One brick at a time and the house is built. We all know that going slow and steady is what it takes to reach a milestone. But what are the milestones in chess and more importantly, how to aim or fix these milestones and achieve them? How can we go about building a successful chess career while maintaining the enthusiasm quotient on an upward graph?
How often do you wonder, “I wish I were good at chess…” Maybe you want to be better at chess tactics or strategy or endgames. Maybe you’d like to be more confident or less panicky while playing a strong player.
Building a successful chess career requires work. It is not often that you can suddenly get better at chess with a tricky opening trap or gimmick.
However, I think a lot of chess players don’t improve simply because they don’t know how to build their knowledge and chess skills at the same time.
In this article, I want to outline a simple 10 step strategy to get better at chess. It does require work, lots of regular and repetitive work. But it can help simplify the process of crossing milestones in chess.
Let us discuss some important milestones in chess from top to bottom in terms of their difficulty level:
Grandmaster Title
International Master
Fide Master Title
Candidate master and
Decent Fide Rating.
Playing a full game of chess.
Learning the basics.
While striving to reach these milestones is desirable, understanding the way to approach these goals is essential to make the journey smooth and enjoyable.
How do we reach (and cross) milestones while building a successful chess career?
What are the ingredients that help in building a successful chess career? How can we maintain the momentum that we had when we first started?
What I really believe in, is the idea that a real journey is no different from a psychological one.
Where there is fun, merriment and company, the journey becomes less tedious and less time consuming.
1. So the first step in Building a successful chess career is to make sure that you are passionate about this on a daily basis.
Deeply passionate.
By that, I mean that your whole day must be focused on this single passion.
You can relax now and then but at the end of the day if you did not engage in your pursuit of chess goals then it is not an earnest endeavor.
2. Form a group that shares your passion. Better still if all family members are involved!
Join a club or make one if there is none! That way the energy levels will be sustained. Back in those days when I was an amateur, I used to invite a lot of chess friends and they helped me when my energy was low, due to stress from other real-world situations.
That was actually a boon for me as if I had not had these friends to push me up I would have quit and stagnated, resigning to my fate.
3. Teach someone.
Yes… it may be strange to hear but teaching someone will give you a sense of what you have understood fully and what you have only a superficial understanding of.
You will be morally responsible and that will bring sincerity to your efforts.
I gained a lot by teaching some younger players a few things about chess training and in return, I was daily increasing my knowledge by conscious reinforcements and boosting my energy levels.
4. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
Sometimes a stronger player will take the pains to teach you something ONLY if you bother to ask.
Just try it.
I have met quite a few good souls who later on turned out to be good friends on my chess journey! You can try it out in your club or during a tournament.
5. Don’t be afraid of criticism.
Sometimes players who are far younger than you will chide you for your game quality. Take it in your stride.
After all, that kid is giving you a free lesson!
These nifty tips will be in your memory for a long time.
6. Spend some time doing self-study.
That is the most important tip I cannot stress enough.
Too many students of mine need to be weaned off the spoon-feeding that they undergo as beginners.
When they reach a certain level they must be forced to study on their own for some time daily.
This will give them a sense of achievement that will drive them to higher pursuits. A coach can only act as a battery charger.
The ‘capacity of the battery’ is what you will be increasing by self-study. It is your prerogative.
7. Meditate daily.
It is the hidden compass in your life that will constantly guide you on your path.
8. Take a break.
Once a week. This will help rejuvenate your mind and body and settle things down in a proper perspective.
9. Exercise regularly.
While everyone knows that exercise is a good idea, the scientific evidence about its benefits in old age is there for all to see.
Remember that Chess has to retirement age.
So if you love chess you will be playing it for a long time to come, only if health issues are taken care of.
10. Good Diet.
Remember that this is not just for Building your chess career, but for your system as a whole!
Dear Coach. How important is Physical fitness in Chess? I wonder if we must take into account the state of our health when we are about to play a chess game. Will it affect our performance in chess and if so, what are the precautions we need to take, to maintain a balance?
