World-Class Chess Coach Reveals the Proven Way to Improve Your Chess

[@dhuguna]

Damn, i really loved how Aagaard ripped your games like you are a 1300. Very instructive even for myself.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Indeed! :) Thank you!

[@michaelf8221]

Damn, Aagaard is an absolute savage going through those games.

[@QueenLover-j5i]

Insights By "YouSum Live" 00:00:00 The journey to chess mastery 00:06:39 Importance of consistent practice and analysis 00:06:44 Finding the right training methods is crucial 00:07:53 Analyzing games enhances understanding of chess 00:12:00 Learning from losses is part of growth 00:12:49 Structure in training leads to improvement 00:16:30 Engagement in learning boosts effectiveness 00:22:05 Focus on tactics for club players 00:39:05 Developing calculation skills is vital 00:41:22 Positional play is essential for success 00:42:05 Analyzing games helps identify mistakes 00:43:16 Patience and reflection improve decision-making 00:43:53 Embrace the learning process in chess 00:44:31 Recognizing backward moves can be beneficial 00:45:11 Understanding weaknesses is key to strategy 01:44:53 Good luck on your chess journey! Insights By "YouSum Live"

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks! I have pasted it :)

[@moonlifeSW]

I've always wondered what coaching for GMs is like. It was super informative. Thanks for the video. Best chess video i've seen in a long time.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow, happy to hear it, thank you :)

[@thegreatgazoo7579]

Thank you so much for making this video. It is an immense gift to viewers! I left a very critical comment on one of your videos aimed at teaching beginners, but this video was outstanding and now I am going to watch all your videos.

[@R.Akerman-oz1tf]

Bite sized pieces 4 Me(too long).

[@thegreatgazoo7579]

@@R.Akerman-oz1tf The nice thing about videos is you put them on pause and only watch as much of them as you have time for at the moment, then come back to them later. This is instruction, not a movie. Thank you for posting the entire lesson.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you very much, happy to hear it! :)

[@markjuhasz2803]

Brilliant lecture! I have learnt a lot!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Indeed! Thanks!

[@jasonwilliams4659]

Jacob is an amazing chess trainer. I am looking forward to studying his chessable courses that I have invested in and I wished chessable would offer courses on all of his books.

[@journeytograndmaster]

totally agree!

[@vmab1985]

I've never seen a chess video like this. Subscribed.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Wow, thanks a lot!

[@chrisdacosta4182]

Excellent lesson, thank you, much appreciate this video.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks :)

[@tomivar9469]

His books are great!! I holeheartedly recommend them!

[@journeytograndmaster]

100%!!

[@lukeanthony2992]

Wow what a video... best chess video I've ever seen..by far

[@journeytograndmaster]

incredible, thank you! Could you please specify why you think so? :) I would really appreciate it!

[@lukeanthony2992]

@journeytograndmaster it was like being a fly on the wall in a high level chess tuition...some of the points the Gm made are things l would never of heard , and even if l have heard of them, it was enlightening how much importance he placed on certain points ...fair play to you for putting your head on the block..couldn't have been easy, but you helped many l'm sure aswell as yourself

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks a lot again :)

[@MrEliyahilel]

It was absolutely useful for me. Thanks ❤

[@journeytograndmaster]

Glad it was helpful!

[@walterbrownstone8017]

I gotta watch this. I've never heard it from the perspective of a chess coach. Coaches specialize in how to efficiently learn the game of chess.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah, it's absolutely mind blowing :)

[@robertorovida2108]

Impressive. Great content: the proof that learning is a never-ending process. Subscribed :-)))

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks! Welcome to our amazing community :)

[@keithwald5349]

About 16:12 Reminds me of a Feynman answer to a similar question about the "best" way to make progress in theoretical physics research. Feynman's answer was something like: The problem is _not_ to find the _best_ way; rather the problem is to find _any_ way at all!

[@journeytograndmaster]

indeed!

[@MrSupernova111]

Very cool!

[@kaganchess]

Im 2 minutes in to the video and already it inspired me i started playing chess at age 13 now im 16 and 1700 and lots of people think that its too late but apparently you can be a legend and 1700 at 16-17! Also i personally think this is a great content for your channel particularly because its about chess improvement and these type of podcasts with people who absolutely know how to improve at chess like Aagard are extremely useful for people who take this game seriously and invests time from their lives to take their play to the next step. Huge thanks and congrats.

