Chess & Psychology

Psychology. The study of the brain. The mind is a comfortable place for some. For others, it’s a haunting, confusing, and often uncomfortable place. It’s part of the human condition. Like everyone, your chess skills can be affected in a positive and negative way based on your psychology. More specifically, your state of mind. Your motivation. If you’ve played chess for any decent amount of time, you’ve hit roadblocks. You’re working hard, you’re staying disciplined, but you’re still stuck. In chess. In your career. In school. In the gym. In your relationships.

You work hard. Rest little. Work yourself half-to-death. There’s something noble about that. Yet sometimes you realize you were sprinting in the wrong direction. Gave it your all. Full focus. Full energy. Full heart. Only to realize…you were heading the wrong way. It’s a snowball effect. When we play poorly, we lose our confidence and start to play worse. But, when we play worse, we lose even more confidence, our mood becomes even worse, and so on. But the opposite is true as well. When you’re doing well, most chess players, instead of pushing forward and keeping the momentum in their favor, they take a break… Why? Fear. They think: “I am happy now and proud of my results, what if I grind on and I fail?” or “Finally I started to win, let’s take a break and enjoy this feeling.” So, keep pushing. But it’s not always that simple. We all have something holding us back.

• I would love to raise my rating to 2,000 but…
• I would love to become a master but…
• I would love to have a better work ethic but…

Sometimes I see people saying “I’m rated 1,500 but the only reason I’m not a Grandmaster is because I don’t care a lot.” Or, “I would improve faster but there are no good chess clubs in my area.” They aren’t really the main reasons stopping you from exponential growth. The only two types of issues you can experience are either related to your chess or your life.

• I have a full-time job and don’t have much time for chess.
  

• I don’t know where to start and I don’t have a study plan.

• I can’t afford to buy books or courses.

• I’m struggling to play positions without queens on the board.

• I’m getting bad positions from the openings.

• I’m not good at attacking or defending.

Your list could be very long. You just need to find solutions for all of them. Do you have just 1 hour a day to spend on chess? It may not be possible to spend 8 hours per day on chess, but there’s almost certainly a way to spend an hour a day. If you manage that, it means you’ll get better at chess almost 50% faster (a ton!) You don’t know where to start and you don’t have a study plan? You can’t afford to buy books, courses, or study plans? Are you sure it’s not an excuse and there is no way to solve it? There’s a whole internet at your fingertips. Are you struggling to play endgames? Learn the essential theoretical endgames and study games of greats like Capablanca and Rubinstein. Are you getting bad positions from the opening? Learn openings from literally any trustworthy resource. Are you struggling to attack? Check out Alekhine’s and other great attackers’ games. Are you struggling to defend positions? Check out Tigran Petrosian’s games or find a good book about defense. 

Most of the time, you just need to make yourself motivated enough to do it.