Rausis was actually a 2600+ GM before smart phones. I really wonder what his story was. Was he in financial trouble? Perhaps a loved one with expensive medical needs? I would love to hear his side.
I didnt think it was that difficult in retrospect to get to 1700(by just doing tactics and playing games and learning on the fly what is good/bad, no books/tournaments) but its the 1750-1800-1850 that is, just wish i didnt live in a chess wasteland so to speak Respect for sharing your journey.
Really helpful, thank you. I'm a ~1900 on Lichess classical and have hit a plateau. That is when I realized I needed something extra, as my passive style wasn't cutting it anymore. I really like the idea of trying new openings to expose yourself to different middle games/ideas, I had never thought of that. Same with getting a coach. So far taking tactic training seriously has helped very much. I was amazed how many tactics me (and my opponents) would miss. Heck, even 2000-21000 players. So that has helped my vision/creativity for sure
Glad you found it helpful! Indeed one of the best things to exit a slump is to find a new legend to study. Tal, Shirov, Anand, Kasparov, tons of great attacking players out there
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy Hey Kostya, i wanted a feedback from you on your GM training series...Did the woodpecker method training help you...it has been a while so i thought definitely by now you must have seen the difference/improvement in your tactical vision and tactics - if there was any. Im about 1600 on lichess, i am wondering i should study the book :) Any reply would be really helpful, thank you!
Trying new openings broke me past multiple sticking points when I was a lot lower rated. You're probably a lot higher rated than me now, but I'm about the same level you were when you wrote this.
IM Kavutskly: upon your recommendation, I have started doing at least a continuous hour of tactics (using Chesstempo) every day. I have decided to work on easy for 60 days, then normal for 60 days and finally on hard for 60 days. After 6 days, I cannot say I see improvement in my recognition but I will state it is very fun and I look forward to working the tactics every day. Thanks for your tips, I enjoy your videos and appreciate your efforts to help us peons.
I have heard a lot of people say shoot for the stars and land on the moon, essentially saying try to be great but not really; this makes you expect not to achieve greatness and it was the following quote which changed my attitude: "dont expect results you didnt work for". Now my attitude is shoot for the stars and get there; an extra mile will only get you out of your neighbourhood, but an extra 100 will could get you put of state.
This isn't related to chess, but such a condenser microphone isn't meant to record sound in this way. It's a cardioid mic - it picks up sound from the front. Also it's quite far away and I can hear that you boosted the signal and there's a lot of background noise. For this purpose, your best bet is to use a cheap lavalier mic that you clip onto your shirt. It would be right next to your face so the signal will increase a lot.
00:01:10 Change your attitude and mindset towards your goals. 00:01:40 Shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset to take more risks in your gameplay. 00:02:25 Play more aggressively and dynamically to learn and improve, even if it doesn't always work out. 00:03:37 Learn new openings to explore different positions and enhance your gameplay. 00:05:30 Engage in training with a partner to enhance your skills and practice new openings. 00:06:15 Solve endgame studies regularly to improve your calculation ability and creativity. 00:06:52 Challenge yourself with tough problems to enhance your calculation skills. 00:07:04 Play more principled chess against higher-rated players without fear. 00:07:11 Be open to taking risks and always aim for a win in every game. 00:09:48 Explore new ways of playing positions to gain an edge over opponents. 00:10:58 Work with a coach to gain confidence and overcome hurdles in your progress. 00:11:36 Focus on long-term improvement rather than individual tournament results. 00:12:32 Practice new openings extensively to gain confidence in playing different positions.
Hey man only 3min into the video, really loving the mindset shift here bro. Not a serious chess player myself but i hope you get the gm norms and just keep up the mindset bro gl 💪
I'm 1500 and want to become an IM one day - I am 30 but after watching this (you guys training every single day, watching endless courses, going through books) not sure if I ever will! :'(
@@josephg5332 1600! Starting to use a lof of new openings which i have been learning, i used to just play queens gambit for white and scandinavian for black (which i still love) but I now play sicilian as black which is making me win more games and also ruy lopez for white.but i will continue to play only those opening until I feel i mastered them like i did with Queens gamibt and Scandinavian defense.
Thank you for your videos, they are great. I have been playing off and on for many years. I occasionally play in tournaments and my rating is around 1050. I have a chess library of over 50 books, but besides working on tactics and openings, I am not sure how to study (train) for chess. Your help is appreciated.
I will be doing a longer video on how to train but my main piece of advice would be to choose one topic you're interested in and stick to that. Try to play consistent openings and try to play longer time control training games if you can, followed by analyzing those games to identify your mistakes/weaknesses. All the best!
If you are rated anything below 1600, you lack in tactics. Anything but tactics (specific openings,advanced strategy) won't help. Literally solve basic tactics for 30 mins a day, and pretty fast you should be able to easily beat many players who won against you before.
