Hey everyone,
In response to a previous Blog post titled Exceptional Results – Simple Training, I heard from some of your incredible success stories. I want to share two of them today.
- Sankar went from 1480 to 1695 Lichess in two months.
- Bhavishya went from 1400 to 2100 Lichess in roughly a year.
Both have extremely simple training methods influenced by my writing. If you haven’t read my previous article, you can check it out here – it is super short. The main idea was that exceptional results come with a simple plan repeated many times. I suggested starting with 3x playing + 3x tactics training per week.
Sankar Kumar Sana – Training the right way after a bad tournament
Sankar’s initial email
Looking at Sankar’s Lichess Profile, I realized a few things:
- He plays less than most chess improvers (127 Rapid games in 1 year)
- There is no long streak of games (max of 5 games in a row)
- A simple opening repertoire (1.e4 for White, 1…e6 for black; looks like ChessMood’s WhiteMood / BlackMood to me)
- No nonsense – only two bullet games, basically no variants
This is a great showcase of keeping everything simple and doing what works. I wondered what the motivation was for Sankar’s shift, and he answered:
After performing poorly at a tournament on July 10th, I became serious about making a training plan. I read your 7-day blog on making a training plan, and I used that as a guide.
This is what his Rapid Graph looks like from July 10th to today:
Started at 1480 – currently at 1695; + 215 points!
I will close this success story in Sankar’s words:
Of course, I couldn’t follow it (the training plan) daily either because of not having time or doing something else like reading a book (on chess). I added that extra info so people can know it’s okay to miss practice only on certain occasions.
Bhavishya – 1400 to 2100 in less than a year
A little different – but equally impressive rise has come from Bhavishya. In the period of May 10th, 2023, to March 2nd, 2024, their Lichess rating skyrocketed from 1435 to a peak of 2147.
Graph from March 2023 to May 2024
Here is what they did:
I did tactics training from the book Woodpecker Method daily and watched some YouTube videos daily for 45 minutes. On alternate days, I played and analyzed the games.
Additionally, Bhavishya mentioned improvements in the mental aspects of the game as one of the key factors to their success.
Checking out the stats, we see a totally different picture for Bhavishya:
- Plays everything from Bullet to classical, atomic, and chess960
- Has streaks of up to 10 rapid games in a row
- Wider opening repertoire – 1.e4 + 1.c4 for White, Mainly Caro + Nimzo for Black
We can see that a simple plan, consistently executed, even allows for some imperfections and still might give amazing results.
Since the peak in March 2024, the trend has gone down for Bhavishya. Plateaus are normal, especially after such a meteoric rise. But here is one very interesting fact I saw:
The biggest rise in Rapid came at the same time as a Bullet break.
So here are the tips I shared with Bhavishya to bring the graph back up:
Is Your Story Next?
I know this is only scratching at the surface – but I just couldn’t wait to get these success stories out. I have many more of those and will release them over the coming months.
If you have made improvements you’d like to share, email me at noel@nextlevelchess.blog. For some of the stories, I want to dive deeper, get on a call, and really dissect all the things that might be useful for other chess improvers.
Simple – Not Perfect
The main takeaway for today is that chess improvement should be kept simple. Those more familiar with my work will realize that the plans mentioned by both Bhavishya and Sankar can be improved. However, the key is that the simplicity and consistency helped them get the ball rolling and see big improvements in their game.
Slowly, they can now adjust and improve even further.
Start Now
To start your own success story, read the 7-day plan Sankar used as a guide. Or simply start for the first week with my suggested super simple plan:
- Monday/Wednesday/Friday: 30min Tactics Puzzle Solving
- Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday: 2 10+5 Rapid Games with Analysis
When you get the momentum, you can fine-tune the plan and if you have time, increase the amount of time you spend on chess.
If you want to get a step-by-step guide on how to train chess the right way, check out my course, Next Level Training. You will learn how to create and stick to a plan and how exactly you should study all areas of chess with maximum efficiency.
No matter how you go about your chess training, remember to keep it simple and stay consistent. Just like Bhavishya and Sankar, you will be surprised how much you can improve your game this way.
Keep improving,
Noël
Whenever you’re ready, here is how I can help you:
- Want to know How to train chess well? Check out Next Level Training – The Chess Training Blueprint for Adult Improvers. This course taught 700+ students the 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.
- Check out my all-in-one Beginner Video course, Beginner Chess Mastery—Reach 1200 Elo, on Chess.com (1400 Lichess). 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.
