How to Find Time & Motivation as an Adult Chess Improver | Dojo Talks Habits feat. Neal Bruce

Adult chess improver Neal Bruce of Twitter fame joins the Dojo to discuss his thoughts, processes, and habits when it comes to chess training. Lots of good advice and useful insights in this one!
0:00 Intro
0:17 Origin Story
3:32 Using flash cards for tactics
9:10 Neal as a young chess player
11:12 Why did Neal decide to start with basic tactics?
14:30 Are flash cards a good method for solving puzzles?
15:24 Tracking results
22:22 Does training need to be fun?
26:26 Suffering from the perfectionist mindset
29:22 Origin of #Chesspunks
34:12 The power of accountability
36:05 Does training need to be fun? Part 2
38:22 Neal's Strategy Book Championship
45:50 How Neal goes through books on chess strategy
50:35 Neal's 10-year-plan for chess improvement
53:30 Neal's Pawn Strategy Book Championship
56:51 Should you focus on one topic at a time?
1:00:28 Neal's plans for the future
Neal's recommendations:
Atomic Habits - amzn.to/3bIM8GC
Tiny Habits - amzn.to/3vqIw3F
Chess Tactics for Students - amzn.to/3vkBeP0
Winning Chess Strategies - amzn.to/2Nh7jpH
Chess Structure: A Grandmaster Guide - amzn.to/3cpwsXS
Follow ChessDojo here:
Twitch: / chessdojolive
Discord: / discord
Twitter: / chess_dojo
Patreon: / chessdojo

[@ChessBaseIndiachannel]

Great work Kostya. Very inspiring story of Neal!

[@ChessDojo]

Thanks!

[@joeshmo546]

Sagar you should play in the Gauntlet

[@althompson3085]

​@@ChessDojo~At 74, I am trying to improve my game.

[@flatulencetheunendingii5815]

I started studying chess just last year at 28. My lifetime goal is to get over 2000 rating, but I will be happy to just get better

[@robertmahon8510]

I’m aged 41 and improving! This has been the best chess podcast I’ve listened to. Thank you Neal and Kostya !

[@sinan4833]

I’m 33 and improving! Realized how beautiful chess is after 30 and I am happy about that!

[@althompson3085]

I am 74 and trying to improve my game.

[@MathAdam]

As an Old Fogie returning to chess, I can relate to this.

[@sacriste]

I usually got bored by podcasts and interviews but this was so interesting and full ideas than I didn´t skip a second. I used a similar approach at 51 to maximize my progress as a late adopter not in chess but in fitness. I´m now 58 and in the best shape of my life even when I was very active in my twenties. Having a well developed and evolving system, discipline, focus in continuous improvement, and being absolutely determined, are some key elements. I returned to competitive chess this year, after a 30 years hiatus and having lots of fun but also mixed results, I definitely will take a lot of advice from this video and the others in the channel. Big thanks.

[@DaydreamVacations]

I started a similar process in 2020 on my 47th birthday. My process and thoughts mirror those shared in this podcast. I’m currently rated 1588 at age 49. I’d like to address Openings. I spent 6 months discovering my Opening Repertoire. It was important learning what types of positions I enjoyed, and what style of play matches my playing personality. Studying the middle game strategies, tactical theme’s, and common endgames in relationship to your openings makes it more relatable, and accessible. For example, my openings often lead to IQP, Hanging Pawns, and Carlsbad structures. These structures have their own tactical themes, strategies, weak squares, pawn targets, hooks, etc. Lastly I say this: Studying full games from your favorite openings show you the middle game strategies, tactical themes, targets, weaknesses, plans, and common endgames that result from the opening. Full games = Full study.

[@DaydreamVacations]

A quick addition about openings... after looking at the encyclopedia of options available, I learned that when defending against 1.d4 I prefer defenses with d5 and Bb4, rather than g6 and Bg7. Discovering that personal choice made a huge impact on my study of the middle game, tactical themes, and common endgames. Now I can focus on elements that are more personal and relatable to my future games. While I understand the danger many players face with spending too much time on opening theory when tactics, strategy, and endgames are probably more important at lower levels... choosing an opening repertoire can guide the direction of your studies in those other areas. I was surprised he is choosing to wait 9 years to study openings in year 10. Not a criticism. Just a surprised observation as choosing my openings helped guide my studies.

[@Diachron]

Chess Dojo has rapidly become one of my favorite chess sources. Great content in an engaging style. I can see the brand coalescing into a service. Keep up the good work. P. S. Thanks for the inspiration, Neal. Always appreciate a story with good old fashioned grit.

