How to learn to play any position better
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Speaker: [00:00:00] Hey, and welcome back to Next Level Chess Podcast. As always, I am Grandmaster Noël Suter, your host. And today, I wanna talk about how you can learn or improve to play any position better. And this is so important because there is an absurd amount of possible chess positions, and you just can't learn them all, no matter how hard you try to memorize and, you know, assume knowledge.

That's just not going to be enough

So there are so many different possible positions in chess that we haven't completely understood yet how many of them actually are there. But the latest estimate from scientists is that there [00:01:00] are

48 times 10 to the 43rd legal chess positions

If you can't understand that number, well, you're not alone. So to get kind of a picture in your head, that means it's 48 followed by 43 zeros That's a incredibly big number

And yet the chess world is flooded by opening courses and promises that if you just watch this video, you will know it all and get better and your problems are resolved

The promise that you can somehow learn all the opening moves or never get in a position you feel unfami familiar and uncomfortable anymore is equally absurd and bad for everyone hearing it.

So we can ask [00:02:00] ourselves the question, why are we humans still drawn to this? And what is the honest, a little bit less sexy solution instead?

So let me indulge a little bit on how our human brain works. To make sense of a complex world, we humans are amazing at forming overly simplified stories All the time, every day, we form stories about our past, the people we live with, and the world around us

Billionaires form stories about why they deserve to be rich. The powerfuls form stories about why they deserve power. Those are stories. That's not facts. And the overly simplified story of chess is that you simply need to learn some opening theory to get better at the game. That can either be a defense mechanism, I've heard this many [00:03:00] times, of like, "Hey, I'm not into learning openings, that's why I suck at this game."

Or it can be to sell the hope about an easy way to improvement, or for yourself it is a hope of like, "Oh, yeah, I can figure this out, right? I just have to learn a little bit of opening theory."

And because of our need for oversimplifications in an extremely complex and nuanced world, we are and we will always be prone to fall for the strong advertisements promising easy solutions. So if you kind of, you know, get back and kind of buy these courses and, and and see these promises and fall for clickbait over and over again and think like, "What?

Why does this happen? Am I crazy?" It's like, well, this is just how we are made as human beings, and some individuals or companies are taking advantage of this And a big part of it is because believing a simple story for a brief moment is just [00:04:00] so much nicer than the messy truth

But as you're listening to this, I'm sure that you are ready for the messy truth and you wanna hear it. So here it is. Chess is an extremely difficult game. There are more possible chess games than atoms in the universe. Just a quick note, obviously, there is a difference between the amount of possible positions, which is much smaller than the amount of possible games

You could spend your whole lifetime learning openings, memorizing positions, forming plans of pawn structures, and would still get into new positions in a majority of your games. I mean, basically, we grandmasters are living examples of this. We can spend basically our whole life with chess from very young age, and still when you play games, unless it's some kind of, you know, uh, let's say grandmaster draw, you will get a new position very, very [00:05:00] often

And actually, quick side note, something I think that, , doesn't get talked about enough is that the stronger engines are getting, that doesn't mean that less positions are getting played because there is an obvious, clearly best opening. But actually, the opposite is happening, where openings that have been seen, you know, in the past as, "Oh, yeah, this is just not good enough," are getting played more because the stronger the engines are getting, the more it seems basically everything at the end of the day will be more or less equal.

And so that just means that the possibility of openings just got so much bigger the stronger the engines are getting

And so there's really no way avoiding getting out of your comfort zone and getting a position you are unfamiliar with. That can both mean just a new position, but also a new structure or a more nuanced structure than you are used to

And [00:06:00] here is the problem. This is the huge problem that happens to so many people out there. The more you try, the harder you are trying to kind of control this and always play in your comfort zone and knowing everything and, you know, not starting to play a game just because you're like, "No, I'm not ready for that opening yet.

I need to study more, study more, study more," the more afraid you become of new positions Last week I shared the story of the two arrows, and that's exactly what is happening here. You get the first arrow. That is the fact that we all will get new positions in most games. That can be painful and difficult to swallow, but you can't avoid it.

