago, more or less when it first came out. At the time it felt quite different from the usual tactics books, and I remember being unsure whether repeating the same positions again and again would actually translate into real improvement.
The core idea is simple but demanding. You work through a large set of tactical positions and then revisit the same ones in cycles, aiming to recognize ideas faster each time. What surprised me back then is that it really did sharpen pattern recognition. After a while you stop calculating everything from scratch and just see motifs more quickly. That lines up with a lot of other people’s experiences too, especially around faster puzzle solving and fewer basic tactical oversights in games.
It is definitely a grind though. The repetition can feel tedious, especially once positions start to look familiar, and it’s easy to feel like you’re just memorizing answers if you’re not careful. I think it works best if you already enjoy structured training and are willing to trust the process rather than expecting quick wins.
When the book’s online version became available on Chessable, I also picked up the course and did a lot of the drilling there. The online format had some clear advantages over the physical book, especially for volume and convenience. That said, Chessable’s MoveTrainer isn’t really designed around Woodpecker-style cycles, so over time I drifted toward using Disco Chess instead. It’s more purpose-built for this kind of training and feels closer to how the method is meant to be used.
Looking back, I still think the book holds up very well. It was essentially the only structured training I was doing at the time, and during that period my Lichess rating went from roughly 2150 to about 2300, so it’s hard not to credit the method for a big part of that improvement. At the same time, I can see this being pretty rough for weaker beginners or very casual players. The puzzles ramp up quickly and can feel intimidating if your tactical foundation isn’t there yet. For my level, though, it worked extremely well and did exactly what it promised.
The core idea is simple but demanding. You work through a large set of tactical positions and then revisit the same ones in cycles, aiming to recognize ideas faster each time. What surprised me back then is that it really did sharpen pattern recognition. After a while you stop calculating everything from scratch and just see motifs more quickly. That lines up with a lot of other people’s experiences too, especially around faster puzzle solving and fewer basic tactical oversights in games.
It is definitely a grind though. The repetition can feel tedious, especially once positions start to look familiar, and it’s easy to feel like you’re just memorizing answers if you’re not careful. I think it works best if you already enjoy structured training and are willing to trust the process rather than expecting quick wins.
When the book’s online version became available on Chessable, I also picked up the course and did a lot of the drilling there. The online format had some clear advantages over the physical book, especially for volume and convenience. That said, Chessable’s MoveTrainer isn’t really designed around Woodpecker-style cycles, so over time I drifted toward using Disco Chess instead. It’s more purpose-built for this kind of training and feels closer to how the method is meant to be used.
Looking back, I still think the book holds up very well. It was essentially the only structured training I was doing at the time, and during that period my Lichess rating went from roughly 2150 to about 2300, so it’s hard not to credit the method for a big part of that improvement. At the same time, I can see this being pretty rough for weaker beginners or very casual players. The puzzles ramp up quickly and can feel intimidating if your tactical foundation isn’t there yet. For my level, though, it worked extremely well and did exactly what it promised.
January 1, 2026
I picked up The Woodpecker Method 2 after working through the first book and wondering if the whole repetition idea would actually work for positional chess. It turns out it does, but it’s definitely tougher and slower going.
This book feels very different from typical chess puzzle books. There are no obvious tactics jumping out at you. A lot of the time you’re just sitting there staring at a position, trying to understand what’s wrong or what plan makes sense. Early on, that can be pretty frustrating. You solve a position, check the answer, and still feel like you barely understood it.
Where it starts to pay off is on the second or third pass. Positions that felt impossible the first time suddenly feel familiar. You stop calculating so much and start recognizing ideas instead. That carried over into my own games more than I expected. I felt calmer in quiet positions and more confident picking a plan instead of just making a move and hoping for the best.
That said, this is not a teaching book. It doesn’t really explain positional concepts from scratch. The solutions are solid and sometimes very insightful, but they assume you already have some background. If you’re newer to positional play, this book can feel unforgiving.
I think it’s best suited for serious club players who are already doing tactics and want to improve their overall understanding. It’s not light reading and it’s not especially fun in the usual sense, but it does feel effective if you commit to the process.
Overall, it’s demanding and occasionally irritating, but also rewarding. This isn’t a book you read for enjoyment. It’s one you grind through and slowly get better from.
1. While the book is great and definitely belongs in any chess book addict’s library, I still find myself preferring the old Israel Gelfer Positional Chess Handbook. It just clicks with me more.
2. The book also comes with its own bit of admin work: setting up pieces, resetting positions, all that. These days I mostly just drill the positions online instead using Disco Chess and call it a day.
This book feels very different from typical chess puzzle books. There are no obvious tactics jumping out at you. A lot of the time you’re just sitting there staring at a position, trying to understand what’s wrong or what plan makes sense. Early on, that can be pretty frustrating. You solve a position, check the answer, and still feel like you barely understood it.
