If you go on Reddit today and share a story about gaining 400 rating points in a year, you won’t get congratulated.
You will get accused of cheating.
I’ve seen it happen to my own students. They put in months of grueling, boring, focused work. They finally break through a massive plateau, share their success, and immediately face a wall of skepticism and toxic comments. “That’s impossible.” “Send your profile, I bet you used an engine.”
Why is the chess world so cynical? Why is incredible improvement immediately labeled as cheating?
It all comes down to the “Quick and Easy” disease.
The “Quick and Easy” Trap
The war for your attention has made insane promises the new normality. Everywhere you look, clickbait YouTubers and massive chess platforms are selling the same lie: incredible improvements, made quickly and easily.
“Win 300 points in 30 days.” “Skyrocket your chess.”
Here is the irony: everyone talks about wanting to reach the next level, but nearly nobody is ready to actually do the work.
The grandfather of chess YouTube clickbait, GothamChess (IM Levy Rozman), is a great example of this. He constantly talks about his journey to becoming a Grandmaster. It’s a great storyline, and it gets millions of views. But is he actually putting in the 3+ hours of daily, grueling, undistracted chess study needed to bridge the gap from IM to GM? Or is he spending that time making clickbait videos? We both know the answer.
And what happens when he has a few bad tournaments? He quits, hoping that the next time it will feel easier. But going from IM to GM will never be easy.
Can Levy become a GM? Hell yes.
But definitely not without doing the boring, hard work for a long period of time. He’s choosing the YouTube millions over the silent deep work required to get the title. And honestly, from a business perspective, who can blame him? But it proves my point exactly: talking about a big goal is easy. Actually sitting down to solve complex positions until your brain hurts? That’s hard.
The Cynicism Loop
When the chess public constantly consumes this “quick and easy” content, their perception of improvement gets completely warped.
They buy the courses. They memorize a few engine lines without understanding them. They avoid the hard work. And predictably, they fail to improve.
This creates a toxic psychological trap. When the “magic pill” doesn’t work for them, their ego has to protect itself. They conclude: “If I bought the secret sauce and didn’t improve, then nobody can improve. Therefore, anyone who improves massively must be cheating.”
The Metric That Actually Matters
People misunderstand what makes a success story fake. They think that talking about big results is automatically scammy.
That misses a key distinction. The red flag isn’t the size of the improvement. The red flag is the method used to get there and the amount of time it took for that result.
Here is the formula you need to remember:
- Big Results + Quick & Easy = Scam (or Cheating). If someone promises you this, keep your wallet closed. If a player achieves this, they probably used an engine.
- Big Results + Long Time + Hard Work = Real Chess Improvement. Real success stories are written by normal humans, who do the boring, difficult things for an extended period of time. They solve complex positions. They review their painful losses instead of starting a new blitz game. They stick to a simple plan through months of stagnation.
Because nearly nobody is willing to do that, the results of those who do look completely unbelievable to the masses.
So let me tell you loud and clear: Incredible improvements are absolutely possible.
Don’t let the cynics tell you otherwise. You just have to be ready to do the hard work. Stick to it when it sucks. And avoid talking to cynics once you achieved your great results.
PS: If you are ready to do the work but need guidance, my Simplified Chess Improvement System teaches you exactly how and what to study to get real chess improvements. And if you just want a place to show up and do the work without the BS, I’ll launch a monthly membership called Real Chess Training in March. Stay tuned.
Keep improving,
GM Noël
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.
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