[@kirkd1631]

Neal has inspired me a lot in developing my training routine and has attitude towards being an adult improver. I disagree with his approach to doing years of only one topic. Yes, you need to work yourself into one subject at a time but not for years.

[@keaaw]

Neal's dedication and organization are very impressive. However, I have reservations about the efficiency and efficacy (playing strength improvement per time invested in training) of this approach, as others have touched on in the comments. They key idea being improvement in playing strength per time invested -- playing strength is a holistic thing made up of many different factors. Certainly it contains elements of tactics, strategy, endgames, openings, etc. But playing strength is made up of more than those, it includes skills like: time management, overall move selection process, developing a "fighting spirit" (putting up the best defense in losing positions, continuing to challenge your opponent with problems to solve, staying alert for "swindle" opportunities, etc.), stamina (this is touched on briefly in the video), and so forth. Move selection in a live game is quite a different thing than solving tactical puzzles -- it involves comparing candidate moves, the goal being to make the best move possible in the time available. Lengthy solo training avoids the improvement feedback loop required for optimum improvement for time spent. To be a better player, you have to make better moves (under tournament conditions!). That means, to be a better tournament player, you have to play a *lot* of games at classical time controls, and review these games to identify weaknesses that need to be fixed. Going over these games with a strong player or coach is a critical part of the improvement feedback process, to pinpoint the areas for improvement and to avoid making the same mistakes again. Studying solo for 10 years before beginning this feedback process in earnest I think is missing the mark, because that process must take place, regardless (again, assuming the goal is to maximize playing strength per time invested). A couple other things: always playing "up" 300-400 rating points or more is also not ideal: it's important to practice game-winning technique when ahead, and that opportunity may not arise very much if only playing much stronger opponents. I've read that playing 100-200 points up is ideal: opponents who will punish your mistakes (so you can identify and fix them!), but not so strong so that you never can get a winning position (and also playing lower rated opponents to practice winning technique). I also think the semantic quibbling about "fun" misses the clear point, that playing and training must have some sort of positive effect on one's life, or what's the point? Great interview and a lot of things to think about, thanks!

[@eugenesamokysh530]

Great video. As an adult learner, I can relate to lots of things that have been said. I started 3 years ago, went from 1300 to 2250 blitz on lichess, and hoping to finally bring my otb rating up once the corona thing is over. It's good to know I am not the only person on the train who does puzzles while going to work. :D However, I totally disagree about "playing up". The rating system is there for a purpose. And I do believe that players should only occasionally play against people out of their league. First of all, if you are playing much stronger opponents - you are going to lose most of the time. And losing is not fun. It discourages some people quite a bit. It's also one of the reasons most of us don't like playing against an engine. I find that it may be really hard later to switch from "I am just here to learn. It will be a good lesson even if I lose" to "I want to win, I want to prove I'm better". And stronger players tend to have the latter mindset. Chess is a sport, after all. Moreover, imagine yourself playing Magnus today. I would be quite embarrassed for my play, and I am even not 100% sure that during the game I could point out the moment the game started to go his way. Not to mention that it would be a total waste of his time. If the skill gap is too big, I don't think a weaker player can take much out of the game, since his chess thinking/understanding simply does not allow it. I also have no fun playing much weaker players. Imagine yourself playing a friend of yours who only knows how to move pieces. He gets crushed in 15-20 moves, and it probably was not fun for either of you, right? Lastly, "playing up" is trying to shelter yourself from stress imo. Some sort of self-created defense mechanism. You don't get into complicated positions with 3 minutes on the clock when one move could ruin everything and your legs are literally shaking under the table. That's because you are not playing an equal, most of the time you probably get crushed much earlier. You don't experience how exciting it is to have a spike in rating, how heartbreaking it is when it plunges, and how depressing it could be when it plateaus. You just lose 3-4 points in a game and once in a while, you get them back in one win. You don't have rivals who make you push yourself harder by improving their own game. This makes you feeling like you have all the time in the world to still reach master strength but it is not true.

[@panickypatzer]

This was a joy to watch! Thank you for sharing!

[@SheaMurtagh]

Excellent, thank you both for sharing.

[@southernrun9048]

Great interview and awesome to learn more about Bruce’s strategies to learning. More detail than Twitter posts allow 😀

[@mitchellfabian7694]

The Man, the Myth, the Legend. This is one of the best vids in awhile (and every vid is fantastic)! Came out with a lot of life lessons and motivation. #ChessPunks

[@Chessdrummer83]

You're a legend Neal! I started playing chess 4-5 years ago, but only 2 months ago I decided to study and track it properly at least 1 hour a day. Thanks for more inspiration

[@jahper3426]

I just started taking chess seriously and have been looking all over for information. You guys are awesome and all forms of your content have been helpful. Going to be a huge channel soon. Thanks for everything.

