WELCOME TO CHESS HACKS!

Hey there, I’m Leo, founder of Chess Hacks.

Chess improvement is easier than you think.

Don’t be overwhelmed by all the different chess advice you read.

Here, at Chess Hacks, my team and I break down all the complicated chess advice and information out there and give you just the stuff that actually works!

COMMON CHESS MYTHS

First, I want to dispel a few common myths about chess improvement that I keep seeing. These just go to show how much bad chess advice we’ve all been given:

Myth 1: I’m too old to improve in chess

How many times have you heard this from adult chess players?

This is one of the commonest excuses people use to justify their own chess stagnation.

But the truth is, they’re totally wrong!

I will not bore you now detailing all the evidence coming from neurosciences claiming that nerve cells keep regenerating throughout our lives (so, there’s always room for at least some improvement).

Just ask yourself: Do you know any chess players who have improved as adults?

I personally happen to know a good few.

One of them is the most interesting example:

He started playing chess at the age of 22.

He then got so in love with the game, that he became a chess coach as a full-time job.

He has now an Elo rating of around 1900 and keeps getting better.

But there are also more striking examples:

The late Viktor Korchnoi kept winning tournaments well into his 70ies.

Larry Kaufmann became a Grandmaster at the age of 61.

Are you not convinced yet? 🙂

Myth 2: I need years of study for a meaningful improvement in my game

Many chess coaches follow the ‘orthodox’ teaching approach:

They teach some fundamental concepts and then give to their students chess books to study.

And while there are some great books out there, they often require a significant time investment in order for them to be studied thoroughly.

But this is not the right approach for players with limited training time in their disposal.

After all, who has all this time to spare?!?

I like to apply the Pareto principle in my life and focus on what brings the most benefit with the least amount of effort.

The key in this approach is to be picky:

You have to carefully choose where you will spend your time on and mercilessly discard everything else (even if it can be useful – but very time consuming to you)

And yes, this kind of attitude will not make you a World Champion or even a Grandmaster.

But it will help you seriously improve your game and skyrocket your chess rating without a huge time investement.

Myth 3: If I want to improve the ‘proper’ way, I need to mimic how a game of chess naturally evolves. First study openings, then the middlegame, and then the endgame.

I used to think like that.

And most amateur players still believe this.

You see, it’s much easier to spend a few hours, memorize a couple of opening lines and then blitz your moves to your next unsuspecting opponent.

Well, not so fast, Magnus! 🙂

The truth is, openings start playing a meaningful role only when your rating crosses 1400-1600 Elo.

Until you reach that point, applying only some basic opening principles will keep you out trouble and will get you into the middlegame unharmed.

So, openings are not really important at the beginner or post-beginner phase.

Not to mention that learning openings can be very time-consuming.

You have to study chess books or watch chess DVDs and memorize many different variations.

And then you have to put your knowledge to the test by playing dozens and dozens of games practising your new opening.

Not very efficient use of your time.

(I repeat; the above is true only if you have a relatively low rating).

So, if you want to see fast results, you’d better spend your valuable training time on other chess aspects.

What do I mean by that?

Well, check my blog posts! 🙂