How I Help Adult Chess Players Improve Faster

I have said and written many times that I love working with adult chess students. For me, there are many advantages in this. For example, during a lesson I do not have to deal with discipline issues, and I can be sure that the student is listening to me instead of sitting on their phone (yes, yes, some children do that). And of course, there is always an opportunity to learn something myself. But let me explain in more detail in this article how I work with adult students and what approach I use.

Before we begin, let’s create an approximate profile of my adult student who comes to me wanting to improve at chess. Usually, it is a man or a woman (lately there have been more women than ever before, and this also makes me happy because I believe chess is for everyone) with a rating between 300 and 1500 on Chess.com. Sometimes it is a complete beginner who does not know how the pieces move, but more often it is someone who is already quite familiar with chess, has already made attempts to train, and maybe even worked with another chess coach.

The First Lesson

So, our first chess lesson. My main task here is to hear the student’s goals and wishes regarding the training process. At the same time, already at this stage I can usually identify their strengths and weaknesses. This becomes clear quite quickly after I ask the student to solve several tactical puzzles, ask a couple of endgame questions, and offer to play 1-2 games against each other, where I can also get an idea of the openings the student has already studied.

Most often, the student’s main problem is their tactical level. In fact, tactical training usually produces faster results than almost any other type of chess study. And I am not talking about the inability to calculate several moves ahead. No, they can do that, but they often rush, become impatient, and make the most natural move without concrete calculation. This is what I see during the puzzle-solving process. And this is exactly what causes the biggest problems in online games and creates those hated blunders. Fortunately, blundering is a skill that can be trained, provided you follow the right habits during your games.

Interestingly, the student usually knows about this problem, but does not focus on it as much as on another issue – openings. Which in reality is just a drop in the ocean compared to the tactical problem. I explain in more detail why openings are often overrated for club players in my guide on reaching the 1500 level. I gladly invite you to read the material, and maybe you will also change your attitude toward openings.

Already in the first chess class, I can outline a clear plan for our work together and assign the first homework. Now let me explain what exactly this plan consists of.

Step One. Proper Independent Work

And this first point is entirely my responsibility as a coach. I must teach the student how to work independently in the right way. The key is not simply working hard, but following a training system that keeps all important areas of chess in balance.

Imagine the student is ready to dedicate 10 hours a week to chess. Two of those are online chess lessons with the coach. That is 20%. The remaining 80% obviously has enormous importance, much greater than our lessons. I cannot fully control those remaining 80%, but of course I want to be sure the student spends this time productively.

That is why I offer several proven methods for independent work. Here they are:

1) Chessable.
I suggest the student complete a course on this platform in their free time that I have already purchased. At the same time, I do not support this format: “Dear student, I recommend Chessable where you can choose any course you like.” We have been there before. Usually, by the next lesson the student comes back with 10 purchased opening courses sold to them by the site’s aggressive marketing. That is why I provide one specific course that I have personally tested and solved, which will bring maximum benefit.

2) Puzzle Rush, Survival Mode on Chess.com.
This is also perfect for independent work. On Chess.com, you can easily set any puzzle difficulty, choose specific themes, or compete against yourself and your previous Puzzle Rush records. It is very interesting because there is a limit of only 3 mistakes, which forces you to think deeper and analyze positions more carefully.

3) Any chess literature of my choice.
To be honest, this is a somewhat outdated training option, but I still meet many students who enjoy studying from books, and honestly, this makes me happy. After all, this is exactly how I studied chess when I was a child, and I know this method from personal experience.

Step Two. Our Online Training Plan. New Topics

Once independent work is set on the right track, it is time to move on to the lesson plan.

Usually, we start by studying tactical patterns the student is not familiar with. This can be something very basic like forks, pins, and double attacks, or something more advanced like overloading, space, blocking, or even zugzwang. Training tactical patterns allows the student to recognize these combinations later in future online games. This is an incredibly important step.

Besides tactical patterns, we constantly analyze the student’s games during chess lessons. As a gm chess coach, I can provide much more feedback on mistakes than a chess engine. I can explain them in much greater detail and, most importantly, tell the student how to avoid them in the future. Remember: analyzing your games is one of the most important parts of improvement. Do not allow your mistakes to repeat again and again from game to game.

Opening.
Here the plan is usually quite simple – for most chess players up to the 1500 level, it is enough to know one opening with White and two with Black. And by “know,” I do not mean memorize, but understand the strategy behind these openings. In this case, you will not be tied to your opponent’s exact moves because you will understand the principles of piece development.

