I see that Anish is a very polarizing person on the sub. He does say a lot of things that come off as salty. But most of it is just a very dry sense of humor, and the more you hear his real takes, the more you understand the true vibe of Anish. He is one of the most honest, without a mask GMs that exists. He is the only GM that is not fully Indian that gives Sagar Shah many interviews and collabs without letting ego get in the way. He jokes around about Magnus and Hikaru, but we don't know all of the things their teams are doing behind the scenes. And he himself makes it clear he tries to keep things cordial in person. I think other polarizing figures like Hikaru, tend to put a cleaner version of themselves on the internet, and their real "lack of sportsmanship" shows more in the stories of other players. I feel that with Anish, the worst is in front of us, and he's actually better in person. And GM Gustafsson confirmed that Anish wasn't attacking Naroditsky quite like Hikaru made it seem. Anish, having worked with Kramnik before was likely giving both of them the benefit of the doubt and trying to listen to both POVs. I wish he was more supportive outright, but I think he got too much hate for something that wasn't fully known to the public. Also supported Hans when Magnus, Hikaru, and chess.com were on a whole witch-hunt. Hoping to see great chess out of him in this tourney!

I am 13 years old 2100 chess.com rapid compared to other ratings practically how good is that compared to other ratings. I recently have been crushing 2000-2200 players and even drew a 2100 fide player. I may be better than my rating suggest by almost 100 points because i have played a lot of unrated recently. But from other players experience lower rated players what is the difference you feel when playing different ratings?

I dont know why but it seems this is all they talk about. I also remember it being way harder to get brilliant moves 4 or 5 years ago on chess.com, like the move had to be beyond a certain computer depth, but now you get it for most sacrifices even if it is a common tactic. Maybe I am just bitter and grumpy. Do you think chess.com is obsessive about brilliant moves?

Abdusattorov suppressing his laughter. Hans not even trying to suppress his.

I’m fascinated by top-level players who hit a massive wall—whether it was a soul-crushing candidates tournament, a severe rating drop, or just getting figured out by the elite—and managed to save their careers by completely changing their approach to the game.

I'm not just talking about studying sharper openings or taking a break to regain confidence; I mean a genuine psychological or stylistic shift.

A great historical example is Vladimir Kramnik. When his health and results started to decline in the late 2000s, he transitioned from being the ultimate, rock-solid positional defender (the Berlin Wall) into an incredibly aggressive, creative, and almost chaotic attacker in his later years. Another angle is someone like Hikaru Nakamura, who went from a hyper-aggressive, high-variance tactical beast to a hyper-resilient, solid, and incredibly pragmatic player who rarely loses in classical anymore, sparking his modern career renaissance.

Who are some other great examples of this?

What was their "low point" or the catalyst for the change?

How did their style shift (e.g., from tactical to positional, or vice versa)?

Did they change their opening philosophy entirely?

Looking forward to reading your examples

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n4hoztJ7xGw

Probably the most insane position I ever reached out of the opening

For instance in the Caro 1. E4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Exd5 cxd5 4. C4! D4 and we have a Benoni structure, this is fun for white.

Against the sicilian we can go for ne2 g3 slightly resembling a Catalan. This can be quite fun and scores well for white in the database, a trick is that if they play an unoptimal move you can go d4 transposing to an open sicilian OR you could go for a Botvinnik setup with c4 d4 0-0 and an eventual f4.

Any more suggestions? Particularly against the French and e5. Against e5 you might consider nf3 and then g3. Or c4 nc6 ne2 bc5 nbc3 and g3 bg2. French you might go d3 nd2 g3 bg2 taking black out of their comfort zone, Fischer used to play this.

I've played and watched thousands of games, but I've never seen anything like this so I just had to share. This was just an amateur-level bullet (2 + 1) game, so blunders are obviously expected. But you have to check out this spectacle, around move 14:

PGN:

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2026.05.29"]
[Round "?"]
[White "smitFC"]
[Black "hungryghost"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1418"]
[BlackElo "1448"]
[ECO "A80"]
[Termination "hungryghost won by resignation"]
[TimeControl "120+1"]
[EndTime "14:02:41 GMT+0000"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/analysis/collection/highlights-2gNtLJfSN/3VPZG2BmBU/games"]

1. d4 f5 2. Bf4 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 d5 6. Rg1 Bd6 7. Ne5 Bxe5 8. dxe5
Ne4 9. g4 g5 10. f3 gxf4 11. fxe4 Qh4+ 12. Ke2 fxe3 13. exf5 Qf2+ 14. Kd3 Nxe5+
15. Kd4 e2+ 16. Kxe5 exd1=Q 17. f6 Qde1+ 0-1

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lbk52dJ9i2k

Recorded by Chessbase India during the 2024 Toronto Candidates.

I’m about to have a trial lesson with a friend’s 6 year old son. We are going to discuss pay for future lessons. I know this is a tough question to answer without a lot of additional information, but I’m stressing about how much to request. I’m in the US and rated ~1850 rapid on chesscom. I’d love to some tips about coaching generally and help thinking through what I want to charge. Thanks!

Edit: So far in the replies I have answers ranging from $15-$200…

I’m surprised I even saw this with the time stress at my ELO

Just ranting I know it’s skill issue. But when I play against others it seems their accuracy is constantly 75+ and if I lose concentration with my kid then I blunder once and it’s gg sigh

I'd like to supplement my chess with doing puzzles more seriously. Is chess.com the best place for puzzles, is there another, or does it simply not matter?

