Earn your own progress by saving your games!
Let me share a story with you.
Recently, I was travelling to Udaipur by train with my close friend, IM Nikhil Dixit,
after a rapid event we had played together the previous day. While sitting on the train, I pulled out my phone and started saving the games from the event.
One by one—out of 9 games—I recalled and saved them, from the first move to the last. Then I went through them again. I found patterns. I found improvements.
It made me happy—not just because of the memories, but because I could recall them.
Why?
Because of passion.
As my coach, GM Vishnu Prasanna, once said:
"A chess player doesn’t just improve when he is training or playing. He improves when he thinks about the game."
My Chess Beginnings
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve thought about chess constantly.
I didn’t go through any formal coaching until I reached 1800 ELO. Until then, I relied completely on books... and the games I played—whether in local tournaments or at home, literally with anyone I could play with.
I never had that bias of only playing stronger guys. I just wanted to play.
And after every single game, I’d analyse it on my own. Openings, middlegame ideas, tactics, positions... even small fragments of games kept running in my mind.
That wasn’t memory.
That was passion.
What I See Today
Sadly, today I often see that the passion for chess is stronger in the coach or parent than in the student.
The student plays, but doesn’t think about the game.
They move on too fast—without reflecting.
And the result?
They get stuck.
A Very Common Scenario
I asked a student recently:
Me: “How did the tournament go? I hope you saved all your games. Let’s analyse them first.”
Student: “Sorry coach, I couldn’t. It was a rapid event, and the time control was short. I didn’t get a chance to write them down.”
In the very next tournament, that same student lost a very crucial game.
You know what the reason was?
Apparently, it reminded him that he fell into an opening trap... the same one he had lost to in the previous tournament!
The excuse?
“Didn’t get time to save the game.”
“Wasn’t able to memorise.”
So I asked him:
Me: “Then how are you able to recall that previous game now?”
Student: “Because when I lost in the same opening again, it just hit me. I had lost in exactly the same way earlier.”
Pain Makes You Remember. Passion Makes You Learn.
This is a very common scenario in chess today.
Players play a lot of games, especially in rapid or blitz formats, but often fail to save them. That’s already a problem.
But what’s worse than not saving a game...
is repeating the same mistake—because you didn’t save it.
When I observe these cases, I strongly believe that two powerful emotions push us toward improvement:
- Pain – It makes us remember our mistakes.
- Passion – It ensures we learn from them.
How to Improve Your Chess Memory
Here are a few tools that can help you improve your chess memory (these are things that have helped me a lot personally):
-
Be passionate about the game. Don’t obsess over results.
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After each tournament, sit in a quiet place and mentally revisit each round.
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Try to recall your opponents, their names, the openings, and any key moments.
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Let the moves come to you—one by one. You’ll be surprised how much you actually remember.
-
Think about chess even when you’re not playing. That’s how patterns start sticking naturally.
-
After every game—win or lose—ask yourself:
“What could I have done better?”
Start With Just One Game
If this feels overwhelming, don’t worry. Just start with one game.
Recall it. Save it. Think about it. Learn from it.
That process alone can change how you play in your next tournament.
Final Thought
Every game we play counts.
Just like in life—every action we make matters.
Good luck.
CM Soham Datar
Coach and Founder @ Chessmonk Academy
Reach me out on Sohamdatar94@gmail.com to get started with your Chess journey!
Lets build it together :-)
