"Confident Decisions Under Pressure" And Other Undertaught Chess Skills

A national master from Southern California, NM Craig Clawitter also has a winning career record against a certain grandmaster—technically. (You'll have to read on to see who and under what circumstances!) For more than 20 years, Craig has been coaching chess in Southern California, and several of his students have gone on to earn titles. Several other players have benefitted from Craig's contributions as a Top Blogger on Chess.com.

Craig is a great teacher and coach, and for that he is the February Coach of the Month here on Chess.com. He offered a lot of truly great insights for the occasion, including the keys to improvement and the time and place for self-criticism. He also shared his coaching philosophy, favorite games and puzzles, and more.

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

I was introduced to chess by my dad when I was four, almost five years old. He showed me how the pieces moved and then sat me down in front of Chessmaster 2100. Before long I was beating the computer, and my parents were amazed. What they didn't realize was that many of those games began like this:

Let's just say the engines of those days weren't quite the caliber of today's Chess.com bots! Still, those early victories hooked me. There's something magical about realizing you can outthink a machine, even if the machine wasn't at full strength.

What is your first vivid memory from chess?

In my junior year of high school I qualified for the Denker High School Championships, representing Southern California. I started off with 2/2 after a nice win against a future IM on the white side of a Dragon Sicilian. A child saw this and asked if I'd be willing to play a few blitz games against him. I was feeling generous with my time so I agreed. He went on to completely destroy my favorite (at the time) King's Gambit. I decided I needed to take the child more seriously, and went on to win a few games, although I did lose another in the process.

After a few games in our recreational match, we had developed a small but growing crowd watching us. After about six games, I remarked how talented the child was for his age and we both said good games. I was about to go on my way when someone from the crowd mentioned that the child was very good and had been taught by NM Bruce Pandolfini of Searching For Bobby Fischer fame. The child's name? Future GM Fabiano Caruana.

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

For the most part, I was self-taught. Although I learned the rules early, I stepped away from chess for years, and only returned seriously about a month before turning 15. Later, I worked with GM Melikset “Melik” Khachiyan [ed. note: Melik has also been coach of the month] who had a major influence on my thinking. One of the most valuable concepts he emphasized was what I now call loose pieces.

Everyone knows to look for hanging pieces, those with zero defenders. A famous example is GM Anatoly Karpov's blunder in this game where 12.Qd1! hits both the hanging h5-knight d6-bishop at the same time.

But loose pieces are often just as instructive: pieces defended exactly as many times as they're attacked. They aren't hanging yet, but they're vulnerable to tactical ideas. 

That subtle distinction changed how I evaluate positions. Many tactics don't come from outright blunders, they come from pressure against loose pieces. Once you see that, you start spotting opportunities everywhere. Here's an example that has happened in a few of my online games: 

What is your favorite or best game you ever played?

My favorite game would be this one:

How would you describe your approach to chess coaching?

My approach to chess coaching is practical, personalized, and rooted in developing independent thinkers.

I'm less interested in students memorizing 20 moves of theory and more interested in helping them understand what's happening in the position in front of them. Improvement comes from learning how to evaluate, identify critical moments, manage time effectively, and make confident decisions under pressure.

Improvement comes from learning how to evaluate, identify critical moments, manage time effectively, and make confident decisions under pressure.

A large part of my work focuses on eliminating “hope chess” and replacing it with purposeful play. We study real games, often the student's own, and train pattern recognition through carefully chosen puzzles and structured discussion. I want my students to recognize when to keep tension, when to simplify, and when to shift plans entirely.

I also believe improvement accelerates when lessons are engaging. Chess is serious, but it doesn't have to feel heavy. My goal is to create an environment where students are intellectually challenged, comfortable asking questions, and excited to compete.

Ultimately, I want students to leave not just with higher ratings, but with clearer thinking, better decision-making habits, and a deeper appreciation for the richness of the game.

I want students to leave not just with higher ratings, but with clearer thinking, better decision-making habits, and a deeper appreciation for the richness of the game.

