It is so easy to lie to ourselves.
Over the years, I’ve worked with dozens of private students and observed more than a thousand course students’ improvement stories. The one skill that is rarely talked about, but makes a massive difference is: Self-Awareness.
Students who are self-aware are not immune to struggles, plateaus, or losing games with a piece up. But when these things happen, they are much better at ignoring all the noise, focusing on the one or two things that actually hold them back, and working on those relentlessly.
In other words, those with enough self-awareness are able to see the truth without needing to fabricate stories they would like to believe but are not true.
Basics, Tactics, Execution
Let me be brutally honest.
If you are rated below 1500 and you think anything other than hanging pieces and super simple tactics are holding you back, something is wrong. Only two options come to mind:
- You’ve been tricked by people who want to sell you their overcomplicated courses.
- You are not self-aware enough.
I’m sure your story feels real. I’ve heard it all:
- “I keep getting bad openings.”
- “I don’t know how to transform an advantage.”
- “I struggle with winning won positions.”
- “I don’t understand middlegame strategy.”
- “I can’t evaluate the position properly.”
The list goes on. But in the end, when I look at these players’ games, what I see are hanging pieces and simple missed tactics.
Yes, some tactics are missed in the endgame. Yes, occasionally you are lost out of the opening. But the core, the thing that actually matters and decides most games, is still tactics.
And if you are above 1500 and smirking at the others, it is very likely that also in your case, something unglamorous is holding you back.
Are you sleeping 7+ hours a night? Doing your daily tactics? Playing games without obsessing about the results? These are just a few additional things I see holding people back often.
Your Self-Worth is Not Your Chess Skill
Why is self-awareness so rare? Because admitting that you are making basic, simple mistakes hurts. It bruises the ego. We humans love to link our intelligence and our self-worth to our chess moves.
For me, it took a traumatic brain injury to force me to look the cold, harsh truth in the eye without breaking.
Whether it is in chess, learning a new language, or building my business, I can look at the reality of the situation and say, “I really suck at this right now.” And I don’t feel less valuable as a human being when I say it.
This separation of self-worth from current skill level is the ultimate accelerator for improvement. When your ego isn’t on the line, you don’t need to invent fancy excuses about why you lost. You don’t need to pretend your opponent played like a supercomputer. You just look at the reality of where you are at, and you push hard to break through.
A Daily Battle Against the Ego
But please, do not get me wrong. This is not a battle you win once and then you are enlightened forever. It is a daily struggle. I fight this battle every single day.
When I play Padel, I’d love to believe that missing difficult, fancy shots is what holds me back from progressing. In Poker, I wanted to think I need more sophisticated, complex plays to win. In my business, I catch myself looking for some super sophisticated breakthrough to increase my reach.
But the reality? In all of these things, it is still the same, boring, simple but hard things holding me back.
It is missing the basic returns in Padel, and making too many unforced errors. It is a lack of basic discipline and a fear of losing money in Poker. It is just putting in the daily, unglamorous work in business.
Consistent execution of these boring things is what actually pushes me further. Not the fancy stuff.
The Root Cause is Deeply Personal
Realizing that tactics are likely your problem is only the first step. The second step is having the courage to understand why you miss those tactics during games.
That is extremely personal. Here are some of the most common causes:
- Lacking focus during the game
- Lacking tactical fundamentals and pattern recognition
- Getting too nervous during games (chess anxiety)
- Fancy-Play-Syndrome (trying to be a genius instead of playing good enough moves)
- Not looking at your opponent’s opportunities
- Playing while checking your phone or watching Twitch
- Playing when you are exhausted after a long workday
The thing is, even if you have a private coach that points these out, you still need the self-awareness to look in the mirror, admit the real reason, and work on it.
As a coach, I can see the hanging pieces on the board. But I can’t see if you are checking your phone during games, getting tilted, or running on three hours of sleep.
That is your task. And when a student can look at their flaws without their ego getting in the way, we can move so much quicker. Problem → Cause → Solution.
The Truth Hurts (But Sets You Free)
Decouple your ego from your chess. Stop fabricating stories. Get self-aware.
This is the hardest thing I ask of my students. Not the tactics training, not the game analysis, not building a training plan. Just looking honestly at where you are and accepting it without your ego fighting back.
The students who do this are the ones who improve. Every single time.
Keep improving,
GM Noël Studer
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.
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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