Hey Impressive Chessers!

I get asked all the time, "How do you become a National Master?" My answer is usually something like: “Develop good habits. Be ready for a mountain of painful losses. Learn to assess your games honestly; even your wins. Treat every game like a treasure map leading to the next breakthrough.”

Then I usually find out they just wanted to know the rating requirement.

“Oh,” I say, slightly sheepishly, “You need an over-the-board (OTB) rating of 2200.” But the real story, the how, goes far deeper than the number.

My “Chess Origin” Story

Like many, I learned how the pieces move from my dad just before I turned five. My parents, probably in an attempt to regain some peace and quiet, got me the program Chessmaster2100 so I’d stop pestering my dad to play all the time.

I eventually started beating Chessmaster… and then my dad. Naturally, I assumed I had conquered the game of chess.

Spoiler: I hadn’t.

Turns out Chessmaster2100 wasn’t great unless you let it think for two minutes per move. And as wonderful a father as mine was, he wasn’t exactly a world-class player either.

How my Chessmaster2100 started every game as Black

So I took a five-year break, thinking I’d “solved” chess. That is, until middle school, when a student from Russia transferred to my school…and then promptly crushed me. That experience reignited my interest and launched the second, more serious chapter of my chess journey.

Becoming a Student of the Game

Growing up, I never had regular access to coaching. My parents were firm believers in the “work for what you want” philosophy, so any chess lessons would be on my own dime. With a teenage budget, consistent coaching was out of reach.

What I did gain, though, was something I wouldn’t trade for anything: I became a master student, and eventually, a master teacher, of the game.

Whenever I studied, I imagined I was preparing to teach a future lesson to myself. I’d ask questions about positions, write them down, and only after trying my hardest to answer them without help, I’d check the computer. The golden rule? Write it down before the engine shows you the truth. Because once you see the solution, your brain tricks you into thinking you “would have” found it.

This practice instilled a powerful habit: confidence during play, honesty during study.

Becoming an Older (and Busier) Student

In my early chess years, I often played too fast. But time trouble was never my big issue. That is until I faced off with International Master (IM) Jack Peters. 

Jack had this habit of asking in post-mortems, “Did you consider this line? Were you going to play Bb5?” I often lied, “Yeah, that was my idea.” Even though the truth was I hadn’t calculated nearly as deeply as he had. I played by feel. Jack played by truth.

Jack Peters's Infamous Game in the 1984 US Championships

I knew that if I wanted to compete with the likes of Jack, I’d need to get serious about calculation. But now I was no longer a teenager with hours to burn. I was launching a career, juggling responsibilities, trying to make room for both chess and real life.

That’s when I remembered something my middle school social studies teacher once said:

"Study smart and consistently, and 20 minutes a day is enough to retain everything I’m teaching you."

So I did the same with chess. And it worked!

I replaced long, meandering study sessions with focused 20–60-minute sprints. I pushed myself to ask questions, write out full variations, and tackle brutal Dvoretsky puzzles. I didn’t have time for lazy calculation. I had to study like I played: sharp and efficient.

The Side Effect: Time Trouble

There was a downside to all this intense calculation work. I got addicted to thinking deeply, even in positions that didn’t require it. This led to a nasty time trouble habit, something that plagues many adult improvers.

I knew I needed to find a solution to time trouble misery, not just for me, but for my students as well.

That’s when I created what I call the Rule of 10%.

The Rule of 10%

In most games, you don’t need to calculate like Jack Peters on every move. But you do need to recognize when a position is critical and deserves your full attention.

The rule:
3–5 times per game, you’re allowed to spend up to 10% of your total time on one move.

Let’s say you’re playing a 15+10 rapid game. Your main time is 15 minutes, and let’s assume the game will last 60 moves. That means you’ll use about 25 minutes total (with increment).

10% of that = 2.5 minutes.

You can burn that full 2.5 minutes when the moment is right—but only a few times per game. Some examples:

• You're transitioning from the opening to the middlegame or entering a critical endgame
  
  
• Your opponent plays a surprising or tactical move
  
  
• You're under serious pressure and need to defend precisely
  
  
• You smell blood and suspect a winning move is available
  
  

Using this rule prevents you from rushing through critical moments or burning all your time on random early middlegame decisions. But fair warning: When you first adopt this rule, your rating might dip. You’ll spend 10% of your time in the wrong moments.

That’s normal. You’re retraining your instincts. But in the long term, this habit pays off; I promise!

Not only will you make better decisions, you’ll win a new category of games: those where your opponent blunders in time trouble, and you don’t!

Conclusion: Mastering the Student Mindset

So, you want to be a master?

It’s not about having a coach for every phase of your journey or memorizing 20-move opening lines. It’s about developing the habits of a master student:

• Honest self-analysis
  
  
• Active learning
  
  
• Precision in calculation
  
  
• Efficient, focused study
  
  
• Consistency over total time
  
  
• Strategic use of time
  

When you make the choice to treat each game like a lesson, and each study session like preparation for something bigger, you’re already walking the master’s path. 

Stay impressive!
NM Craig Clawitter
linktr.ee/ChessToImpress

"Teach yourself like you’re worth learning from.”

Let me know in the comments: what’s your biggest challenge in your chess study routine? Or share a habit that’s helped you improve. Let’s learn from each other, like true students of the game.