BEING A YOUNG CHESS PLAYER IN 2025
# Being a Young Chess Player in 2025
*by CGM (13 y.o. chess player)*
In 2025, chess is bigger, faster, and more exciting than ever especially for young players like me.
I’m 13 years old, and chess is a huge part of my life. Through this blog, I want to share what it’s really like to be a young chess player today: the ups, the downs, the lessons and why I love this game no matter what.
## The Chess World in 2025
Chess has changed so much in just the past few years.
Now, everything happens online Chess.com, Lichess, streamers, YouTube coaches. You can learn from GMs on Twitch or watch Magnus Carlsen play a bullet match live.
Engines are stronger than ever. Stockfish 16, Lc0, and new AI tools can show ideas that humans never thought of before. It’s both amazing and overwhelming because it means we always have more to learn.
More and more young players are getting strong super fast. You see 8 or 9-year-olds with 2200+ ratings online. The tools and opportunities are there but so is the pressure to keep up.
## My Personal Chess Journey
I started playing chess a 5-6 months ago and immediately got hooked. The beauty of the game the strategy, the traps, the thrill of winning a long battle keeps me coming back.
Right now, I’m on a comeback journey. Recently, I lost my old Chess.com account due to a ban and had to start over. My new rating dropped after a couple of painful games but I’m fighting back.
My daily training looks like this:
- Morning: Visualization drills and middlegame study from *How to Reassess Your Chess*
- Evening: A tough puzzle routine 20 easy, 10 medium, and 5 very hard puzzles
- Before games: More puzzles and warmup tactics
- I rarely study endgames now because I’ve done 350+ pages from Silman’s Endgame Course already.
I’ve taken breaks like a 5-day one recently and sometimes I struggle with tilt or bad losses. But each time, I remind myself: it’s a journey, not a race.
## Opportunities & Challenges
### Opportunities:
- So many free resources: YouTube, Twitch, Chessable, blogs
- Easy to find training partners or join online clubs
- Play anyone in the world, anytime
- Engines to analyze your games deeply
### Challenges:
- So much competition it feels like everyone is getting stronger so fast
- Hard to stay focused sometimes with so many distractions
- Dealing with cheaters online (yes, it still happens)
- Staying motivated after losing streaks or bans
## Looking Ahead
My goal this year: stabilize my rating on my new account and push back to 1700+, then beyond.
I also want to improve my middlegame understanding not just tactics, but plans, ideas, positional play.
For other young players out there: don’t give up easily. I see so many people resigning too early. Even if you lose your queen, keep fighting you’ll learn more from those games than from easy wins.
## Final Thoughts
Being a young chess player in 2025 is exciting, challenging, and sometimes frustrating. But most of all it’s fun. The chess world is wide open, and there’s always more to discover.
If you’re also on your own chess journey whether just starting or aiming for 2000+ I’d love to hear your story. Let’s keep learning, improving, and loving this beautiful game.