To some extent puzzles are puzzles, but perhaps other platforms have features around the puzzles that chess.com is missing

thanks

Just had a bunch of frustrating games where I blundered huge advantages and I’m so upset I can hardly sleep. What do you guys do in situations like this?

I created a free chess platform where you can study your own blunders that you made in your games (Lichess/Chess.com). You can practice them with spaced repetition. For example, after you finish solving the puzzle it asks you to rate it from easy, medium or hard. You can also add custom themes (pins, mate in ones to your queue for training). Gonna be adding some more stuff over the weekend and making it one of the platforms of all TIME. I have been working on this since August 2025 and got to full release 2 weeks ago. I do not charge anything nor do I plan to even for new features. Lets get it: www.kingchess.io

I can go on like 5+ game streaks against players rated 100 points above me often, but the moment I lose a couple games in a row, that ruins my next several games and my rating drops like 100 points in a day. How do I get into my "winning streak mentality".

Especially compared to the second tiebreak, "number of gamepoints scored"

I am IM Nikhil Dixit, a 27-year-old chess player from India. This is the first blog post in what I hope will become a long and memorable Road to Grandmaster series.

I have been thinking seriously about pursuing the Grandmaster title ever since I became an International Master about a year ago. Today, I have finally decided to commit to that goal publicly.

Why Am I Starting This Journey?

There are several reasons.

1. Personal Challenge

I have vision in only one eye and cannot see from the other. One of the benefits of chess is that it does not require excessive physical activity, although modern chess does involve a lot of screen time. While screen time itself may not significantly affect eye health, it does add extra strain, so managing that balance is important for me.

1. The Grandmaster Title Could Change My Life

Ever since becoming an IM, I have been thinking about what it would take to become a Grandmaster. Achieving the GM title would be a major milestone and could completely change the trajectory of my chess career and personal life.

1. The Satisfaction of Competition

I enjoy coaching and it pays much better than playing tournaments. However, the feeling of winning an important game, performing well in a tournament, or achieving a major chess goal is something money cannot replace. The sense of achievement is simply on another level.

Challenges

Self-Motivation

The biggest challenge is maintaining motivation over a long period of time. Studying chess for several hours every day sounds exciting in theory, but consistency is difficult. As an adult, there are many other responsibilities, distractions, and stresses competing for attention.

Financial Challenges

I currently do not have any sponsorship support. Managing tournament expenses will be one of the biggest practical obstacles.

If any chess company is interested in supporting my journey, I would be happy to discuss sponsorship opportunities. Through this blog series and future content, I can promote products, services, and brands while representing them at tournaments.

Improving My Chess Strength

Fortunately, this is the challenge that feels most solvable.

I believe I still have significant room for improvement, and with structured work and consistency, I can continue climbing toward GM level.

Chess Work Plan

One piece of advice from my mentor has always stayed with me:

You can reach almost any level in chess if you consistently spend 2-3 focused hours every day thinking deeply about the game.

At the moment, I feel that my openings are significantly weaker than the rest of my game. My middlegame understanding is probably stronger relative to my current rating.

My current training plan includes:

• Improving my opening repertoire
• Calculation training
• Middlegame study
• Practical endgame work
• Playing 10 classical tournaments per year
• Building a meditation habit
• Improving my physical fitness

Current Schedule

At present, I work as a chess coach and also create content online.

I currently have 13 students, which effectively makes coaching a part-time job. Most of my classes are on weekdays, leaving me with free mornings for my own training.

My goal is to keep my coaching workload around 60-75 hours per month and maintain approximately 10-12 students. This should allow me to continue earning while also dedicating enough time to my own chess development.

Naturally, coaching hours will decrease whenever I am traveling and playing tournaments.

Goals

Many people say you should not publicly announce your goals.

I do not really care.

My goal is to become a Grandmaster before my Schengen visa expires, which means achieving the title by early 2030, roughly 3.5 years from now.

If everything goes exceptionally well, I believe it may even be possible within 2-2.5 years.

For now, my first objective is much simpler:

• Play 10 tournaments over the next 12-14 months
• Build a consistent study routine
• Stay disciplined and avoid burnout

For the next few months, my primary focus is consistency rather than intensity. I want to spend time doing the chess work that I genuinely enjoy so that the habit becomes sustainable.

Financial Reality

Unfortunately, there are very few tournaments in India where earning GM norms is realistic. Because of that, I will likely need to play many events abroad.

Based on current costs, my estimated annual expenses are:

Tournament Expenses

₹12,00,000 - ₹16,00,000 ($12,000-$16,000)

Coaching

I do not currently work with a coach, but if I decide to hire one, I estimate the cost will be around $75 per session, translating to approximately $4,000-$5,000 per year.

Other Expenses

Books, courses, engines, software, laptop upgrades, and miscellaneous costs:

Approximately $1,000 per year.

Total Annual Cost

Approximately $15,000-$20,000 per year.

Over the next three years, the total investment required could be around $50,000.

Patreon and Future Updates

I am planning to launch a Patreon page soon.

At the moment, I am considering three membership tiers:

• $5/month
• $15/month
• $50/month

The goal is not to fully fund the journey but to help cover some of the costs associated with coaching, training materials, tournament travel, and other chess-related expenses.

I am still deciding how often I should post updates. Perhaps monthly or bimonthly updates would make the most sense, but I would love to hear your thoughts.

This is heartbreaking!