How to Improve at Chess as an Adult

Since 2020, my coaching work has changed dramatically. As you already know, during the COVID year there was a huge boom in online chess. This wonderful game gained tens of thousands of new enthusiasts who wanted to learn it. And I gained many new students, 99% of whom turned out to be adults.

I must admit, I had worked with adults before, but they made up no more than 20% of my student base. Since then and up to this day, however, they have become the overwhelming majority. Naturally, I couldn’t help but adapt my training program specifically for adults, because they require a completely different approach compared to children.

Over these six years, through trial and error, I built a training system for my adult students and helped many of them achieve their goals. Based on this experience, I, Grandmaster and chess coach Valery Filippov, will explain in this article how an adult chess player can build an effective training system, start improving in online chess, and later in over-the-board tournaments as well (why not?).

Can Adults Really Get Better at Chess?

Let’s clear this up right away. If you’re skeptical about this question, let me immediately put your doubts to rest and say: Yes, with the right approach, adults can absolutely improve at chess! And believe me, this is the absolute truth. A great many adult students of different ages have trained with me over the years. And yes, I’ll be honest – some of them achieved nothing. After taking a few lessons, they realized chess simply wasn’t interesting to them and moved on to another sport. And that’s perfectly normal! Others were held back by their stubbornness or unwillingness to train. But I have never seen a single adult student who was incapable of learning this wonderful game.

Of course, if you’re starting at the age of 30+, becoming a grandmaster won’t be easy, although even that is possible if you’re willing to sacrifice other areas of your life. If you’re wondering whether it’s even possible, read my article on whether you can become a grandmaster after 30: facts vs. myths, where I separate common misconceptions from reality.

But believe me, every single one of you can reach a level where you’ll be the strongest chess player among your friends, in your workplace, and even be among the top 10% of players in the world! Did you know that to achieve this, all you need is a 1500 rating on Chess.com? (link) Is that really something beyond what’s possible? If you build the right training system and dedicate just 4-5 hours a week to chess, you’ll reach this goal fairly quickly – and enjoy the process along the way.

The Myth That Only Children Can Improve at Chess
I’d also like to share my opinion on this topic. This is a classic case of the “telephone game.” Originally, the statement was: “Only children can become grandmasters and reach the highest levels in chess.” Then this opinion spread from one chess player to another, becoming more and more distorted until today it sounds like: “Only children can improve at chess.” To be honest, I don’t agree with either of these statements – not even the first one. Because I’ve personally seen rare cases where players who first discovered chess as adults reached incredible heights.

As for the second statement, there’s not much to discuss. Just open almost any Chess.com profile rated between 1700 and 2000 and look at the rating graph over the past few years. Do you really think all of those accounts belong to children? Both groups – children and adults – have their own strengths and weaknesses, and understanding these differences is essential for setting realistic expectations and choosing the right training approach. I explain this in detail in my article on why kids and adults improve differently in chess. Children, of course, have more free time and fewer responsibilities. Adults, on the other hand, can be more disciplined and more conscious about what they’re doing. They clearly understand why they’re training and don’t get distracted by YouTube or video games. These two groups simply require different training approaches. And with the right approach, improvement is inevitable.

Why Most Adult Chess Players Stop Improving

Here are the main reasons I’ve observed among my students and others:

