"Consistency Is The Key To Success" And Other Advice From The Coach Who Defeated Fabi

GM Yaroslav "Yaro" Zherebukh has an impressive resume as a player, when he won the 2015 U.S. Masters and later qualified for the 2017 U.S. Championship, where he won his game against defending champion GM Fabiano Caruana. Yaro has an equally impressive resume as a coach, a role he started in 2013, mentoring players like future GMs Hans Niemann, Jeffery Xiong, and Andy Woodward in their adolescent and early teenage years. The same skills he helped them develop, he continues to teach to chess players of all levels.

Yaro's third Chessable course is coming out soon, and we're glad to feature him as our Chess.com Coach of the Month for March 2026. Yaro analyzed his big win at the 2017 U.S. Championship, explained his coaching philosophy, and offered his advice for chess players.

At what age were you introduced to chess, and who introduced you?

I was introduced to chess at the age of six by my father. I started winning against him on a regular basis before my seventh birthday, which influenced his decision to sign me up for some group lessons at the local chess club. 

What is your first vivid memory from chess?

I remember playing my first tournament as a beginner and struggling to win in a position where I had an extra queen and seven pawns against my opponent's lonely king. Eventually, I somehow managed to checkmate him with 8 queens after promoting all of my pawns. The best part, I still have a photo of that glorious win. 

Which coaches were helpful to you in your chess career, and what was the most useful knowledge they imparted to you?

In my chess journey, I was lucky to have a few mentors who profoundly influenced my chess development. IM Volodymyr Grabinsky was crucial in my formative chess years, helping me to get from 2000 Elo rating to GM. He also managed to raise another 10 or so grandmasters! Coincidentally, his sister was my first chess coach.

I also have warm memories of Victor Scherbakov (he passed away in 2021) whose lively group lessons encouraged me to get serious about working on my chess improvement.

After moving to United Stated in January 2013, I started working with GM Alex Onischuk. I believe I picked up his calm and measured approach to chess and to life in general. Thanks to his invitation to study at Texas Tech University, I got my student visa, later the green card, and eventually became a citizen of the United States. I also met my wife while living and working in New York City. It's safe to say that I owe a lot to Alex. 

What is your favorite or best game you ever played?

My best game is against GM Fabiano Caruana from the 2017 U.S. Championship. He was #2 in the word at the time, rated 2817 FIDE! After winning this game, I shared first place with GM Wesley So through the first seven rounds. 

How would you describe your approach to chess coaching?

Every student has a unique set of weaknesses, so my approach is to tailor the training plan and homework to address those issues. Some advanced students may need more work on very specific areas, like getting better at playing Sicilian Najdorf 6.Bg5 for White and memorizing at least 20 moves of theory. In this case, I would help with a deep opening analysis and create a file with at least 50 model games, typically based on Stockfish and Komodo. Others may need an improvement in calculation abilities. If they miss tactics for their opponents, then I may assign some homework with chess studies, where seeing your opponents resources is absolutely essential. On the other hand, if they struggle with a long calculation, solving pawn endgames with at least five-move long solutions can be a great idea.

So, in the end, the training plan for each student will be unique in its own way. Realizing what each student needs and making sure they use their training time efficiently is one of my primary goals.  

I believe the most important component of successful coaching is building a great rapport with the student. I thrive to establish a friendly and fun environment, where my students enjoy the game and feel great about their achievements, big or small. 

What do you consider your responsibility as a coach and which responsibilities fall on your student?

My responsibility as a coach is to provide the best guidance, share all my knowledge and experience, and adjust a training program according to student’s needs and progress. In an ideal world, my students follow my advice, get excited about learning new things, and are willing to do what it takes to achieve their goals. Generally, I’ve noticed a curious trend: if my students do at least two-thirds of what I encourage them to do, they improve significantly.

What is a piece of advice that you give your students that you think more chess players could benefit from?

I like telling my students that consistency is the key to success. Set your daily goal of working on your chess for 90 minutes or two hours (the more the better), and stick to it no matter what. 

It’s also of paramount importance to keep your training routine varied and encompassing every area of chess. It’s difficult to get far in this game when your calculation is great but the openings are abysmal, and vice versa.  

Would you say openings and calculation are the two most important things for chess players to work on?

I do believe that openings and calculation are the most important things to work on. That being said, I personally enjoy studying endgames as well.

What is your favorite teaching game that users might not have seen?

AlphaZero vs. Stockfish in 2018, where AlphaZero sacrificed four pawns for a long term initiative! Please see it for yourself, sit back and enjoy!

What is the puzzle you give students that tells you the most about how they think?

Do you prefer to teach online or offline? What do you think is different about teaching online?

I prefer teaching online purely out of convenience and ability to work with students all across the world. I do like working in person a lot as well if such opportunity presents. My in-person students did exceptionally well: GM Hans Niemann (near Stanford, Connecticut, 2015-2016), GM Jeffery Xiong (Dallas, Texas, 2014-2016), IM Felix Xie (Glasgow, Scotland, 2025 and currently online), and IM-elect Avi Kaplan (Chicago, Illinois 2021-2024, and currently online). I worked with Hans and Jeffery online, too. Some of my star students like 15-year old GM Andy Woodward (2020-2024) and 13-year old FM Ethan Guo (since 2023), who is nearly an IM now, only received my coaching online, but it worked out great for them as well.

Teaching online is better than in-person when it comes to ability to record all classes and review them. However, in-person teaching helps to establish a greater connection between a coach and a student, and can be a wonderful supplement to online coaching when possible. 

What do you consider the most valuable training tool that the internet provides?

Here’s a fun fact: I played my first online game ever only in 2009, after already becoming a GM! Back in the day, the internet just didn’t provide as many options for improvement as it does nowadays. The most valuable training tools on the internet are millions of puzzles on any topic and ability to practice whichever opening, middlegame, or endgame position you like against a computer. Being able to play online and easily find an opponent in less than 30 seconds is quite impressive and helpful for chess development as well.

For advanced players, I recommend utilizing two modern tools: 1) the engine clouds, which make any analysis much more precise and faster, and 2) tablebases, for a deep understanding of anything related to an endgame.

Which under-appreciated chess book should every chess player read?

Recently, I really enjoyed Think Like a Super-GM by GM Michael Adams and Philip Hurtado. It provides valuable insight into how chess players think, from beginners to the top grandmasters. I believe it is beneficial for all levels.