Yours sincerely – Abhishek.
Dear Abhishek.
We are not talking about casual chess games but a serious Chess tournament.
Chess is addictive.
We continue playing when given a chance regardless of how we are feeling mentally or physically. This is a sure recipe for blunders in chess.
Now, coming to your question.
Is Physical fitness that important?
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Physical fitness for your chess games.
At first glance, you might think that Physical fitness is not important, and you can always rely on your brain’s abilities alone.
Well, this is not entirely true. Of course, you are endowed by nature with a sharp analytical mind, for daily pursuits, but they might not meet your requirements in chess.
Since chess needs certain specialized abilities, you want to get the mind to function at a higher than normal peak to meet your milestones in chess.
Without making an appropriate selection of physical training, your physical fitness and stamina won’t be adequate for chess tournaments.
You don’t want your games to end badly due to the loss of concentration, after 3 hours of an intense grueling chess fight, do you?
One of the most crucial aspects of chess abilities is – focus in chess.
A chess player without consistent levels of focus in chess won’t be able to perform at optimal fervor. And that’s the exact recipe for disaster that you want to avoid.
Your Physical fitness can help with a powerful performance in chess that reeks of consistency.
Fortunately, ‘focus’ is a lot like a mental muscle. The more you work on it, the more powerful it gets.
My job as a Chess coach + trainer is not merely teaching chess, but building requisite resilience, focus in chess, and other impactful areas.
5 Tips on achieving peak focus in chess via Physical fitness
1. Play chess only when you are clear-headed.
We function better at different times of the day, and it varies from person to person.
For e.g., I play better at night, while you may play at your best in the afternoon. We need to figure out our optimal performance times and play only when we are focused.
So as far as mental health is concerned – yes, it is essential. But that is not the complete story.
In the case of a serious OTB (over the board) chess tournament game, the stakes are much higher.
You need all reserves of energy, and must also be psychologically focused and clear.
A simple daily routine, like early morning running or brisk walking, increases mindfulness and a state of being in the present.
That is because the human mind must not be disturbed while doing something that needs our complete processing power.
It could throw our brain into an imbalanced state of mind.
It also makes us feel irritated and lose focus in chess.
Furthermore, it’s all about putting away diversions, whether they are physical, your mobile phone, or psychological (your fears), and being in a zen state of mind.
Developing focus in chess along with Physical fitness is the key.
A simple rule of thumb to regain focus. Start by taking several deep breaths while focusing on every breath.
When you feel your mind begins to wander, gently guide your attention back to your deep breathing.
3. Do not stress yourself about the results.
The third most important piece of advice I give my students (and the parents), is to treat all training games as match games, and all match/tournament games as training games.
That way the pressure is taken off the mind and the transition, to a peaceful and thoughtful state of mind, is flowing.
This state of mind is essential to harness the full potential of our minds. And train with this neutral outlook, all the time.
4. The most important factor that helps in achieving all this, is Physical fitness in Chess.
Even though Chess is a mental game, the physical fitness of the chess player helps a lot, in generating the required mental energy.
To keep calculating, at sustained depths in a chess game, mental equilibrium is desirable, to say the least.
Try cultivating the habit of morning walks or better still running as it will provide the much-needed oxygen for the brain to function clearly.
Clearly, exercises are great stress busters!
5. Build up stamina and lung capacity.
Talking of physical fitness I must say that it is very important to have good stamina and lung capacity, to handle all the tension that arises during a serious chess game’s pressure.
One way to increase lung capacity is to blow rubber balloons that kids play with or do aerobic exercises for 10 minutes.
In case these are not possible, try climbing up and down a flight of stairs for 5- 10 minutes.
Or even cycling.
To sum up – Role of Physical fitness and performance in chess.
Play only when your mind is clear and capable of focus in chess.
Play when there is no distraction.
Take all training games as serious games and all tournament games as training games.
Make sure you build up your Physical fitness in Chess by regular training for that super performance in chess.