1. Psychological. A lack of belief in yourself and your abilities. This is a fatal mistake in any sport, and naturally, you won’t succeed if this problem is present. I don’t think any further comments are necessary here.
2. Psychological. Stubbornness or fear of moving away from strategies that used to work but no longer do. The most basic example is Scholar’s Mate. If you’ve just started playing chess and learned this trap, you’ll happily use it game after game at the 100-300 online rating level. But later on, it simply won’t work anymore, and you’ll just be punished for bringing your queen out too early. Therefore, if you want to grow as a chess player, you absolutely need to learn a more serious opening. And that requires a certain amount of courage and, of course, effort.
3. A lack of training altogether. Yes, one of the most common misconceptions among adult chess players is that to improve at chess, it’s necessary and sufficient to simply play games online. Moreover, those games often aren’t even analyzed afterward. No, that’s simply not how it works. At first, you do develop a certain amount of practical experience, but then you’ll inevitably hit your first plateau, and without proper training you’ll never overcome it.  The golden formula: 75% training and 25% practice.
4. A lack of a training plan. Or when the plan is chaotic. If you simply play games or constantly jump from one area of the game to another without ever going into detail, your training won’t be effective. You’ll simply waste your time and energy, while making no progress at all. This is a very dangerous situation because this is exactly where the mistaken belief that chess just isn’t for you is born. But in reality, all you need to do is change or create your training system.
5. Neglecting tactical training. Tactics are the key to victory almost every time. You may know openings perfectly and understand chess strategy well, but if you have blind spots in tactical calculation, you’ll throw away your entire advantage in a single move by hanging your queen or rook, even if that advantage came from the opening. Train tactics every day for at least 20 minutes! The best methods, training routine, and common pitfalls are covered in my article on tactical training in chess.
6. Playing too many blitz games

The more thoughtfully you play and the more variations you analyze, the faster your playing skills improve. With very short time controls, you simply don’t have time to think, so both you and your opponent just make automatic moves, while all of your mistakes aren’t corrected – they simply carry over from one game to the next. Please don’t play blitz. It’s useless and even harmful because it develops the habit of rushing and moving without thinking. Chess doesn’t forgive that.

3 Things Every Adult Student Should Add to Their Training Process

1) Consistency

I decided to put this first because consistency is the key to success in any sport. And chess is also a sport, even if it’s not a physical one. If studying chess becomes a habit, even if it’s only half an hour every day, then after 3-4 months you’ll be amazed at how much your skills have improved. And I’m not talking about simply playing games every day. No! I’m talking about actual training: learning something new and improving your tactical skills.

2) Solving tactical puzzles

This is literally a must-have. If your tactical skills are weak, then everything else becomes almost useless. Even if you get a fantastic position out of the opening, what’s the point if a couple of moves later you hang a piece and lose your entire advantage? Up to the 2000 rapid level on Chess.com, 99% of games are won or lost solely because of tactical mistakes. So don’t neglect this type of training.

3) Analyzing your own games

Game analysis is incredibly important in chess. Especially the opening phase. Because if you don’t correct your opening mistakes (made during the first 8-10 moves), they’ll inevitably carry over into your future games, and you’ll lose rating again. Try to analyze your games on Chess.com using Game Review. Spend at least 10 minutes on every game! Don’t just look at the game summary – study all the lines suggested by the engine. Also study the opportunities your opponent missed. That can be useful as well.

Tip: For more experienced chess players, I recommend exporting the PGN from Chess.com and analyzing it on Lichess instead. It’s more convenient.

The Best Study Plan for Busy Adults

In this section, I’ll give you three ready-made training sessions, each designed to last two hours. Since I don’t know your playing level, I won’t tie them to specific ratings and will instead use more general terms.

Training Session A. Tactical

Use Chess.com → Puzzles → Custom Puzzles. Solve the following in order:

1. 100 very easy puzzles (this should take about 20-25 minutes)
2. 100 medium-difficulty puzzles (this should take about 50-60 minutes)
3. 100 easy puzzles (this should take about 20-25 minutes)
4. 200 very easy puzzles (this should take about 20-30 minutes in total)

Training Session B. Opening Training

1. Spend 30 minutes solving any puzzles.
2. Spend 30-40 minutes learning the variations of a new opening.
3. Spend the remaining time practicing the opening against the computer or against opponents online.

Don’t forget to review the opening variations over the next 2-3 days so they’ll stay in your memory for a long time.

