The Super Secret Way To Improve Your Chess
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[00:00:00] Welcome

back to Next Level Chess Podcast. I'm Grandmaster Noel Studer and I help chess players train deliberately with what I call the Simplified Chess Improvement System. Deliberate chess players live by three rules. Do what matters, do it well, and do it consistently. If you're tired of training randomly and want to follow a simple proven system, this podcast is for you.

Today I'm going to share my super secret formula that makes you improve your chess like nobody else. The lucky few who learn this super secret formula will have more rating points and money, and be happier than anyone else. Have I got your attention? Then let's go [00:01:00] from dreamland to reality. The boring truth is that there is no secret formula.

Success is boring. It's simple. Most of us know what we should do. The only difference is if we actually do it or not. One of my favorite quotes comes from Derek Sivers. Quote: "If more information was the answer, then we'd all be billionaires with perfect apps." End quote. It is really not about more information.

Success is about executing the simple, mostly boring things. Here are a few fields and their super simple ways to probably become successful. Chess. Solve tactics, play and analyze your games, and you'll improve. Running? Get proper running shoes, train one to three times per week, and increase the speed distance a little every single week.

Finances? That's not financial advice, guys, okay? That's just to make it clear. Save a little [00:02:00] monthly, invest ETF, and use the compound effect. Writing? Write every day, put your stuff out there, and improve over time. Fitness: exercise a few times a week, walk more often, eat less crap. Justin Welsh, one of my favorite writers online, has recently written a newsletter called The Hidden Power of Being Boring.

In it, he shares the same point. Here is an extract, and I will quote from Justin Welsh' newsletter, make sure to check it out, there will be a link in the description. Quote: "I see this in my inbox every day. What's your secret to growing your newsletter? Or what's the one thing that made your LinkedIn account take off?

And the real answer is always the most boring one. I write. I write every single day. Even when I don't feel inspired. Even when nobody seems to care. And even when it feels like I'm talking to an empty room. [00:03:00] I've now written for over 2100 consecutive days without missing a beat. But, of course, that's not what people want to hear." End quote.

So how did I become a grandmaster? I played and improved my chess for over a decade. By the way, that's back to my own voice, right? That's not Justin Welsh anymore. He's not a grandmaster. My first classical rated game was in 2006. I was 10 years old back then. I got my GM title in 2017. That's 11 years later.

That's 11 years of playing, improving, struggling, but sticking to the game. Some years I was more motivated. Some others I didn't do as much. Actually some years I even thought about quitting. But I stuck to it. On my path to grandmaster, I passed hundreds, if not thousands of kids and teenagers that were, at some point, higher rated [00:04:00] than me.

As a fun fact, I never got a medal on Swiss level until I won the under 16 Swiss championship. So in under 10, under 12, under 14, I've never gotten a podium finish. Later on, I got international medal in youth championships. Those kids that I passed, either they got frustrated by the lack of results, they got distracted by other things in their life, or they just quit chess altogether.

Are there things that I could have done better? Hell yeah. But are there any secret shortcuts that make you improve at chess without putting in any effort? Hell no. And so, the question really is: most of us know what we should do, right? So we have the knowledge. Why are we so reluctant to believe this boring truth? That it's about executing the simple things?

And here again, I want to quote [00:05:00] something from Justin Welsh's newsletter. He shared an amazing reason why we all hate this boring reality and try to escape it. Quote: "Here is what makes this truth so uncomfortable for people. It strips away the best excuses." End quote. Once you accept there is no secret sauce, no hidden magic pill, no best opening to crush everyone forever and never have to learn anything else again, just memorize these moves and win all of your games.

You got no excuses anymore. If you don't improve your game, it's not because you lack talent, it's not because you're too old, because you started too late, or because you haven't gotten a juicy sip of that secret sauce. You can also insert any other excuse that somebody might say that doesn't improve their chess.

You don't improve because you aren't doing the right work often and good enough. That's it. But once you accept this boring [00:06:00] truth, you unlock the ability to achieve success without the need for magic pills. And I see that as a huge inspiration. I see that as a very positive. You see your growth, and it's empowering.

You stop searching for shortcuts and start taking control of your journey. It's not about waiting for something to change. It's not about finding the perfect course. It's not about finding the perfect teacher, or suddenly getting a brain implant and becoming a child again, or whatever you might be waiting for.

It's just about taking the challenge of doing the consistent things. doing them well, and then seeing the progress unfold. Maybe it hurts to hear that. And if it is so, then you have now two choices. You can, first choice, get upset at the messenger. Either you choose me or Justin Welsh or whoever could be the messenger.

Derek Sivers also had a quote in this podcast. You can [00:07:00] curse me, unsubscribe from this list, never listen to the podcast again. And if you're really upset if somebody points out the boring but honest truth, then probably this is not the place for you in any way. You can live in the dreamland and still hope that, at some point, the magic pill will come and you will suddenly improve your chess without doing the right thing.

Or number two, which honestly, I would prefer for you to take this path. You can wake up, change something and start doing the boring stuff that works. For everyone that chooses step two, here's what you can do. So here is what I believe to be the solution to get better at chess. You will get better at chess if you follow the three do's of chess improvement.

You do what matters, you do it well, you do it consistently. In a nutshell, here's what that means. Do what matters, work on tactics and play games and analyze them. Spend most of your times on these two [00:08:00] things that matter the most. To do it well, any time you study chess, focus as well as possible, eliminate distractions and mindless games.

And to do it consistently, stick to a simple plan for 3 plus months to see really amazing results. If you look at it through that lens, all of my work, that's soon 200 articles, 2 courses, 30 plus podcasts and many more newsletters focus on these 3 do's of chess improvement. There will be a lot of challenges along the way, but if we come back to the three do's of chess improvement, we will be able to improve our chess much more than we think is possible.

And I recently got a graph from one of my students in the Next Level Training program. And you can't see that graph because it's a podcast, but it is a graph going from January 4th from this year, when this student had a rating on chess.com from 1671. And it [00:09:00] goes until February 3rd, so that's just a one month period.

And the student's rating hit 1936. So in 30 days, the student went from 1671 to 1936. That's two hundred 65 rating points. That was difficult to do that math, I hope that's correct. But yeah, that's over 250 rating points won in just 30 days. That's super impressive. So what's the magic? What is the secret sauce?

What happened here? Here is what they wrote, quote: "The method is working. On the occasion of the new year, I gifted myself Next Level Training, just started solving simple tactics and automatically the graph is becoming steep." End of quote. Start doing the simple, boring stuff on a daily basis and soon, you'll share your personal success story with me.

Keep improving guys, and remember: it's boring, but it works. 

[00:10:00] 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 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. And one last thing. If you enjoyed this episode and if it helped you, then please take a few seconds and review this podcast.

[00:11:00] This helps a ton. It helps other people see, oh yeah, many, many people profit from the advice given in this podcast. Let's give this podcast a try. And if you can, if you know anyone in the chess world that would profit from this episode or any other episode, make sure to share it with your friends, with your people online.

That's super helpful. Podcast growth is really just working through mouth by mouth recommendations. So thank you. Thank you so much for listening. And thank you for spreading the word about the Next Level Chess Podcast. Now, that's all from me. Thank you for listening and see you next time.