Exceptional results - simple training

Most people think by doing exceptional things. I disagree. Exceptional results often come from consistency and a focus on the basics (you can argue that consistency is very exceptional nowadays). Solving positions with similar tactical motifs daily, analyzing even your worst games, and trying to play simple chess. These 3 methods have two main things in common:

• They bring exceptional results if done well
• Nearly nobody does them consistently - because they are rather boring

It is the same in every field.

Nailing the basics is the most important thing when you try to improve any skill. And that is often done by repetitive, boring training.

• Michael Jordan shot thousands of free throws in his training.
• Roger Federer always warmed up with basic baseline shots.
• Pro Football teams start their sessions with the same boring passing exercises daily.

You know what you should do - get to work.

If you are reading this blog, chances are that you know what you should do to get better at chess. Nothing fancy—just work on the basics. You don’t need more knowledge, another fancy course, or more motivation. What you need is a simple plan and putting in the work. To avoid any confusion, here is a super basic plan I often use with new students.

Monday/Wednesday/Friday: Play 2 10+5 games - analyze them.
Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday: 30min Tactics solving (on Lichess or with Step Method Books) - 15min going through the solutions, spotting mistakes.

Goals: Full focus during training sessions. Not more - or less chess training than planned. Over time, you will be able to adjust this plan a little bit. But playing + analyzing, and solving tactics will always be the cornerstones. Ready to try it out? Get to work - you will be surprised by the results.

Success Stories With Simple Plans

In response to the article above, which I originally sent to my Newsletter list (sign up for free here), I heard some incredible success stories. I want to share two of them today.

• Sankar went from 1480 to 1695 Lichess in two months.
• Bhavishya went from 1400 to 2100 Lichess in roughly a year.

Both have extremely simple training methods influenced by my writing.

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Sankar Kumar Sana - Training the right way after a bad tournament

Here is what Sankar wrote me after reading my article on simple training:

Looking at Sankar's Lichess Profile, I realized a few things:

• He plays less than most chess improvers (127 Rapid games in 1 year)
• There is no long streak of games (max of 5 games in a row)
• A simple opening repertoire (1.e4 for White, 1...e6 for black; looks like ChessMood's WhiteMood / BlackMood to me)
• No nonsense - only two bullet games, basically no variants

This is a great showcase of keeping everything simple and doing what works. I wondered what the motivation was for Sankar's shift, and he answered:

After performing poorly at a tournament on July 10th, I became serious about making a training plan. I read your 7-day blog on making a training plan, and I used that as a guide.

This is what his Rapid Graph looks like from July 10th to today:

Started at 1480 - currently at 1695; + 215 points!

I will close this success story in Sankar's words:

Of course, I couldn't follow it (the training plan) daily either because of not having time or doing something else like reading a book (on chess). I added that extra info so people can know it's okay to miss practice only on certain occasions.

Bhavishya - 1400 to 2100 in less than a year

A little different - but equally impressive rise has come from Bhavishya. In the period of May 10th, 2023, to March 2nd, 2024, their Lichess rating skyrocketed from 1435 to a peak of 2147.

Graph from March 2023 to May 2024

Here is what they did:

I did tactics training from the book Woodpecker Method daily and watched some YouTube videos daily for 45 minutes. On alternate days, I played and analyzed the games.

Additionally, Bhavishya mentioned improvements in the mental aspects of the game as one of the key factors to their success.
Checking out the stats, we see a totally different picture for Bhavishya:

• Plays everything from Bullet to classical, atomic, and chess960
• Has streaks of up to 10 rapid games in a row
• Wider opening repertoire - 1.e4 + 1.c4 for White, Mainly Caro + Nimzo for Black

We can see that a simple plan, consistently executed, even allows for some imperfections and still might give amazing results.
Since the peak in March 2024, the trend has gone down for Bhavishya. Plateaus are normal, especially after such a meteoric rise. But here is one very interesting fact I saw:

The biggest rise in Rapid came at the same time as a Bullet break.

So here are the tips I shared with Bhavishya to bring the graph back up:

Simple - Not Perfect

The main takeaway for today is that chess improvement should be kept simple. Those more familiar with my work will realize that the plans mentioned by both Bhavishya and Sankar can be improved. However, the key is that the simplicity and consistency helped them get the ball rolling and see big improvements in their game. Slowly, they can now adjust and improve even further.

Start Now

To start your own success story, read the 7-day plan Sankar used as a guide. Or simply start for the first week with my suggested super simple plan:

• Monday/Wednesday/Friday: 30min Tactics Puzzle Solving
• Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday: 2 10+5 Rapid Games with Analysis

When you get the momentum, you can fine-tune the plan and if you have time, increase the amount of time you spend on chess.
If you want to get a step-by-step guide on how to train chess the right way, check out my course, Next Level Training. You will learn how to create and stick to a plan and how exactly you should study all areas of chess with maximum efficiency. No matter how you go about your chess training, remember to keep it simple and stay consistent. Just like Bhavishya and Sankar, you will be surprised how much you can improve your game this way.

Keep improving,
Noël

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