[@ShitGetsOld]

and I thought I was too late at 28. I enjoy the game more since I don't care about ratings. I just want to play better everyday! Great mindset

[@robertmac7833]

I’ve got more valuable ideas and food for thought through this video than I have through a hundred other chess instructional vids here on KZbin that go through games and openings move by move and variation after variation, as if any mortal can even REMEMBER all those reams of analysis! This is good practical advice that is making the gears in my head turn! Worth more than one listen to absorb the practical concepts that he is sharing!

[@ronbillimoria8652]

Excellent interview. Enjoyed it. As an adult older chess player its quite inspiring. Thanks a lot.

[@muza3000]

Thanks a lot for the inspiration, you have a truly great attitude towards improvement. It is awesome to see how age , family and occupation do not hold you back to pursue the mastery of chess. I also bookmarked "Tiny Habits" and "Mastery" on Audible, as they seem to be a good complement to "Atomic Habits", which I liked a lot.

[@MrSF0RZA]

So hyped to hear from Neal. Loved his perpetual chess podcast episodes. 10/10 would subscribe to a Neal podcast and/or KZbin channel

[@Armenian3394]

This is an inspiring story to everyone who started serious chess at late age like me. His words are encouraging and managing his routine training and desired goal bring him to continue the game and improve. I pray that he will achieve his dreamed strength soon and play competitively.

[@xiaoguangyang7917]

Good interview and I like the books Neil recommended. Like he said too many books are available and we need to pick right ones. I admire Neil persistence on tactics exercise and study one book at one time. These are my shortcomings. Thanks Dojo brought many guests with great contents. Joe

[@et5555yang]

That has to be my favorite introduction to a chess video.

[@markn3586]

This is very inspiring and gives me hope as an adult chess improver that I can accomplish my goal of understanding chess better. Thanks for the excellent topic.

[@stampdealer]

Hi Kostya, I just picked up the game at age 52. I have been trying to get my feet under me in order to move forward in a coherent way to learn and improve, as well as to figure out a sense of what the pace of the journey will be. This interview with Neal was incredibly helpful and enlightening in that regard. Many thanks to you both.

[@stampdealer]

@IT guides That is a very kind thing to say, thank you.

[@djvex6180]

I really needed to hear that advice on not feeling the urge to go in depth through all the sidelines for games and instead go for volume and a variety of different games. I always felt like I needed an all or nothing approach when analyzing games from books and forced myself to view all the sidelines. What ends up happening is that I never end up finishing a book or even half of a book for that matter. I'm looking forward to trying his approach and seeing how it goes.

[@survivaloftheidiots6239]

great video

[@atulbesra822]

Very inspirational.I am a determined person in another field. This video inspires me to be just as determined in the field of learning chess as well.

[@synesthetically]

We need another Neal update sometime this year or next! Great conversation

[@sayan64]

I read Mikhail Tal's book. It takes me 1hour per game at the very least. I do pause at critical moments and try to think. Sometimes a game takes 2hours.

[@bjorn7355]

I like the discussion about one classical game per week was the best for improvement.

[@antoniokleonforte]

Neal is a straight G!!

[@Robertl-xz6yl]

New dojo talks? Time for a bath 👏👏👏👏

[@jakeb.2990]

this guy is fantastic

[@clintwarner3008]

Omg. Crazy having all those cards...but if yu luv what yu do, I guess it's not so crazy. Good stuff. 👊

[@roccoprice4288]

At around 1:13:00 you said "get good quick schemes" and it reminded me of the Stafford gambit. Yeah, it can be fun to play sometimes but you are relying on your opponent to make mistakes in order for you to do well. I encourage anyone who wants to improve to focus on the fundamentals like Neal instead of doing crazy gambits

[@BillRatio]

A lot of top coaches recommend playing gambits for beginners. If you learn how to use all your pieces and why tempo is important, you'll improve a lot. You will learn that more from the Stafford than from the London.

[@charliesilva1220]

Boston area! 40 years old!

[@joeshmo546]

1:10:47 "you think you belong there" that hit me hard 😬

[@charliesilva1220]

Chariots of fire!

[@Diffusion8]

Interesting. I had the same kinds of ideas on returning to chess at a later stage... i.e. starting right back at the basics. Still working on it as a ten year project!

[@averagejoe5016]

I like this guy

[@andreitiberiovicgazdovici]

I returned to Chess after 10 years of not playing a single Chess game. It's not easy ti find the time with job and family, but the passion for the game Is too strong!