Endgame.
Do not worry, I will not torture you with a huge number of endgames. But still, you need to know the most basic ones, such as how to checkmate with king and queen against king, or king and pawn against king. Believe me, this will save you a huge amount of rating points.

Step Three

As a coach, I will do everything I can to maintain the student’s motivation. I usually offer some interesting options, such as participating in one online tournament or another, or I can recommend interesting places in their city where chess events or friendly tournaments are held. Over many years of working with students from different states and cities, I have collected a certain list of such places and can gladly recommend something. These pleasant moments help the student stay motivated and develop even greater interest in the game.

But the student will also need to do something! For example, they should treat their online rating carefully. Over many years of coaching practice, I have seen countless cases where a student managed to lose around 100–150 rating points in one evening. The absolute record belongs to my student Kenneth, who played chess nonstop for 19 hours and lost around 400 rating points – everything he had earned over the previous five months. It is good that he plays chess and not in a casino, but in my opinion the same principle works here.

Our brain cannot perform consistently well every day. Sometimes we simply cannot think and play chess at full strength. At such moments, it is important not to force yourself but simply to let your brain rest.

My Students’ Results After the First Month of Training

On average, my students take about 5 lessons per month. Of course, 5 hours is not such a big number that you would expect visible progress. During that time, you can learn and practice a new opening or study 3 new tactical or strategic patterns. And it would seem that this can hardly have any effect on your playing strength. Nevertheless, many of my students make a huge rating jump precisely during the first month of our work together.

Why does this happen? Because there is a huge emotional boost, the student gains the feeling that they are on the right path and that they are going to improve in chess, or that they will finally overcome their chess plateau. I even had several cases when a student took their first lesson with me, then disappeared for a month and came back already having gained +200 rating points on Chess.com. In chess, just like in any other sport, the right mindset and self-confidence are extremely important.

Moreover, the student becomes so immersed in chess that they do not even notice how they start training for much longer, spending hours solving puzzles and studying new topics on their own in addition to our lessons together. That is exactly why I always keep one of my most important tasks as a coach in focus – to constantly motivate the student. And this is exactly what I talked about in the third point of the previous section. If I manage to restore my student’s belief in their own abilities and encourage them, then progress comes almost immediately, literally during the first month of our training together.

But unfortunately, sometimes the opposite happens. A student may take as many as 15 lessons a month and still be afraid to play chess on their own. And sometimes I truly cannot help, because such insecurity most likely exists not only in chess but also in other areas of the student’s life. In that case, it is best to first work with a psychologist to understand the root of this problem.

The Right Approach to Our Training

In conclusion, I want to give you one good piece of advice. If you want to achieve the highest possible results in chess, you should treat private lessons with a coach as a crutch. The mistake many players make is that after hiring a coach, they somehow shift all the responsibility onto them and completely stop studying on their own. Imagine that before this you were training independently for 7 hours a week. Maybe not very efficiently, but you were still doing it. And now that time has been reduced to just one hour. No matter how strong or supportive your coach is, you still will not improve with such a small number of training hours.

And you should not replace those 7 hours of independent work with 7 hours of lessons with a coach either! After all, you absolutely have to review the material from your lessons on your own, complete your homework, and play games. If you love chess, then there is definitely a training system that you will enjoy. And if at the moment you do not enjoy training on your own, then you urgently need to change your approach and make your training something you genuinely enjoy!

Final Words

I have always said, and I will repeat it here: one of the main advantages an adult chess student has over a child is their ability to build clear independent work. Children struggle with this more – it is easier for them to get distracted, especially in the age of modern technology.

Therefore, if an adult chess student listens to my advice, uses the right approach to working with the resources I mentioned in this article, avoids losing streaks, and constantly maintains motivation, success is guaranteed.

And if on top of that you add 1-2 training sessions a week with me, where we will analyze your games in detail, study new tactical and strategic patterns, and some openings, then in about a year you will smile remembering how you once doubted yourself and did not believe you could ever reach such a peak in your online rating.

♟ Article prepared by Grandmaster and chess coach Valery Filippov ♟

FAQ

What is the biggest mistake adult chess players make?
They spend too little time training with tactical exercises. As a result, they make blunders in their games.

How many openings should an amateur player know?
No more than 3-4. For example, the Scotch Game or Vienna Game as White, and the Caro-Kann and Queen’s Gambit Declined as Black.

What is the best way to train tactics?
I would say Puzzle Rush Survival Mode on Chess.com.

Is analyzing your own games really necessary?
Absolutely! Try to spend at least 10 minutes analyzing one game using a chess engine.

Do adult chess players need a chess coach?
Not necessarily, but a good chess coach can greatly speed up the process and constantly keep the student motivated, as I try to do.