Chess Coach’s advice for Players Below 1000

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17 days ago

Hi everyone,

I’m Saro Khachatouri, a chess coach with over 12 years of experience, a FIDE Instructor certificate, and a FIDE rating of 2100. Over the years, I’ve worked with players from complete beginners to tournament competitors, helping them improve their thinking process, calculation skills, and overall game understanding.

I’ve seen a lot of players struggle because they focus on the wrong things too early — often changing openings, playing blitz games, and skipping game analysis. To help, I’ve put together a list of what I believe every player with ambition should be aware of.

If you find these tips helpful and are looking to improve your chess with a structured, personalized approach, feel free to contact me.

Play longer games
In longer games, players get to think longer. The newer to chess, the less established the thinking algorithms are, and the longer a player should take time.
USE YOUR TIME!
Having more time is nice, but what is the possible utility if you do not use this time? Take your time and think. I handle it this way (in classical games): If you get to use your time, get a good position, and pose problems to your opponent, then you will eventually either gain back the time when your opponent is trying to solve the problems, or he will lose track and you will have much better chances to win.
Playing-days and Training-days
I tell my students to distinguish between playing and training days. It is of high importance to gain experience and deal with one’s games. Another important aspect is training. A human brain is capable of processing a lot of things, but processing new information and retaining it is something far more difficult than doing a task you are good at. Therefore, keep the training days rather game-free.
Set yourself a game limit!
In order to stay motivated, focused, and derive the most valuable experience, it is of utmost importance to play a limited amount of games. My suggestion is 2–4. Having played 4 games where you thought and gave your best will shape you much more than playing endlessly without thinking.
Analyse your games
Often when you read about analysing games, what is meant is the review function of chess.com. This is by no means analysing one’s games. If you want to analyse your game, do this after your game: in the best case, you use a physical board, you go through each move, and write down the reason and thoughts behind it which you had during your game. Then in a second attempt, you sit down and try to look at the game objectively. Try to find misses and blunders without the help of the engine. This task will not only improve your calculation skills, give you a better understanding of your game, but also help you to develop intuition.
Do not change openings (too often)
Many players believe that by changing openings they solve problems. It does not matter if you play the London System, the Italian, the Ruy Lopez, or the Queen’s Gambit. In each opening, there are lines that are challenging. Instead of changing your opening, try to understand the underlying ideas and learn to play these positions better.
Work on what matters!
At your stage (below 1000), many things can be improved, but how do we know what we need to work on? The first layer of chess is tactics. If you are not aware of the most common tactical and mating patterns, then you do not need to work on strategy, because the very first building block is missing.
Fix your tactics, only then go deeper into other areas. Obviously, you want to have a basic understanding of openings, middlegame ideas, and the endgame.
Start building your calculation skill
The skill of calculating requires structured thinking to some extent. Learn how to set up candidate moves, go through variation trees, and try not to stop calculating before you have gone through all the forcing moves (CCT/CCA).
Skill vs Knowledge
Knowledge in chess is not unimportant, but the weaker you are, the less important it is. If you are below 1000, then make sure to work on your skills first. Visualization will be more relevant for you than some long opening line.
Suitable literature
When picking material, always look for stuff that is appropriate for your level.
A coach is not a substitute for self-study
Many players make the mistake of believing that they need to choose between chess books or a coach. In reality, the task of a coach is to help you fix your problems and answer your questions. A book provides you with material for self-study that is less interactive, but still incredibly important.

This list is not perfect, nor is it complete. Its purpose is to give you a direction and help you get in touch with topics that I have found to be very important.

Let me know your opinion, your problems with improvement, and everything else you want to share.