Tips to Get Better at Chess From a 2100 Club Player

I have been playing chess casually for almost ten years now, and I must say there are many misconceptions about chess improvements. Usually, when I see beginner or intermediate players, they try to calculate long chess lines like Hikaru Nakamura. Calculating long lines into the future is primarily unnecessary. Chess players must realize that one cannot predict the future; we can only react to it.  

Calculating abnormally long lines is like predicting the next wave of the stock market. It is almost impossible. Richard Reti, a famous grandmaster, said he only calculates two moves ahead.

And I'm not saying that chess calculation isn't important. It just isn't necessary to improve at chess. With this guide, I'll show you the fastest way to improve at chess and how vitamins and nutrition can help aid your journey. This guide will increase your strength if you are below 2000. 

For those skeptical about my rating, I crossed my goal of 2000 a while back, so it's safe to say that I know a bit about this game.

How can I improve at chess? Don't worry. I will boost your rating, which is guaranteed.

Advantages in Chess

In chess, there are two types of advantages: temporary and permanent. And if you have the advantage in your hand, a player must attack! But how does one know if they have the upper hand?

Steinitz's theory states that the person with the advantage must attack, and the weaker side must defend. In equal positions, you must maneuver to tilt the balance in your favor. A temporary advantage must be converted into a permanent one. 

And if the person with the advantage does not attack, they risk the advantage dissipating or fading away. 

What are the Permanent and Temporary Advantages?

A Permanent advantage includes you have a material advantage, the opponent has a lousy king position, a passed pawn in the middlegame, weak pawns for the opponent, strong and weak squares in your control, pawn center, control of a diagonal, control of a file, your possession of the bishop pair, and control of a rank. 

A temporary advantage consists of a wrong piece position by an opponent, inharmonious pieces, an advantage in development, concentration of chess pieces in the center or centralization, and a space advantage. 

Note that a temporary advantage must be converted into a permanent one. 

These are all the tools you need to improve your chess. However, execution timing is essential; I always see chess players rush into an attack that isn't there. 

These advantages made me reach around 1700 strength. But this little secret will make you a strong club player.

Aron Nimzowitsch's famous quote

His quote made me around 2000 strong. It is so powerful that I speculate that a talented player could reach an elo of 2500 with it. 

It made me realize the separation of weak players from strong ones. 

I know why some players never break out of the 2000 rating barrier and never see chess improvement. Sometimes, I see players on chess.com who have been playing for almost ten years, still at the same rating.

That shows you that you can play many games and never find any way to get better at chess. 

But this quote will probably be your chess savior. 

The Threat is Stronger Than The Execution

It was Nimzowitsch's famous line. At first, it didn't make sense, but I will break it down for you.

You see, the beginners love to check the opponent king just for the sake of it. They love to threaten the opponent queen with a bishop. Or make multiple attacks at the same time. 

But this quote tells you to hold off on the attack and not check for the sake of checking. 

When you execute a threat, you no longer have the option to threaten. Nimzowitsch suggests keeping this option and not showing your cards to the opponent. 

Retain the option so you can execute your plan when the perfect time comes. Too many times, I see beginners not keeping the tension between pieces. 

Beginners love to release the tension when they feel it. The secret to chess improvement is to keep the tension and feel the positional pressure build-up. It is stressful, but that is probably the only way to achieve a high elo. 

"The threat is stronger than the execution."

How to Get Better at Chess: And Stay There

If you follow Steinitz's theory and the quote I mentioned, your rating will skyrocket. I have many other blogs to help you improve your chess if it doesn't. 

The cat's out of the bag; this was my strategy to get where I am today. And there really shouldn't be any "hidden knowledge" that separates lower levels to masters and beyond. 

Chess masters have the same knowledge as beginners, like controlling the center with pawns and knights before bishops; it is universal knowledge. I speculate that grandmasters have a higher stress tolerance when "keeping the tension." 

Try to restrain yourself from playing the "obvious move" in your games. As GM Lasker pointed out, "If you see a good move, look for a better one." 

The Role of Nutrition in Chess

I read in Alexander Kotov's Think Like a Grandmaster that physical exercise and nutrition are essential before chess matches. Players cannot fully optimize their performance if they lack proper nutrients, which sometimes sways ratings. 

And it is a general principle for life, not just for chess. To become a great chess player, you must know yourself. And if you haven't optimized your chess fully, you may feel sluggish when competing. 

There might be some downsides to chess that you have never heard of. For some people, chess can cause immense stress, cause weight gain, and even disrupt sleep patterns. Why is this the case? 

Minimize the Downsides of Playing Chess

In the August 2014 Olympiad, two chess players suddenly collapsed; my guess was due to a high amount of stress. I had heard about it as a young boy but never noticed it. A Candidate Master by the name of Kurt Meier and a Uzbek player died of a heart attack. 

Can this be attributed to high blood pressure? Probably. However, I do know that chess players have significantly raised resting heart rates compared to normal humans. We all know that chess is tense, especially for us masters. 

If you are a beginner or an intermediate player reading this, then you probably find chess fun or even enjoyable. But statistically, yes, in the short term, it is fun, but as you climb the Elo ladder, it becomes harder and more tense in the long term. Especially when you start learning about chess calculation, the number of variations one has to keep up with is insane. No wonder Bobby Fischer went crazy in his old age!

Reccomended Vitamins For Chess Players

That said, I would recommend some vitamins before any chess match. Besides being a decent club player, I also have around five years of experience in the vitamin industry. 

I started taking vitamins in the summer of 2018 to boost my overall health and minimize the effects of life in general. I have found that they help from a holistic standpoint. 

That said, I would probably recommend a magnesium gummy vitamin and even an iron gummy. It has been proven that magnesium can help reduce oxidative stress and help circulation in the body, lowering clots that may form. Iron can also help with weight loss, support muscle growth, and produce red blood cells. 

The best gummy vitamin brands would probably be NatureMade or a platform like VitaCost. They are cheap and cost-effective, as well as trustworthy platforms.

And there shouldn't be any side effects unless you overdose on a pill or choke on one. Consult a medical professional if you have any underlying medical conditions that may interact with the gummy vitamins listed above. 

That's all for today. I hope to add you as a friend on chess.com!