A Self-Taught IM's 5-Step Guide To A Growth Mindset

This guest post has been written by Alan-Safar Ramoutar, an International Master and Chessable Author from Trinidad and Tobago.

Have you ever wondered what separates the greatest chess players in history from the rest? It's not just their flawless execution of openings or their impeccable endgame skills. It's their ability to tame the most challenging opponent of all — their own mind.

Chess outside of tournament play is a game, and chess inside of a tournament is war. The amateur chess player often underestimates the pressure and intensity of a tournament. The long hours, the mental exhaustion and the emotional highs and lows can take a toll on even the most seasoned players.

This is where your mindset becomes your most critical asset. Mental strength is the engine that allows you to access your skills under pressure, and it's a topic that deserves more attention. In this article I will explore some of the pillars of a right mindset and share practical tips on how to cultivate it.

Five characteristics of a growth mindset and how to implement them:

A growth mindset means believing you can improve through effort, learning, and resilience. Rather than being failures, challenges and setbacks are opportunities to grow.

On the other hand, a fixed mindset believes your abilities are set in stone. The reality is that no champion has ever succeeded with a fixed mindset. A growth mindset is the main weapon in every champion’s arsenal with which they enter every fight, every day.

1. Effort. Of the five characteristics we'll discuss, this is the foundation. A person with a growth mindset understands that mastery comes from dedicated work, not just innate talent. One way to build this mindset is to track your progress deliberately. This can be done by keeping a chess journal and writing an entry after every session. Make this concrete by keeping a chess journal with a simple three-point template after every study session:

• Key Takeaway: What's one new idea I learned today?
• Sticking Point: What's one position or concept that confused me?
• Small Win: What did I understand today that I didn't yesterday?

This helps you see growth over time and reinforces that effort leads to results.

The crucial shift is focusing on what you can control. You can’t control whether you win your next tournament game, but you can control showing up for a quality study session. This shift from results to process is key for motivation. Tracking your efforts will help you put things into perspective and stay motivated.

Starting chess at 12 taught me a powerful lesson: consistent, focused effort is the great equalizer. It can overcome almost any perceived disadvantage and is the true engine of improvement.

2. Embracing mistakes. Blundering in chess can feel painful, but it’s also one of your greatest learning opportunities. Instead of feeling shame after a mistake, see it as a signal to dig deeper. Take time to analyze after every game, especially the ones you lose. Ask yourself: What did I miss? Was it a tactical oversight, a positional misunderstanding, or time trouble?

Here’s a concrete habit: start building a “Blunder Database.” After each game, especially ones with major errors, add the position where you blundered along with a brief note explaining what went wrong. Over time, you’ll start seeing patterns, maybe you consistently miscalculate under time pressure, or maybe you overlook backward moves.

This database will reveal your patterns. Do you consistently blunder in time trouble? Add more timed puzzle sessions to your training. Do you overlook your opponent's defensive resources? Spend a week studying prophylaxis.

Funnily enough, we often learn more from our losses than from our wins, because losses force us to confront our weaknesses. So next time you blunder, don’t react with frustration. Instead, take a breath, smile, and say, “Thank you for the lesson.” Then go study that position.

3. Resilience and Perseverance. Setbacks are part of the journey, what matters is how you respond. In chess and in life, things won’t always go your way. Maybe it’s a string of losses in a tournament. Maybe it’s work stress, a breakup, or just burnout. Whatever it is, resilience means showing up again even when your motivation is low.

I’ve been there. After reaching the International Master title and almost being within reach  of the Grandmaster title, life took over. Work drained my energy, and I couldn’t dedicate time to study. Over two years, I lost 150 Elo. I felt like my Grandmaster dream was fading.

But I didn’t quit. Even though my rating is much lower than it was two years ago, I am more motivated and still come with the same drive to reach the GM title. I started rebuilding, slowly. And you can too. Here are some practical ways to bounce back after a setback:

• Pick one small habit to rebuild momentum. For example, solve ten tactics a day or analyze one of your recent losses.
• Set a weekly goal, like “study three times this week for x hours or x minutes,” instead of aiming for perfection.
• Track your progress in a notebook or app, so you can record a checkmark each day. Seeing effort adds motivation.
• Revisit why you play. Watch one of your favorite games, play a few blitz games for fun, or review a memorable win to reignite your passion.

Resilience isn’t about always pushing hard, it’s about not giving up. Even small steps forward count.

4. Curiosity and love of learning. Players with a growth mindset are always open to learning even if it pushes them out of their comfort zone. Always ask questions and stay humble as you can learn from stronger and weaker players alike. My student Andrew exemplifies curiosity and love of learning for me. Despite working a demanding full-time job, he has never let his schedule become an excuse to stop improving at chess. He uses his coaching sessions with me to ask questions on just about everything, and his passion for the game shines through.

So I’m not surprised that despite his busy schedule, and following a two-week in-person training camp with me, Andrew had a great performance at the annual NATO Chess Championship in 2024 held in Greece. Starting ranked 78th, Andrew rocketed to a 12th place finish, gaining an incredible 72 FIDE points with a 2282 performance.

These are some ways to leverage your love for learning:

• After each game, write down any questions you have. After each game, jot down any questions you have, no matter how basic they seem. Then, hunt down the answers - whether from a coach, a trusted chess book, or by exploring the position with an engine.
• Each week choose a topic that excites you. Improvement is not always fun (we all know how endgame study can be boring at times) so it’s imperative to always include topics that excite us in our training. It could be a specific opening or games by your favorite players–take 30 minutes or so just to study that topic not because it is practical but because it is fun.
• Make sure to talk about chess and its struggles with your chess friends at the higher levels! Learning can be social at times; we might learn something just by discussing an opening over lunch with friends.

5. Patience with the learning process. In chess and most fields, improvement does not happen overnight. It is the result of long periods of hard work followed by sudden leaps. A growth mindset involves respecting that timeline, so do not get discouraged when that rating drops or progress is going slow. Stay on course, trusting that steady practice and reflection will eventually pay off.

But patience isn't passive waiting. It's an active practice. It means showing up for your daily study even when your rating chart is flat, trusting that the work you're putting in today will pay off weeks or months from now.

Staying patient particularly during a plateau can be extremely hard. I recommend both revisiting brilliant victories and old mistakes to see progress:

• On days when you feel stuck, keep a collection of your proudest games. Reviewing them isn't about ego: it’s a powerful reminder of your capabilities and a great confidence boost when you need it most.

• Pick a few games you played 6–12 months ago and analyze them again. Ask: Would I make the same mistakes today? Often, you'll notice subtle improvements in your understanding that don’t necessarily show up on a rating chart.
• Create a simple training routine (even 30 minutes a day) that you can maintain during busy or discouraging times. When you show up regularly, progress becomes inevitable, even if it feels slow.

Conclusion

Ultimately, developing a growth mindset is about shifting your focus from short-term results to long-term skill development. This is the essence of the growth mindset in action: set skill-based goals. Instead of 'I want to be 1800,' write 'I want to feel confident in rook endgames' or 'I want to build a fighting repertoire against 1.e4.' These are goals you can actively work toward, day by day. Keep that note visible. Reminding yourself of the big picture makes it easier to stay grounded.

Adopting a growth mindset will make a difference and help you reach greater heights as a player! Let me know in the comments what was your favorite tip of the ones that I’ve shared.

IM Alan-Safar Ramoutar has published How I became an International Master as well as Preparation and Psychology in Chess, co-authored by Pavle Mirosavljev. 

Recently, he launched an opening course: The Fast and Furious Scotch Gambit.