[@Phurngirathaana]

Don't make the mistake of not working on your visualization, calculation and endgames and also don't totally neglect openings

[@MrSupernova111]

If an old fart like me can start from 1400 and break 2400 online then anyone can do it. I fully expect to break 2500 soon although not sure how well I'll fare otb. Good luck!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you very much! :)

[@kaganchess]

Guys i already hit 2500 on lichess a year ago its just that im underrated in otb since i regularly outplay 2k opponents. I certainly have a problem it might be caused of my ADHD or maybe getting too excited or being to careless in games i either dont care at all or i absolutely feel my heart trying to rip my ribcage apart and get out of my body lol. I probably should get coaching from a n experienced im or gm at this point to see what exactly my problem is but maybe next year i will have opportunities for that.

[@kaganchess]

Also another factor is definetely that players in my country are very underrated in general since whenever they go to europe they gain 200 elo per tournament and i also have plans to go to europe to play couple tournaments next year so we'll see. Thanks for the advices tho.

[@Chess-Talker]

Extremely instructive.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@TheD00mDuck]

I can imagine it is hard to hear things like „here you played very badly“ if you tried your very best, being alteady better than 97% of chess players and being so close to the gm norm and still being „schooled“ like an amateur. But I think every hard word to take now is a saved loss later. I would love to have such a one time coaching even if every single comment would be like „horrible move!„ 😂 Thanks for sharing the lesson that will bring you one step further towards being a GM.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah, it was really tough at the moment. Like you realize, you don't understand anything in chess at all, after 20 years of playing and learning. But it's exactly what you need to grow for sure :) Thank you!

[@zacharysherry2910]

"Truth hurts" -Ben Finegold

[@Chessgonemad]

A tough interview, Agaard did not hold back, but from what ive seen he is always like that. You can get GM. Just keep working!

[@journeytograndmaster]

absolutely, I always respect such people. Thank you!

[@mircea-mariusmesesan1319]

free lesson with Jacob Aagaard is GOLD! 😁

[@journeytograndmaster]

100% agree! :)

[@Alekhine01]

I see a lot of people commenting on how harsh Aagaard was. Your experience was much harsher of a criticism, and when he criticized, you already knew something was wrong, you just might have not known what. The biggest criticism occurred over the board at the tournament. It was not winning games that you felt you should win and struggling against lower rated players. So for somebody to make sense of what went wrong and tell you is not something that should give a person focused on improvement dismay. It should give you hope. Finally, you know what you need to do. You may have even known before, but to have somebody tell you, that is a big deal. Now you can proceed with confidence. I don't think you can go very far in chess if you cannot handle the fact that you will constantly have to improve (which means you will sometimes need people to point out the root causes of your mistakes). Anyway, I got an awful lot out of this video. It gave me hope for I have been struggling with my own demons. It is reassuring to think that the difficulties I have are things that I CAN work on and improve.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Totally agree. It was a priceless experience for me. Happy to hear that it was useful for you too :)

[@kimbirch1202]

I didn't take up chess until in my 40s, but am pleased to reach a rsting of 1700. I don't want to get too obsessed with a game , but have no ambition to be a GM , but wouldn't mind improving , which I do just by playing.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Then this channel will help you improve even faster :)

[@kimbirch1202]

@journeytograndmaster I improve by playing , and figuring things out myself, but appreciate your input.

[@TheImproversPath]

Great video, so much I could say, but main thing was hearing him talk about your 'style'. How much of your style is due to your opening choice? How can I get someone like Jacob to look at my games and tell me what my style is? It seems like that would be a big thing to know to inform what you play (openings, types of positions) and how and more importantly what you train Also so useful for him to pin point a move range and say that was where you need to improve

[@MrSupernova111]

Finding a coach remotely as insightful as GM Aagaard would be a matter of trial and error and/or very expensive. I personally wouldn't bother with a coach unless I was in the 1800-2000 otb range and didn't already have "low hanging fruit" (as Aagaard calls it) that I could easily work on by myself.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks a lot! Well, Jacob is not taking private students currently but I could help you with that within a couple of lessons :)

[@TheImproversPath]

@@journeytograndmaster Nice, thanks for the offer - i will finish the 30 days and drop you an email after :)

[@YFchess]

Very useful!!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks!

[@frosty98-t9h]

You should add subtitles ( by editing cuz it feels like watching a quality content )and maybe Collab with others cuz you are really underated

[@journeytograndmaster]

There are subtitles, no? Yeah, seeing how much people love it makes me want to try more interviews :) Thanks!

