Practice means designed work with feedback — Ericsson’s construct, not Gladwell’s hour ticket.
Where Macnamara et al. 2014 published domain bands (games ~26%, music ~21%, sports ~18%, education ~4%), this page uses those rounded figures and does not invent new precision.
Steps
- Play a slow game
Enough clock to think.
Search.
- Write a post-mortem
Three errors.
Design.
- Study one structure
An endgame or joseki.
Chunks.
- Face a stronger player
Loss as data.
Zone.
- Use an engine after, not during
Hygiene.
1997.
- Explain a plan aloud
Opponent model.
Talk.
Checklist
- Review exists — Not only play.
- Design named — Ericsson cut.
- ~26% humility — Macnamara games.
- No IQ-nation talk — Editorial.
- Engine role clear — Teacher vs ghost.
- Gender folklore refused — Polgár.
- Transfer not assumed — Far claims need evidence.
- Club or peer exists — Social.
Drills
- Blind chunk recall — Five-piece positions.
- Plan in one sentence — Before the move.
- Opposite-colour game — New problems.
- Loss autopsy — Why the evaluation flipped.
- Teach the rule in 90 seconds — Clarity.
Pitfalls
- Elo as intelligence — A sport rating.
- Bullet-as-practice — Occupancy.
- National game-IQ — Refused.
- Hiding the post-mortem — No information.
Tools
- A slow clock — Search medium.
- A notebook of errors — Designed practice.
- An engine used after — Teacher.
- de Groot or a good annotated classic — Perception models.
Strategic talent: design the hour; retire the poster. Education is not a diagnosis.