[@Daegend]

Great video. Just discovered this guy and he's an inspiration. What is the song he mentions at 5:05 ?

[@ChessDojo]

Chariots of Fire

[@miggylobos1]

By Vangelis

[@paullebon323]

Any Chess playlist should start with I've Seen All Good People followed by One Night In Bangkok.

[@johnmason9221]

The best chess music is The Misfits.

[@TheGPel]

Beal should look into the step method, its from the Netherlands and it are only tactics. Its used for kids to learn chess but it gets pretty hard. It goes to step 6 which is like 2000 rated. And 1 book has like 300 excersises.

[@TheGPel]

Neal

[@robertmac7833]

So how does one go about making their own cards? Do you print them out or are they hand drawn?

[@hyrax2112]

Sorry, the information may be somewhere I should be able to find it, but I've looked and I can't find the list of tactics books that Neal used to create his full Tactics study set. Does anyone have a link?

[@timwessontimmyboy9706]

Interesting Neal couldn't remember his trigger song and had to look it up.

[@Shellback13202]

Finding other metrics to measure progress than rating is a great point. Some days I'll study and train and then lose a game and feel like it was a waste, which isn't helpful or true.

[@ChessDojo]

Yep, almost all experience can be helpful!

[@davidwestwood6850]

Research shows the we can benefit / learn from our mistakes. We needn't fear mistakes, just accept we can learn / improve from them.

[@danielsayre3385]

holy shit, one song?!

[@kdas7590]

His technique is similar to what is recommended by Rolf Wetzel's book, "Chess Master, at any age". Rolf takes the flash cards to the next level and uses it for all chess concepts, not just tactics.

[@nealbruce3971]

Rolf is a great guy! And I’m now creating strategy Flashcards. 👍

[@kdas7590]

@@nealbruce3971 The trap that I think most people fall into is that we will study a game and find an error in our thinking process. That is good, but the real question that needs to be asked is "Why did I make that error?" The creation of a flashcard forces then addresses the "why"

[@pierQRzt180]

The guy is very committed though, whatever he does he does it until the end, movies or what not. Not everyone has this trait. I would put on hold a book if the book (or movie, or content) is not good for me at that time (I can retry down the line), because time is limited and there is too much to consume. If one would be 20 on a empty planet with only 100 books, then read all of them, as there is no other content to consume; but in reality there is plenty of good things to read.

[@jahper3426]

I may have missed it. What does Neal do for work?

[@restlessdunedain]

Cool guy

[@connormonday]

This is interesting, but it wasn't clear to me if he came up with this idea to train some components of chess individually on his own or if a coach recommended it. I get spending time on each element but shouldn't the chess approach be somewhat more holistic? I understand focusing on specific aspects for a few months, but 4 years on tactics before learning strategy? Something seems wrong with that but I don't know.

[@ChessDojo]

It is a very long-term approach, but it makes sense! Many kids start out "just playing" and doing tactics for a few years before learning any strategies.

[@fidetrainer]

Joy is not my goal: famous words my ex-wife whispered in my ear during the wedding

[@tychay]

Pretty sure Birth of a Nation is not the first film/movie ever made. The Lumiere Bros were making story-based movies before Edison stole the idea from them and brought it to the US. It may have been the first AMERICAN film of movie length or some qualification like that. Nonetheless, the idea holds, including the reference to My System. :)

[@TrueLoner_]

Anybody know what this guy's ratings are? Curious to see if solving puzzles all the time actually increases rating

[@flatulencetheunendingii5815]

Are you serious? Think of every single move of a chess game as each one being it's own puzzle. Now you tell me if solving puzzles would increase your rating

[@joannewilson6577]

Neal Bruce @NealBruceBC · 16 oct. 2020 I’m USCF 1700 ~ 1600 FIDE and 51 years old. I’ll take bets at 20:1 that I hit 2200 FIDE within 14 years (age 65). I’m way too old & too weak. Because I’m also stupid, I’ll put up at total of $10,000 USD.

[@ChessGainz]

53:45 😂

[@nudelsuppe2090]

Whats Neals current rating?

[@flatulencetheunendingii5815]

He says he is 1600-1700 I think I heard

[@joannewilson6577]

Neal Bruce @NealBruceBC · 16 oct. 2020 I’m USCF 1700 ~ 1600 FIDE and 51 years old. I’ll take bets at 20:1 that I hit 2200 FIDE within 14 years (age 65). I’m way too old & too weak. Because I’m also stupid, I’ll put up at total of $10,000 USD.

[@allin8795]

what is Neal's rating?

[@devawheeler4761]

Imagine having a job and or family. I play bullet and blitz chess all day and gain 200 rating.