[@frosty98-t9h]

@@journeytograndmaster oh I just noticed there are Lol

[@iceicebaby6980]

Everyone needs a friend like this. Snowflakes, you will get better.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Indeed, thank you :)

[@jakesteffan505]

Well I'm tired of losing, so I'll take the bait.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Did you enjoy it? :)

[@ChristianSoschner]

Excellent

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks

[@Thesniper825]

Please set time stamps for this video

[@journeytograndmaster]

Somebody helped with it in the other comment, and I paste it, thank you :)

[@cheetah_100]

The interviewer is basically mute lol But I appreciate Aagaard's monologue!

[@journeytograndmaster]

indeed, I didn't want to interrupt :) thanks!

[@poogapooga3176]

I got a lot out of this video. Tells me how bad I am and the knowledge I lack.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Happy to hear it! :)

[@sighmahmale]

Great video, but i laughed out loud when Agaard said "there's no understanding in math" XD

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks :)

[@Extirpo]

45:00 Decision making.

[@bluefin.64]

Can you give us the name of the book author Jacob mentions at 20:55? I can't make it out. Thanks.

[@TheFrenkel]

Who is the author he recommends here? Which books? 📕

[@JoseLeon-zd2eq]

Yes I am trying to find out what was those books he recommended at 20:55.

[@perseufernandesmachadodeol1415]

I think he says Csaba Balogh's books. I just searched and this author has some tatics books

[@bluefin.64]

@@perseufernandesmachadodeol1415 If found the books. They look interesting. Thanks.

[@MrSupernova111]

I wouldn't bother with decades old tactics books as they were published in a pre-computer age - meaning they would be riddled with errors. There are plenty of modern books on tactics or calculation that are computer checked.

[@ytmndman]

Please play a game against Mr. Aagaard and then show it on the channel with commentary.

[@journeytograndmaster]

I guess he already did a lot for me :) But thanks for the idea!

[@mannylokzzz]

2:02 lol me and you both champ

[@journeytograndmaster]

lol :)

[@martinpetrusbreathwork]

I didn’t get it. So if I am a beginner then what would be the best way of learning tactics on Lichess?

[@PerteTotale]

chose puzzles on lIchess, then puzzles for tactical (and some positional) exercices

[@MrSupernova111]

GM Aagaard is saying to learn patterns instead of doing random puzzles. People are too obsessed with doing random online puzzles for rating which is baffling to me. If you're sub 2000 the vast majority of your puzzle time should be learning patterns. Lichess has many such patterns grouped together. That's why Aagaard likes them. He even recommends the host, an IM, spends some time doing those instead of strictly focusing on deep calculation.

[@journeytograndmaster]

The main point is to do some kind of deliberate practice regularly. And not so important what exactly it would be, books, courses, lichess. Something of good quality that works for you

[@Extirpo]

1:03:08 calculation

[@elisenotes]

Awesome advice - but you skipped his name at the beginning - and you don't have it in your description! I had to dig through the comments.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks. What do you mean "I skipped the name at the beginning"? I said it in the very first sentence, 0:05 I am gonna add it to the description too, thanks again.

[@elisenotes]

@@journeytograndmaster Please listen to it again - you can hear the first name but not the surname, at least on my computer.

[@elisenotes]

... the closed caption device reads it as Jacob aard!

[@journeytograndmaster]

I can definitely hear it. However, it's a tough name to pronounce, so maybe I have not done it perfectly. The auto captions are far from perfect, unfortunately. Of course, once again it has to do with my pronunciation which is far from perfect too. But I try to improve :) Thanks anyway!

[@Jezreel_Barriga]

do you have to be better in mental math calculations so that you'll be better at chess than normal people?

[@journeytograndmaster]

no, not necessarily. It's a separate but comparable skill

[@johnmahugu]

i like your channel, just discovered it recently ... keep up the good work son.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you!

[@gernot4490]

this ...d6 in the sici was engine and most played move. what was his problem lol?

[@marklouderback5438]

It’s a great love fest. But in the first game, he calls b4 a terrible move. It’s the most popular move in that position. And the computer thinks it’s fine. But he says it’s terrible, so ok. Then after the 14th move he says that black is slightly ahead. The computer shows -0.11. No one is ahead. Nc4 is the mistake made and nothing is said there. I get that some coaches play by feel and give their opinions-but the data doesn’t always back it up.

[@journeytograndmaster]

yeah, I was also a bit surprised about b4 as I have prepared against it for the game. But that's the point of the coach - to express his opinion, not just repeat what the computer says

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

Lots of hard work to get his GM title! Then the question rises as to how come a player like Alireza Firouzja can become a grandmaster at the mere age of 14.

[@mikecantreed]

Firouzja is a generational talent. The guy is wired for tactics and calculation.

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

@@mikecantreed Genius indeed as he started chess at the age of 10 and won Iranian championship at 12! Incredible!

