When an adult starts taking chess seriously, for some reason the conversation very quickly turns to their disadvantages. They started too late. They have a job. They have a family. They cannot study five hours a day. It is harder for them to memorize huge amounts of opening theory. They …
When a new student comes to me, I almost never start with the question, “Which opening do you want to study?” In my opinion, this is one of the most overrated questions in chess training. Of course, openings are important. Sometimes they really do require urgent work. But after many …
The First 3 Things I Fix When Working With a New Student read more
Parents ask me this question quite often. Usually, the situation looks more or less the same. The father plays chess better than the child. Sometimes much better. They sit down at the board, the child tries hard, but objectively has very little chance. The father wins the first game, then …
Over the years I have spent working as a coach, I have probably heard this question from parents hundreds of times. Sometimes they ask it after the very first lesson. The child quickly understood how the knight moves, solved a few puzzles, and the parents already cautiously ask, “What do …
Over the years I have spent working as a coach, I have seen very different reactions from children after losing. One child loses a game, shakes hands with the opponent, and five minutes later is already running around with friends in the tournament hall. Another comes out to their parents …