The Truth About Chess Improvement (It's Not Easy)

My favorite educational channel since Danya’s passing. Thank you for everything you do Noel!

The difference between "simple" and "easy" in this video is accurate. "Simple" is often treated as a synonym for "easy" in practice, but it is a misuse of the word. However, most people have unrealistic expectations, and they want easy paths to "improvements" rather than simple ones. I understand how unrealistic that is, and it is why I have abandoned such popular YouTube channels as Gotham Chess and Royal Chess Academy, which rely on clickbait titles, flashy thumbnails, and promises of a huge number of wins from following one video. I still watch Eric Rosen, who is somewhat guilty of these things, but I watch him more for entertainment than for improvement. My favorite channels for improvement (besides this one) are Irina Krush (and I wish she would post more often), Bad Bishop, and Hanging Pawns, but I am selective about which videos I spend time with. I have a narrow opening repertoire that I am trying to hone rather than expand, so if there is a video in an opening I steer away from playing, it is not worth my time, at least for now. I am also trying to focus on a relative few high-quality chess books on areas where I feel I could use the most improvement.

Sometimes I feel like the longer I play the worst I get

I used to be an adult who was improving. Now I'm an adult who enjoys chess. I study for enjoyment, I play for enjoyment, and I learn for enjoyment. And all of that improves my mental health, which is the only rating that matters to me.

What worked for me was identifying how I lose my games. Mostly because of surprise surprise, tactical overseights + thinking too long and getting into time trouble. Both issues really came down to one thing -> I was weaker and slower than my opponents in spotting tactics and calculating. So I stopped studying strategy and/or openings as I was already better than my opponents in that and instead I spent 90% of my study time doing tactics ("100 tactical patterns you must know workbook" was a nice book I went through) and some calculation training. 6 month of good work later and I played a few tournaments and achieved both norms for 1st polish category which Ive been trying to get for the past 3-4 years. Focusing on my biggest weaknesses first was the way to go. It's still my biggest weakness but instead of getting a 4,5/9 or 5/9 score in a tourmanet now I'm getting a stable 6/9 or 6-5/9 score which is huge.

Most of the chess club players that I know have been vacillating between 1600 and 1900 elo rating for the past 30 years despite practising and play chess everyday.

It's always the "crush everyone with this opening" or " 2 million ppl fell for this" or "how to get to 2000 elo" just for clicks and not for genuinely wanting to teach ppl valuable stuff, at least this channel doesn't sugarcoat anything 🙏

To me chess is like learning a new language. You learn some word the some grammar and then apply it until it becomes automatic. I.e. you can speak. The you iterate and refine. In practice both have simple learning methods. That doesnt make it easy. And both have the inverse curve where the better you get the harder it becomes to improve. Great video.

"Thank you so much for the valuable insights! Your video helped me clear my mind. I am currently 2000 ELO online and 1500 FIDE. For months, I struggled with the doubt that I might be 'too late' to pursue professional chess, since most start as kids. However, despite being a university student and working, I realized I still have precious free time that I want to invest in what I love. I have an international youth championship in 4 months. Despite the fears and the voice inside saying I might be wasting my time and i wont achieve nothing in chess , I’ve decided to push through the doubts and start my professional journey now. I’d rather try and fail at what I love than never try at all. Wish me luck and if you guys have something to add please let me know !

this feels like the Rafi Law Firm but for chess, direct, honest, and void of any unecessary optimistic exaggteration

the question is why would you like to improve your chess? if it's just a hobby what for? if you want to be a pro then you already know what it takes.

If chess were easy, everyone would be a GM. As with any activity that is meaningful, it takes effort and study, plus brain power. Sadly, I know the reality of my own limitations, and accept that I will never be great at chess. I do enjoy watching videos by amazing talents such as GM Studer and his wife, WFM Alessia Santeramo.

Yes there are a lot of grifters out there in all walks of life BUT there are also a lot of people who are just waiting to be grifted. They want to know "The only chess opening you need to get to 2000 ELO" Even when I had no clue about chess, I was very suspicious of these types of video titles because my gut instinct was - Even if it is a great opening what do you do after the first few moves? Even the Caro-Kahn (which is a good opening btw) has three variations on like move 3 or something. And that is just the 3 common variations but what if your opponent does something weird? Then there's the issue that by the time you get to move 10-12, in any opening, the chances are you'll be in a position that has never occurred before in any of your games and quite possibly never occurred in any game of chess ever! So where's the video for that scenario??

What site is best for tactics?

Chess is an hobby for us amateurs. Training and playing must be funny to do. If it's boring you will quit, and do other more interesting and funny things.

Your approach is so logical. Thank you

Very good practical distinction between "simple and easy"

Thank you for all the useful advice! You're my favourite chess youtuber when it comes to psychology. Which brings me to my question: Could you maybe at some point make a video about how to recover from a setback? I just had a horrible tournament in which I lost almost all my progress from the last year of playing. I know elo shouldn't be the focus, but it is an indicator of improvement and it's so tough to think you're doing fine but then one single weekend gets you back to square one. I also struggle to deal with tilt during tournaments. Contrary to online chess, you can't just stop playing when things don't go your way!

In every day life the words "Simple" and "Easy" normally mean the same thing and can both be used to describe the same task. But in this video you have explained the distinction between the two words very well.

Loved it! Also - I had just watched Project Hail Mary and I did think of Ryan Gosling when I saw the thumbnail :D