There's no way around it because, well, surprise, your opponent also has something to say, and they can play their own moves The second arrow is only for those, though, that are trying to avoid getting into new positions. For those that are [00:07:00] scared to get into a position they are unknown with. For those that memorize all their opening lines, go to Chessable and repeat every day all, these absurd amount of opening moves because they wanna avoid something that cannot be avoided.

And for those, that second arrow means more anxious, more upset, more time wasted, more frustration. That suffering is optional

Now let's get to the more positive part, because there is a solution. And so here is what works. And guys, just to be very clear here, this is not something I came up with. This isn't new at all. Good chess teachers over the past decades, many decades, have realized that what works for improving chess players is helping them play any position So it's not just saying, "Hey, in this position [00:08:00] do that," or, "In this structure do that."

But it is actually training the students in unfamiliar positions for them, making them feel more comfortable when they are out of what they know

You can also call that expanding the comfort zone I've had the pleasure to work with some absolutely amazing coaches, from Artur Yusupov to Jacob Aagard, RB Ramesh, Markus Ragger, just to name a few. And all of them have one thing in common. They tested me with positions, where I didn't get any hints, that I didn't know.

And I had to push through that same uncertainty that I felt during a game, or , that I would still feel if I played, , still during every single game. The only thing I could do was just, okay, let me think, right. Let me apply the thought process that I was [00:09:00] told, calculate some lines, use my time smartly, and make a decision, especially when I'm unsure, especially when I don't know what the position is about.

I still need to decide. That's the game of chess, right? We can't just say, "I don't like this position. Let's move on." That's not how things work. So ultimately, that's what chess is all about. Chess is about getting a new position, looking at it, and with your limited time, limited resources, and current knowledge and skills, try to make the best possible decision without being sure that you know what it is, right?

Performing in that uncertain state is exactly what makes a very strong chess player strong

And now my question to you is, how often do you train in such uncertainty? Just take a moment and think back to your last week, maybe even a month of chess training, and ask yourself, outside of playing games, did I train in any [00:10:00] uncertainty? That means that you look at a position without a hint, without a coach saying you what the goal is, without knowing that it's a tactic, without having a book in front of you that kind of explained the whole buildup of this position.

No, it's just a fresh position. You've never seen that before. And then the question, what would you play in a game?

And you'll realize, for most, the answer is no. And that needs to change if you wanna get better at playing any position. Well, you need to start training to play any kind of position

And actually, two weeks ago, in a newsletter of mine, , I polled the audience, and 804 of you answered, and 61% of them, , they had the choice between what they want to learn, if they wanna have knowledge products like pawn structures, if they wanna have opening courses, or [00:11:00] if they wanna train their skills, so train in this uncertainty.

And 61% of these 800 participants mentioned that, well, they would prefer to train their skills. So that means, at least in theory, from my audience, the people that answer and read, you guys are the people that want to improve your skills. And that is done. There is really basically no other way around it.

You gotta put yourself in this uncertain situation and solve these positions where you don't know what they are all about. And the point is, it's really hard. It's really difficult, but that's really what helps you then gain the confidence so you can transfer that skill into your games where, obviously, you get a new position, but you know, okay, I know how to think in a new position.

I know when I should think, when not, when I should save time, when I should play a simple move, when I should calculate. All of these skills need to be trained before you can apply [00:12:00] them in your game

So if you are between the level of 1,500 to 2,000 chess.com Rapid or FIDE or whatever the equivalent is, for example, Lichess, that would be 1,700 to 2,200. It's always very hard to, you know, calculate these ratings, but somewhere in this rating range. That's what Real Chess Training is about. You might have heard me talk about it.

It's a membership I launched early this year. We're already 500 people strong, solving these tests every single week. That's the whole point, right? You get six positions. Out of these six positions, you have no idea. You know, you've never seen this position before, and you don't know if I want you to, play a tactical, move, if you should look at an opponent's threat, if you should just develop a piece, if there is a tactic that looks good, but there is a trick at the end of the line, so you need to see that trick, right?