In my experiance, it is not that difficult to reach 1800-2000 level in chess, that can be done without to much work and dedication, some more talented players can reach even much higher rating without much effort, but this is where people usually get stuck becouse its not that easy to make that next step, you have to put in some time into chess to make it happen, in my example I got to 1900 level of play in maybe 3 years of mainly playing, maybe even before that, and I thought that it is pretty easy, but in the next 3 years I improved maybe just about 100 points in strenght, so yeah.. chess is tough..
Stopped and investigated the book you mentioned, Mindset by Carol Dweck, and ordered it before finishing the video. It is apparently an important book. I decided there was nothing wrong with aiming / hoping for the GM title one day from nearly the beginning of my rated chess career. Turns out to be the growth mindset thinking you discuss. Thanks!
lol this mindset thing is all made-up. The original study simply cannot be found. Besides, females are notoriously bad at chess and Carol Dweck is quite a female's name.
Very nice video. Now I know how to become IM. Jokes aside, at this point, how confident are you on getting the GM title? As you mentioned in this video, that's you main goal.
Do you play blind chess? I think it could be helpful to call the moves out with your flatmate and visualise the board constantly accessing your imagination and pattern recognition. Perhaps setting up endgames and playing through this way will help recall the patterns faster and improve your navigation of the middle game towards a strong endgame. Pattern recognition has been linked to strong chess play as scans of GM brains show that is where most of the thinking occurs in a part of the brain linked to facial recognition. At least I saw a documentary with Susan Polgar where they did this.
@@gm2407 Fun I would just play against my friends, letting them use the board and call out their moves. Very hard at first but you just gotta keep practicing, like 30 min a day, and you'll improve
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy What is the strongest rated player you ever played when you were blindfolded? I would presume that there is a greater difficulty as you must keep track of the game and more complex variations when you have better players.
Hello! I'm here early before your channel blows up! I really enjoyed your video on Adolf Anderssen on the lichess channel. Looking forward to checking out some of the videos in your channel.
Hi Kostya, I've always wondered, how strong do you think a player could get by playing romantically? For example, Morphy is considered by many to have the most romantic games, although with modern chess engines and positional understanding, we now know that his games weren't always the most accurate and some of his opponents may have been defending sub-optimally. Do you think Morphy, playing exactly how he did in the 1800's, could become a titled player today?
I've only ever played online and my highest rating was around 1600. I took a few years off and I am struggling to get back up. However I'd like to break up into 1700s or more and would like to play tourneys when I get time. What are some tips you would suggest to start training? just playing? tactics?
Great video. Should I avoid passive openings if my goal is to improve? Currently 1500 fide, 1950 lichess rapid. I have recently chosen to learn the more passive variations (Rubenstein) of the french, and the semi-slav. I want to spend less time on openings. What's better for improvement: 1. sharp openings, but unprepared or 2. passive openings, but prepared for most responses.
Don't worry about passive/aggressive. You should be playing positions you enjoy. If you want something simple but solid, play the Caro, easier than the French imo
I have played Chess since I was 8yrs old and was my high school champion for 2 years running. I stopped playing for a while but now have a renewed love for the game. I say this honestly, I have never been beaten by any opponent I have played, although I have had a few draws and Stalemates. I am now teaching my son and daughter to play and they are both doing very well. Once Covid is relaxed, I have spoken to the headteacher (my wife) 😉, about starting a chess club in her primary school, and I want to encourage all to join in. How would I go about finding my ELO rating? Is there a site or test I can do?
Very helpful. In your opinion after analysing instructive game on a specific topic for example: how to play with an isolated pawn... Does knowing the game by heart help improving or is it just a waste of time? And thanks for all your helpful videos!!
Thanks for the tips to improvment , very usefull . What hinders you to get to GM level yet , same as IM level , expanding openings , endgame knowledge , exploring novelties , ... on a higher level ?
Hey Kostya, i wanted a feedback from you on your GM training series...Did the woodpecker method training help you...it has been a while so i thought definitely by now you must have seen the difference in your tactical vision and tactics - if there was any. Im about 1600 on lichess, i am wondering i should study the book :) Any reply would be really helpful, thank you!
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy Thank you so much for replying to my message! , aaaand ... no i haven't done any courses on tactics, just the puzzles on lichess or chess.com. Im usually around 1900-2100 puzzles rating on lichess and about 1500 on chess.com not sure where i'll be when you check this message :D, but my puzzles has vastly improved the more i do them... Is there any other book you recommend for a 1600 like me ? :) This is me lichess.org/@/Boardbreaker95
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy luckily i have the 30 day money back thing on chessable, i might be able to refund it and get another tactics book to help, one more suited to my level. TWM was for about 37$ i believe
My strategy as far as openings are concerned was to play safe lines as White (e.g the c3 Alapin vs Sicilian) to hopefully make one draw or there and play unbalanced openings as Black (Chigorin vs d4) because having zero chance anyway I could at least try to have some fun. Not a professionnal approach at all but I did defeat Levon Aronian in a closed 12-players tournament.
I appreciate the advice, but you were striving to become an IM and starting at 2300. What about the rest of us who want to get to 1800, or 2000, or 2200 in the first place…? That’s a pretty big leap. What advice would you share on that front? That would make a great video!