Training Session C. Endgame Training

1. Spend 30 minutes solving any puzzles.
2. Spend 30 minutes learning new endgame principles.
3. Spend 60 minutes solving endgame exercises.

Alternatives:

If you don’t like mixing different types of training and prefer to spend an entire day focusing on just one area, that’s perfectly possible as well. However, don’t spend all your time watching a YouTube lesson about an opening – or any other video. A format where you simply watch is not very effective for chess improvement. Almost everything is learned by solving exercises or practicing positions. Your brain has to sweat! So if, for example, you want to dedicate a day to endgames, then 75% of the session should consist of solving endgame exercises, and only 25% should be spent studying the theory.

Best Chess Resources for Adult Learners

First of all, of course, it’s Chess.com. This is the best place where you can play online and solve puzzles. I recommend that you purchase at least the basic subscription to get access to Puzzle Rush and Custom Puzzles. There are also many free lessons there, both practical and theoretical. Overall, it’s a must-have platform for you, and you will spend 75% of your time there.

Next, I will mention Lichess. The main advantage of this site is that all of its functionality is completely free. I do not recommend using it as your main site for playing because if you are a beginner, it will be very difficult for you there, since all new accounts receive a rating of 1500, and this creates a huge plateau. But solving unlimited puzzles and watching some videos there – why not.

The next resource that I like is Chessable. But I want to warn you right away to be careful with it. There are a lot of marketing traps there, and they constantly try to get you to buy as many courses as possible. First of all, I recommend buying courses without videos because, as I said earlier in this article, chess is training through practice. And of course, courses with videos cost five times more. Secondly, do not buy a new course until you have completed the previous one, and always rely on the reviews of other users. Do not take a course if its rating is below 4.7!

Finally, I can recommend any chess books with good reviews and a good reputation. To avoid making this article longer, I will not list them all here. But just don’t forget that books are still a good way to learn chess.

Should You Hire a Coach?

A good chess coach is always additional support and guidance for chess players of any level. There are absolutely no disadvantages to the idea of hiring a coach except for the additional financial expenses. If you can afford it, then by all means make use of this tool.

But keep in mind that many beginner adult chess players make this big mistake: after they hire a coach, they stop doing their own training. This is literally a catastrophic mistake. Even if you have three training sessions per week, this may not be enough if you do not train on your own. Please do not forget this.

A good coach can first and foremost point you in the right direction, but they cannot do all the work for you, that is, train your tactics for you or play your games for you.

Choosing the right coach is just as important as deciding to hire one. I discuss what to look for in my article on how to choose a chess coach for beginners.

Final Words

Dear adult chess players, never allow yourself to believe that, for whatever reason, you’re unable to improve at chess. It’s a very harmful and destructive thought that can genuinely stop your progress. Remember that the key to success is belief in yourself plus a properly designed training system. I truly believe that five hours of proper training per week can take you from being a complete beginner to a 2000 online rating on Chess.com within a few years. Many of my students have done exactly that. Step by step, patiently work toward your goal, and most importantly, try to enjoy the training process. If you do, your love for chess will never disappear. Good luck!

♟ Article prepared by Grandmaster and chess coach Valery Filippov ♟

FAQ

How many hours per week should an adult study chess?

If you want fast and steady progress, then I recommend training 5-6 hours per week. The ideal formula is: 2 hours per week with a coach and 5 hours on your own.

Is simply playing online games enough to improve?

Definitely not! If you only play chess but do not train, you will reach a chess plateau довольно quickly and risk getting stuck there for a long time.

How often should I solve chess puzzles?

Preferably every day. Tactical training is the most valuable type of training. Never neglect it!

Can I reach a 2000 online rating as an adult?

Absolutely and without any doubt – definitely yes. And you don’t even need a chess coach for that. A proper training plan, as well as consistency and patience, are the keys to success.

Do I need a chess coach to improve?

A chess coach is a good supporting tool. You can absolutely improve without one, but with a coach it is easier and faster.