[@trevor7234]

How does memorizing 8,000 positions help with tactics in real games?

[@ChessDojo]

The idea was not to memorize them but be able to solve and recognize common patterns, which will come up in real games

[@AdamGenesisArt]

Wow cool, just found this by accident.

[@erichuifitness]

What rating is Neal Bruce?

[@shadowside8433]

No need for a computer in much of this, which is interesting, expecially the tactics side of things.

[@johnphamlore8073]

"I read 13 strategy books last year." No you didn't. If you are really that serious about chess, just work your way through Yusupov's 9 books. If you don't believe in fun, just follow exactly what Yusupov recommends for working through his problems. I still think almost everyone would be far better off first following Emanuel Lasker's plan for 200 hours to learn chess. Note that Lasker's Manual of chess has an entire chapter on aesthetics, just having fun with positions.

[@felixdahlgren8130]

reienr

[@lowtherlars]

The only downside of Neal’s method with flash cards is he butchers books.

[@theuntruescotsman5214]

The book itself isn't the important part. It's the wisdom it contains which matters.

[@eurabio]

He has studied like 20 times more than me and has far less rating. Maybe he is studying shallow or maybe he need Aphex Twin instead of Flo Rida. I'm a bit baffled.

[@ChessDojo]

Did you improve as an adult?

[@eurabio]

@@ChessDojo I learned at 9 but only played now and then. Studying chess I started at 20 or 21. Made it to 2112 FIDE under 40 months and I stopped studying. At 30 I made a comeback and managed to climb to 2165 after an initial drop. Since then I've only played a tournament now and then and my rating has declined. Recently at 42 I'm studying again (hence Im watching this video) and already played a tournament, my rating dropped to 1999 FIDE. Hope it's because Im rusty and not because the age. Im studying almost daily, hope to climb back and make it to 2200 FIDE.

[@IMKostyaKavutskiy]

@@eurabio You were still quite young when you improved! Much harder imo to improve as an adult with a job, family, and many responsibilities. Anyways have you considered the Dojo Training Program? 🙂

[@andrschiller]

To me chess is beautiful, it's fun, it's a dance for the brain. Sorry, but being a grinder (and being proud of it), not having fun training, having multi-year training plans where you focus only on one aspect of the game for years (!) is not inspiring to me at all. It's a rather depressing and obsessive approach to this fantastic game. I would strongly discourage anyone to approach chess in this way. The journey is the reward. Also true for learning chess. On a separate note: The idea that you have to play against weaker players in order to get a higher rating is a misconception of the ELO rating system.

[@mihuhih2186]

so much work and only 1600?

[@ChessDojo]

That's more than most people! Also it's very hard for adults to improve

[@ericfleet9602]

"How to Find Time..." video is 80 minutes long...

[@ChessDojo]

Haha 😄

[@natemiller6756]

This guy isn't playing nearly as many games as he should be if he's trying to improve. You can read about all of the theory you want however in order to improve you,ve gotta actually play games the same way that runners need to run A LOT in order to become faster. You should be playing at the very least 5 games every single day and analyzing each game afterwards thoroughly. Just a little perspective grandmasters on average play around 500 games on a typical week.

[@ChessDojo]

Blifz is one of many tools players can use to get better. Not sure if that's the only method though

[@natemiller6756]

@@ChessDojo Well no of course not. There are plenty of other things that will help you such as puzzles lessons and meditation however playing games should be the core of your training. It exposes you to a lot of different positions not to mention that you,re gonna be playing at your absolute best when it's with someone else. The amount of games that you should be playing depends on the game that you,re interested in improving in. So obviously it's not possible play 500 classical games a week however you can definitely aim for around 20-30 classical games a week where you,re just giving it your all. You can get away with playing a lot more games if bullet/ blitz is your thing because of the short time frame. Bullets my game of choice so I,ll easily exceed 200 games a week.

[@nicoterradas]

So, basically... the guy "hates" Nimzowitsch and Kmoch. That alone tells you will NEVER be good at chess. If you can't understand the brilliance of these classics, I seriously question he could understand the other kindergarten books he reads.

[@ChessDojo]

Haha Kostya doesn't like those books either! Looks like he will never be good 🥲

[@KeepChessSimple]

The modern strategy books teach the same stuff as the Nimzowitsch book, but 'better' written and more modern. Your statement is a bit weird. There are modern super GM's that never read it. Even Carlsen thinks it sucks.

[@hyrax2112]

are you kidding? These aren't bibles handed down from the Chess Gods. I personally like Kmoch. However both of these books contain subject matter that is covered in more modern books that he mentioned.