[@alekhinesgun9997]

@@kevinwellwrought2024 Firouzja learned chess at 8, not 10

[@kevinwellwrought2024]

@@alekhinesgun9997 even if we assume he learned chess at 8, reaching GM level in 6 years and winning Iranian championship at 12 are superhuman!

[@alekhinesgun9997]

​@@kevinwellwrought2024Would never say otherwise, just correcting the inaccuracies that's all👌

[@MrSupernova111]

Wow! That was amazing! I thought this was going to be another casual interview. I was not expecting some live coaching. The only thing that would have been better is if GM Aagaard didn't interrupt as much. Otherwise, phenomenal video. Cheers!

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks a lot!

[@s.t.7169]

...LOL....I seem to spend a lot time thinking about Anna Cramling as well! .....her and AKANemsko!

[@MrSupernova111]

simp

[@journeytograndmaster]

:)

[@DanacChess]

For me some videos works. Mainly Arthurs Neiksans

[@journeytograndmaster]

What about "journey to grandmaster" videos? :)

[@DanacChess]

@@journeytograndmaster Well I can learn some things from your videos, but I always feel like I have to search to get to the parts I want to look at. It can for sure be usefull to watch, but it can be hard to know what I'll get from a video, since titles+tumnnails often feels something like "This is a super important skill to reach 2000 elo" while I know I'll get something usefull from Neiksans videos (Mainly the bootcamps) The biggest difference is probably that Neiksans can explain some nuances that I would not be able to understand with only a computer, and I don't have to search 20 videos on 1 subject fearing that I haven't mastered it as there might be something else important I've missed. For openings I use other channels that more suit my own repertoire (Put simply it is Ruy Lopez with white, KID+Sveshnikov with black) I think it is only very few channels that actually allow you to master a chess topic (that is not openigns) from 1 video or video series. It is so common that the basics are covered, or some in-depth, but not any whole-covering topic by topic that would make one feel that the target topic becomes a strength. So while your videos work for learning, I don't think they are the most effective for me at the moment. Maybe I'll check out more of your videos when I've watched all of Arthurs videos (Except for the Latvian ones). I do think this channel offers quality content in areas not very often covered, but since it is hard to know what videos cover what, I prefer Neiksans.

[@MrSupernova111]

Videos are for entertainment. Chess learning happens on the board. I don't care what anyone says. If you want to learn rook endings get a good book, set up the positions on a board and play them out. If you want to learn openings use a good database with an engine and find the lines that appeal to you the most. If you want to learn calculation, again, get a good book, set up the positions on a board and solve them. When you're interacting with a chessboard and exploring "options" is when the real learning happens. You can watch a dozen videos a day and soon enough you'll dump most of what you learned because there is no interaction. Passive learning doesn't work with complex subjects like chess.

[@DanacChess]

@@MrSupernova111 If a method works it works. Videos present material that I then also try to recall. It is not a passive process, but it can be

[@MrSupernova111]

@@DanacChess . No one can memorize enough chess to master it. Chess improvement happens by active learning. Once you reach a certain level you're realize this except then you'll have to undo a lot of bad habits to make more progress. Good luck!

[@matesenelinsti]

I liked everything until I heard “there is no understanding in math” it hurts a lot. Math is about understanding, even while calculating. But math is more in than that.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah, I guess he had a point there but expressed it a bit in the wrong way

[@matesenelinsti]

@ for sure. I got his point anyway.

[@NyxAI-com]

Very nice analysis of your games - if possible it would be nice to see more interviews and analysis with Jacob Aagaard - even so I got all mentioned books, I haven’t worked through them so far - good reminder to start now!

[@journeytograndmaster]

I wish mr. Aagaard would have more time for doing it :)

[@polyspastos]

i grew up poor, so i know how hard it can be. so heres my 750 euro course coz i cannot make it cheaper

[@journeytograndmaster]

But it's for a full year of education from real coaches, right? He has to pay them a salary too.

[@SomebodyGuy]

A long informative video, something not very common in chess.

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thank you! I hope you will visit the channel often, then it will be common :)

[@SomebodyGuy]

@@journeytograndmaster Will try! (I mean yes I will 🤣)

[@Chessgonemad]

20:57 who is he talking about?

[@perseufernandesmachadodeol1415]

Csaba Balogh

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks for helping with the answer!

[@2Oldcoots]

"I Got Better At Working!" Key moment. Also, "I Worked Much Better!". "What Worked For Me Was Analyzing Games."

[@journeytograndmaster]

Yeah! :)

[@socratesXLIX]

Excellent

[@journeytograndmaster]

Thanks