Just one little shout-out before we get into today’s article.
My lovely wife Alessia has published a super fun video on her YouTube Channel where I watch her play blitz chess and give my Grandmaster take on her games. I had a blast recording it, and believe it makes for great chess entertainment, and some learning too.
Click here to watch this video. I’m sure you won’t regret it 🙂.
Should we do more videos like that? Let us know in the comments.
Most have heard of the 10,000-Hour Rule.
The idea is simple: to achieve mastery in any cognitively difficult field, you need about 10,000 hours of practice. Malcolm Gladwell popularized this concept in his book Outliers, writing:
“Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.”
But if you look around, you’ll find countless stories of chess improvers who invest hundreds or even thousands of hours, yet see no visible results. Far from mastery, which in chess, we could argue means the Grandmaster level, many feel stuck and frustrated.
So, what’s going on?
Deliberate Practice
The answer lies in one small word that makes all the difference.
A word that often gets forgotten: deliberate.
If you spend 10,000 hours on deliberate practice, then mastery is within reach.
But if you spend 10,000 hours on mindless repetition, you’ll stay stuck.
So, what does deliberate mean?
In my Simplified Chess Improvement System course, I break it down with three Do’s:
✅ Do what matters ✅ Do it well ✅ Do it consistently (that’s where the 10,000 hours come in)
The Problem
The problem is, in our fast-paced world of constant distractions, the first two Do’s are extremely rare.
A 1,000+ day mindless Chessable streak? Possible.
Solving puzzles with the right process and without try & error? Playing with great focus and then ruthlessly analyzing all of your mistakes?
Even only for a few hours per week?
Extremely rare.
The Hard Truth
Here’s the harsh truth:
The word deliberate makes chess training less cozy.
It means repetition. Doing the hard things. Showing up with full focus.
And it’s not just important for those aiming at the Grandmaster Title.
Once you get stuck for the first time, you need deliberate training to improve.
Chess is not like answering emails, sitting through boring meetings, or doing chores. With chores or meetings, the goal is to get them done. Tick them off the list.
But with chess, just doing it is not enough.
What matters is how much you actually learn from it, and whether you can apply it later.
So, if you’re spending plenty of time on chess but not seeing results, it might be time to take an honest look in the mirror:
How often do you really train deliberately? How often do you:
✅ Do what matters ✅ Do it well ✅ Do it consistently
If you want to go deeper into this idea, I highly recommend Peak by Anders Eriksson..
His research is the foundation behind the 10,000-Hour Rule, and he shows exactly what deliberate practice really looks like, across chess, music, sports, and more. It’s a book I read and truly enjoyed.
If you want a system that is inspired by deliberate practice and specializes in the needs of adult improvers in chess, check out my Simplified Chess Improvement System.
Here’s to more deliberate training,
GM Noël Studer
PS: I know the 10,000-hour rule is not scientifically proven. Any such rule is an approximate average; there will always be outliers. And yes, talent is a thing. But I believe it is a good reminder that getting good at anything difficult takes a lot of time. AND deliberate training.
PPS: This article was initially sent out to my Newsletter list. If you want to get chess improvement advice for free in your inbox, join 17,000+ chess improvers by signing up for Friday Grandmaster Insights here.
Whenever you’re ready, here is how I can help you:
- Want to know How to train chess well? Check out The Simplified Chess Improvement System. This course taught 800+ students the How of Chess Training. Create your high-quality chess plan and learn how to study each part of Chess, from tactics to openings & endgames. Click here to learn more.
- Rated below 1200 Chess.com? Need to refresh your fundamentals? Check out my course, Beginner Chess Mastery. You’ll learn all the fundamentals, from strategy to how to get the most out of your pieces, tactics, and endgames. You even get a full opening repertoire for free. Click here to learn more.