@@shaileshbhat6131 not very good lol. Around 1600 on Chess.com and 1850 on lichess. I can’t seem to make any more forward progress (I started at a 900 though!) despite studying lots of tactics puzzles nearly every day, working through Silman’s book, memorizing a few GM games, and playing different openings and styles.
Everyone gives advice how to reach 2000. The simplest advice I know is to: Just move your pieces forward lol. That's the easiest way to get initiative Of course after all that "studying tactics" and learning common motives. The idea that Igor Smirnov (I hope I remembered correctly) gave is to look at the opponent side of the board and look at moves you can do there and calculating them. (Also, I'm just starting doing that but consider analysing your games by your own: consider if you could've played in a quicker and more convincing way, if you made any useless moves, if you gave your opponent chances, missed a win etc..)
@@shaileshbhat6131 I study 3-5 hours per week (tactics and endgames, analyzing games, studying opening and book work). I do have a career and family though so it would be hard to get more time in. Still, feels like I’ve hit a wall! Lots of games where I’ll have a winning position and blow it somehow lol. Having a coach may help... any recommendations?
Kostya - what book (if any) would you recommend for two particulars ... (1) attacking chess and (2) building up the sorts of positions that allow an attack. Would really appreciate your advice here. I had a similar thing happen to me as you when I started taking risks and really enjoy swashbuckling attacks now for fun.
I'm a chess player from Paraguay, in south america. I discover your channel the last week, and now I'm a big fan of you. So, I have one question, how many hours a week do you study ? (Playing games and hours of just study ) And how many hours of study every week do you think is the minimum and the maximum in order to do a real improve in the chess strength? (Playing games and hours of just study)(Example: minimum 10 hs, maximum 30 hs) P.D. My elo is about 2000 and my goal is become a FM Sorry about my grammar and thanks for the response !!
SIR PLEASE GIVE ME CLEAR PATH OF IMPROVENT RIGHT NOW I AM UNRATED GIVE ME DETAIL EXPLANATION ABOUT HOW I GET TO 1600 LEVEL IN A YEAR OR MORE . WHICH AREAS I SHOULD GIVE MORE TIME ? AND SUGGEST ME MUST BOOKS FOR REACHING MY GOAL AS SOON AS POSSIBLE AND WITHOUT COACH CAUSE I DON'T AFFORD IT. EVERYONE SAYS DO TACTICS BUT I THINK TO REACH THAT LEVEL SOME BASIC ENDGAME AND MIDELEGAME IDEAS AND ONE PARTICULAR OPENING IS MUST . AND ALSO PLEASE MAKE ONE SERIES OF VIDEOES ON ALL TACTICAL MOTIFS LIKE PIN, FORK ,DISCOVERED ATTACK.... IT REALLY HELPS BEGINNER LIKE ME WHO CAN'T AFFORD COACH.PLEASE HELP SIR.
Hello my friend. I would suggest watching videos on RU-vid aimed towards beginners to get the basic knowledge you need (basic endgames, openings, middlegames, etc.) -- there are lots of videos on the tactical motifs you mentioned so you don't need me to cover these, just take your time and try to learn 1-2 new ideas every day. Chessable is also a great resource with lots of free courses. 1) Watch videos 2) Play games and analyze your mistakes after 3) Solve puzzles 4) Work through free courses (Chessable) Good luck!
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy thanks sir it will be really helpful can I go for master class by Garry Kasparov cause im beginning and if the level is to higher then I will be facing difficulties and first 10 or 11 videos of it is on tactical motifs and please suggest me a book for middlegame for my level.should I go for reassess your chess or any other if you can suggest me something and last question is it possible to reach 1800 in 2 year without coach give me a practical answer and thanks for your calculation series hope I get positional and strategic series soon.
Hi, I started playing chess early February 2020, I am 2700 rated online, but I have never had a coach and have been self taught. I do not actually study chess, all I have done for chess the last two years are games and puzzles. I do not know how to continue my path, what should I do?
All well and good, but IMO most of us could study chess full time for many years and never attain even Master level, let alone IM or GM level. Agree or disagree that high chess ability requires a very sharp and deep talent? Not dismissing at all the huge effort that IMs and GMs put in to attain their norms.
@@IMKostyaKavutskiy Thanks for the reply, I enjoy your channel! Well, like most kids I went through a chess phase, but didn't really do much that I could describe as work. I cracked a couple of books and learned a few openings but that was about it. Later on, I got interested again, played and read a little bit more. Now during the pandemic, I'm playing a little on chess sites. Anyway, good luck with your chess career. IM level is rarified air from my viewpoint.
what books would you suggest to structure your thinking? my rating is about 2100. I read the kotov's book and it helped me find difficult moves but it hampered my ability to use intuition etc or so i think. i cant be sure.
He didn't answer yet, but I recommend Yusupov's series. It will be serious work - but going through it all (+solving tactics regularly) and you will improve for sure!
