Do you know that feeling lying in your bed, really satisfied with yourself because you’ve done some hard things today?
For me, it is one of the best feelings. And a great indicator of how good my day has been. That applied to chess, and now also elsewhere in life.
Not During, but After
Most people judge an activity by how it felt while they were doing it. So they try something hard, think “nah, that was too difficult,” and go back to looking for an easier way.
What I try to do is judge how I feel after.
Recently, I walked up the famous Rigi Mountain in Switzerland with Alessia and friends. We didn’t have to. There are several cable cars bringing tourists up the mountain in less than 10 minutes.
But in my mind, the views feel so much better if I’ve earned them.
And that night I lay in bed, tired, with sore muscles, but with this strong feeling of peace and contentment.
Learning to Like the Hard Things
Something funny happens once you keep choosing the hard version: you begin to enjoy the hard thing itself.
Part of it might be your brain anticipating the feeling that comes after. But there’s a second effect that runs deeper. We enjoy activities more when we are good at them. So by doing the hard thing more often, you get better, and as you get better, you finally get to enjoy the thing on a level that was closed to you before.
This is especially true for chess. It is so deep and interesting that it’s a real bummer to hang pieces left and right, never quite getting to the good part. That’s the quiet frustration behind so many adult improvers wanting to get better: not the rating points themselves, but the wish to actually enjoy the beauty of the game instead of constantly tripping over their own mistakes.
It is the same reason I want to get better at padel. Such a fun sport with long, fast rallies, but if you keep making unforced errors, those rallies never happen.
The price to get there is to do something hard, consistently.
A Simple Experiment
If you’re nodding along but aren’t actually doing anything deliberately difficult in your chess training yet, here is a simple way to test it on yourself.
- Commit to 60 minutes per week, for a month.
- Plan the hard training in your calendar. Pick times and days when you’ll likely feel fresh.
- Get a resource with hard positions, slightly above your level.
If you are between 1500–2000 chess.com / FIDE, Real Chess Training is that resource for you. The hard thing is the test, and once you finish it, you immediately get rewarded with an in-depth video walkthrough of all the positions. You can get a free sample test here.
For lower-rated players, get a Step Method Workbook Mix at the level that sits in your rating range. Ray Cheng’s 600 Practical Chess Exercises is great too (1700+).
For titled players, go get Aagaard’s Calculation book. Yes, you’ll get a headache. 🙂
The common denominator is that doing the hard thing in chess means sitting in front of difficult positions and having to make a decision, just like in a game.
No engine.
No hints.
Once you get better at it, you’ll also learn to enjoy this type of training. And even if you don’t, lying in bed that night, you’ll be happy you’ve done the hard thing.
Keep improving,
GM Noël
PS: 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.
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