You don't know what is up in these [00:13:00] positions. So, you get 45 minutes. You need to decide on your own, how much time am I spending on each of these six positions? In these 45 minutes, you need to come to a conclusion, a very clear conclusion. This is super important, okay? You come to a conclusion. You write down whatever your conclusion is, and then you get a video of me talking about each and every of these six positions, going through the thought process, going through not only what is the correct solution, but what were the solutions that were maybe, you know, okay, but not perfect, and then what were the ones that you should have avoided and why

So this way of training is super effective, but, you know, it, it is difficult. Am always saying that very, very clearly. If you're not ready to do something that is going to push you and is going to make you feel, "Oh my God, I didn't know what was the right solution," well, that's the whole point of that way of training.

That makes you feel too uncomfortable, well, then, you know, stay away from it. But if you really wanna improve, if you wanna feel [00:14:00] more comfortable during your games, less anxious about, "Oh my God, what if I get a new position?" Well, if you train it on a weekly basis, then you will get better at doing it, but also get more confident and less afraid of new positions happening

And for the range of 1,000 to 1,500 chess.com Rapid, I am working on a more simple version of Real Chess Training. Because I've noticed that, , quite a few people, you know, in the product I have at the moment, which is aimed at 1,500 to 2,000, there are quite some lower-rated players in there. And when it is too hard, when you're too far away from the right solution, then it's also not ideal.

Okay, so there is kind of a sweet spot for that, and so I am working on the 1,000 to 1,500 version of the same way of training. So if you're interested in that, you have both the link to the current Real Chess Training, , in the podcast description. You [00:15:00] also, um, have a link, , to sign up for the newsletter and hear from me when the 1,000 to 1,500, , rating range of that product is ready as well

And just because I hate it so much when people try to drag you into their products, you know, their thing is perfect and it's so easy and it's so quick. I, I wanna do the opposite, you know? This is hard. I mentioned it already. This is hard.

So you might sign up and first week you might get zero out of six positions, right? So you, you have none correct. That feels, can feel in the moment, kinda shitty. But you gotta push through this. If you are in the right, rating range, trust me about having chosen positions that slowly you will be able to maybe not get 100% correct, but get the gist of it, get the right process, get the right, "Okay, my brain should go here first, and then here, and then here, and then I take that decision, and that [00:16:00] decision is based on what I calculate and on my current skill."

The hope with this test is that you are getting better at using your knowledge and skill at the best under pressure. And then also with the videos that you are watching every time you solve the test, you are expanding your knowledge and skill as well

So yeah, the biggest thing, guys, for you to take away from this podcast episode is really if you wanna get more comfortable playing any kind of position, if you wanna get less anxious about, "Oh my God, what if my opponent plays something that I don't know?" Then you gotta train in uncertainty at home.

That's how you get better. That's how you build the confidence that is only built, this is not built through knowledge, but only built through doing something really difficult

And for those 1500 to 2000, you can join Real Chess Training right now. 1000 to 1500 will come [00:17:00] hopefully still this year. And for anyone else, if you wanna train this way, and also if you're in these rating ranges but something holds you back, okay, you can find my email online. Email me and tell me why, what is holding you back from training your skills?

You can also write it in the podcast, , answers. On most podcast platforms, there are now, , comment sections. So write it in the comments. Tell me, what is holding you back from training your skills?

Hey, guys, just two quick things before you take off. If you enjoyed this episode and want more structured chess improvement tips from myself, check out my newsletter at nextlevelchess.com/newsletter. It's totally free. It will always remain free, and it goes out every single Friday with the best, latest chess improvement tips that I have.

Most of the podcast episodes that I record are based on a previous [00:18:00] newsletter. So getting the newsletter, you'll get the advice earlier, and you'll get it directly into your inbox every single Friday. It's totally free, as I mentioned, and you can unsubscribe any time. So go to nextlevelchess.com/newsletter to sign up.

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