I’m so grateful that I grew up in a chess world without opening courses, clickbait, move-trainer, and constant FOMO. It allowed me to train the one main skill that helps me excel at chess, be a better businessman, and solve difficult problems in my private life.
To think. On my own. Without interruption and help.
This might sound obvious. But take a moment to look at your everyday life. When are we actually thinking? Like, fully thinking on our own?
In chess, it mostly will look like this:
Watching chess games → Thinking outsourced to commentators/engine
Game analysis → Custom game analysis done with AI in seconds
Openings → Just memorize 15 moves and you’ll be fine
Tactics → Use the woodpecker method so you automatically find the right move (pattern recognition)
But also when you think outside of chess, we have outsourced most of our thinking.
Navigation → Google maps
Booking hotels → Just look at reviews
Unsure about something? → Just google it or ask AI
Basically, nothing we do – both in chess and other parts of our lives – is based on sitting down, thinking about a problem, and coming up with a solution. Heck, even writing this article, I get constant grammar suggestions basically wherever I write this – and I get tempted by using AI to make “the writing more crisp”.
And let me be honest here. I fall for these temptations often. I have a hard time focusing on one task at a time.
I often listen to a podcast while working out. Or I have a YouTube video open while preparing lessons for my students.
And sometimes, I even let AI do the hard work for me. 3 hours writing, or a simple prompt and a polished article in 5 minutes? The thought is tempting, but so so dangerous.
Luxury of Thinking
Last December, a student of mine played a tournament with nine games in 5 days. That’s lots of chess. He reported feeling recharged afterwards. Because finally, he was able to sit alone with his thoughts. A luxury we rarely have anymore, with constant distractions and tools that do the thinking for us. He reported that playing chess was sort of a meditative experience and an escape from the crazy, fast-paced world we live in.
That’s part of the reason I’m a big fan of older study methods. You know, these things that gather a lot of dust on your shelves. Books, they are called. Without built-in AI, arrows to help you out, or direct email access for a sweet dopamine hit, or some juicy distraction at the right moment.
Move Trainer (Or the biggest time waster in the history of chess)
And I’m a huge critic of new AI tools making learning chess “even easier”.
Because all of these tools have one shitty feature in common:
They try to do the thinking for you. Or at the very least, give you the illusion that if you just memorize enough things, you won’t need to think anymore.
The all mighty move-trainer of Chessable tries to convince you that if you just spend (waste) enough time (or preferably money on their courses, what about another opening to remember, maybe a lifetime repertoire from a GM, huh?), you’ll never have to think again.
Then the impossible happens: your opponent plays a move you haven’t memorized.
Panic ensues. This is not supposed to happen. Now I have to … think?
If not already now, it is not long before thinking feels like a totally alien activity for some of us.
Yes, technology helps a ton. But outsourcing our thinking is a huge danger for your chess, and for you as a person.
The Solution?
Slow down. Take time to think. Sit in moments with uncertainty, without immediately getting to a perfect solution.
- Look at top-level games without an engine and think for yourself.
- Solve positions where you don’t already know that there is a tactic.
- Play chess without distractions.
- Study with a book.
Your brain is a muscle. The more time you train it by using it, the better it will get. Start slow, expect little good stuff to come out. It might be rather rusty.
Here is to more thinking,
GM Noël Studer
PS: I have not used any help writing or polishing this article. And it feels damn good. I feel like a human with my own voice and brain. So, excuse me for all the potential grammar mistakes, and a more direct, blunt style.
PPS: AI and other tools also give us the illusion things can be perfect and polished all the time. This raises our expectations while at the same time our skills deteriorate. That gap causes frustration.
PPPS: 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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