Where it starts to pay off is on the second or third pass. Positions that felt impossible the first time suddenly feel familiar. You stop calculating so much and start recognizing ideas instead. That carried over into my own games more than I expected. I felt calmer in quiet positions and more confident picking a plan instead of just making a move and hoping for the best.
That said, this is not a teaching book. It doesn’t really explain positional concepts from scratch. The solutions are solid and sometimes very insightful, but they assume you already have some background. If you’re newer to positional play, this book can feel unforgiving.
I think it’s best suited for serious club players who are already doing tactics and want to improve their overall understanding. It’s not light reading and it’s not especially fun in the usual sense, but it does feel effective if you commit to the process.
Overall, it’s demanding and occasionally irritating, but also rewarding. This isn’t a book you read for enjoyment. It’s one you grind through and slowly get better from.
1. While the book is great and definitely belongs in any chess book addict’s library, I still find myself preferring the old Israel Gelfer Positional Chess Handbook. It just clicks with me more.
2. The book also comes with its own bit of admin work: setting up pieces, resetting positions, all that. These days I mostly just drill the positions online instead using Disco Chess and call it a day.
January 30, 2020
Después de un mes de trabajo con el libro, y tras haber finalizado la primera ronda, hago la review.
El contenido es una serie de ejercicios (1168) divididos en niveles fácil, intermedio y difícil. Los autores se basan en el método de los 7 círculos de De la Maza, para mejorar en ajedrez. En esencia, se trata de resolver una serie de problemas tácticos en un periodo de tiempo cada vez menor. Primero en un mes, después en dos semanas, una, y así hasta hacerlos todos en un solo día. Lo cual tomó al IM Kostya Kavutskiy unas siete horas y media. Aún estoy temblando cuando me toque a mi.
Interesante para jugadores con un elo superior a 1500, creo que por debajo de ese nivel se debe hacer bastante cuesta arriba.
En mi caso lo he comprado en la plataforma chessable, lo cual hace más cómoda la resolución y repetición de los problemas.
Me ha gustado mucho, ya veremos los resultados.
El contenido es una serie de ejercicios (1168) divididos en niveles fácil, intermedio y difícil. Los autores se basan en el método de los 7 círculos de De la Maza, para mejorar en ajedrez. En esencia, se trata de resolver una serie de problemas tácticos en un periodo de tiempo cada vez menor. Primero en un mes, después en dos semanas, una, y así hasta hacerlos todos en un solo día. Lo cual tomó al IM Kostya Kavutskiy unas siete horas y media. Aún estoy temblando cuando me toque a mi.
Interesante para jugadores con un elo superior a 1500, creo que por debajo de ese nivel se debe hacer bastante cuesta arriba.
En mi caso lo he comprado en la plataforma chessable, lo cual hace más cómoda la resolución y repetición de los problemas.
Me ha gustado mucho, ya veremos los resultados.
August 29, 2020
This is pretty much the non-flaky version of de la Maza which was a notoriously hyped book on how to cram study for Tactical Chess Problems for fast results.
That book was pretty much snake oil and this book is the equivalent for masters trying to break through into grandmaster territory. Burn through tactical studies and then repeat those studies over and over till you get faster results.
I'm not sure if this is a path that 98% of people would take, and Silman ridicules this method as well as a few others. Silman always has some pretty strong opinions, but at least he explains why he likes or dislikes certain things.
I think others have stated, this of this book as a relatively interesting collection of difficult tactical problems, and laugh at the ridiculous but gutsy path a few people try out to get 'Speed Learn' results.
That book was pretty much snake oil and this book is the equivalent for masters trying to break through into grandmaster territory. Burn through tactical studies and then repeat those studies over and over till you get faster results.
I'm not sure if this is a path that 98% of people would take, and Silman ridicules this method as well as a few others. Silman always has some pretty strong opinions, but at least he explains why he likes or dislikes certain things.
I think others have stated, this of this book as a relatively interesting collection of difficult tactical problems, and laugh at the ridiculous but gutsy path a few people try out to get 'Speed Learn' results.
July 17, 2024
It is a very respectable book on tactics if you discount the method.
February 20, 2025
I genuinely think this book is responsible for ~200 elo gain. They say chess is 99% tactics and holy shit this is as far as I know the single best way to reinforce tactical patterns
February 22, 2025
الكتاب مافيه هري كتير، تمارين اشتغل وبعدها العب وأكسب. ممتاز جداً
December 2, 2025
This book may never make it to the "finished" shelf. It's a fantastic tool for chess improvement and is designed to be revisited over and over again.
December 22, 2025
Pairs really well with puzzles of 1000+ elo on chess.com but you need to know what thought processes to have before making any move in chess which I got from a YouTube video..
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