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

As a coach, my responsibility is to provide clarity, structure, and honest feedback. It's my job to accurately diagnose weaknesses, design lessons that address them efficiently, and create an environment where improvement is both challenging and motivating. I'm responsible for bringing preparation, experience, and objectivity to every session and for telling students what they need to hear, not just what they want to hear.

I also believe it's my responsibility to teach students how to think independently. That means guiding them through critical positions rather than handing them answers, helping them understand plans instead of memorizing moves, and training them to handle pressure with composure. I'm big on my students being able to “tell a story” about why they are playing a certain move. For instance, "I'm playing a3 so that I can prepare a Bc2-Qd3 battery without being hit by Nb4." I never want to hear that my student is playing a3 because it's the theoretical move... and especially not to merely pass the move!

The student's responsibility is effort and consistency. Improvement doesn't happen during the lesson alone, it happens between lessons. Students must review their games, apply what we discuss, play thoughtfully, and remain open to feedback. Unfortunately I do not have the ability to go into their brain and increase their visualization powers. They have to be willing to consistently work on puzzles, solo chess and/or vision, even for just 20 minutes/day, to increase those visualization skills in their own brain.

 Improvement doesn't happen during the lesson alone, it happens between lessons.

Of course, they also have to sit with uncomfortable positions, resist shortcuts, and take ownership of their decisions over the board. Finally, they have to be comfortable telling me that they don't understand something so that I can better explain, in order for it to make sense to my students. “I don't know what you don't know or already do know” is a common refrain in our lessons 🙂

When both sides fulfill their roles, progress becomes inevitable. Coaching is a partnership: I provide the roadmap and tools, but the student has to make the moves.

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

It's not enough to be good at chess and/or solving chess puzzles. You must allocate your time properly during games and invest it in critical positions. You must trust your intuition enough to be willing to lose. And during a tournament, you should believe you are capable of playing great chess. Self-criticism is important, but it belongs after the event, not during it. Confidence during competition; correction afterward.

Self-criticism is important, but it belongs after the event, not during it.

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

I really like this game: 

The reason that I like this game so much is Black didn't even do anything that special until the moment was right: 20...Bxh3!! Until move 20, Black simply improved their worst-placed piece and started developing an overwhelming advantage when White couldn't stand the pressure any longer. It shows how to handle the black side of a critical variation while also highlighting a simple but strong strategy: "Improve Your Worst-Placed Piece."

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

The reason I like this puzzle so much is threefold: First, I get to see how my student will handle a puzzle where there isn't a clear tactical answer. Second, I get to see if the student notices that 12…b5?! is a desirable move. Third and lastly, I get to see if the student is adept at taking opponent resources into account and/or they are able to visualize well enough to see the problem that stems from 12…b5?! and 13. Qb4!

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

I do teach both online and offline, but I definitely prefer teaching online as I already have all my materials ready to share with my students. Teaching in person can be a little tricky because you're setting up positions to talk about and this is time consuming and I bring my laptop anyways, as it has all the material that I want to cover in that lesson. When I receive lessons, I prefer online lessons for this reason and they are usually less expensive, as is the case with me. 

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

The ability to play strong opponents from anywhere in the world. In previous generations, if you didn't live near a strong chess community, improvement was much harder. Today, you can consistently face players at your level within seconds.

Additionally, online game archives allow you to compare your play with historical masters by using Explorer on Chess.com. And time tracking reveals decision-making patterns. If you spend three minutes on a trivial move and five seconds on a critical one, that data is incredibly instructive. For a coach, that information is gold!

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

I don't know if it's under-appreciated but Strategic Play by the late great IM Mark Dvoretsky is my favorite chess book of all time. Dvorestsky has a reputation of being inaccessible to club players, but I think that is due to two of his other books, Dvorestsky's Endgame Manual and Tactical Play. Strategic Play really shows that tactics can lie in a lot more positions than you might think and can definitely help your strategic play, hence the name of the book.