Yuriy Krykun

I’ve opened a few coaching slots (private, small groups, or game-review plans). If you’re interested, fill this quick form—if it looks like a good match, I’ll invite you to a free 10-minute call to map next steps. forms.gle/xpGvm8LH6QqadT… (If this could help a chess friend, feel free to share.) #chesspunks #chess @chessable

This is a really interesting conversation. Many people have the intuitive desire to take as much as possible and give as much as possible. But, every relationship has to be mutual. If you hire someone to work for free (or very cheap) and they agree, then what happens? Ultimately that person can’t pay their bills or succeed in life and can’t provide you a service anymore. So, any sustainable relationship (like having employees who don’t quit, so you don’t have a huge turnover and training expenses) requires being fair - at least to a reasonable degree. And, of course you want people who make your life better (coffee shop owners, car mechanics, lawyers, anyone) to have a good life too. Anyone who tries to only take, take, take doesn’t win in the long run. Anyone who only gives, gives, gives can’t succeed in the long run either. Chess always had this mentality “we love chess so we’ll do it for passion”, and it’s wonderful to have passion, but passion doesn’t pay the bills. Last decade has been amazing to chess professionals - not players, but content creators, coaches etc who can now make good money doing it - in many cases better than desirable 9-5 jobs. Nothing wrong at all with only consuming “free” content because you can’t afford paid content, or aren’t serious enough, etc. But it’s weird when people expect “free” things because it shows they don’t think for the other side - the person creating content. At the same time, nothing is free. You pay with time, attention, watching ads, etc. But, actually, in the prosperous western countries people are very willing to pay for enjoyment and quality. My advice to all coaches, authors, etc. Do not race to the bottom with pricing. Focus on quality. Find your niche. Find who you enjoy teaching. Kids? Adults? Amateurs? Serious players? Do that! Find what content you like creating. Only opening courses? Only TikTok? It’s not that hard to stand out. “Free” isn’t really your competition.

Chess is a game of thinking and decision making. You can’t replace thinking with knowledge. I remember talking to a friend in top-100 when I was pursuing my IM title. He asked if I had read a certain book, I said yes. He asked about a second book, a third one. I said yes. He then goes “I haven’t. But then if you have read them all, how come you’re still so bad?” It was a good wake-up call!

Yeah, 100% agree with this take. In the past, people rightly complained about certain world champions playing very few events a year and drawing fast. Isn’t a lot of dynamic games that don’t end in fast draws literally what every spectator wants?!

@Danilisioso @julesgambit Of course!

@KrykunYuriy @julesgambit Classic tournaments ?

Question: If, hypothetically, an 1860 Fide rated adult was considering absolutely locking in how long/how many tournaments would it take them realistically to get to 2000 Fide and a title. This is assuming they had the time to do so. Let’s also assume, hypothetically, they went from around 1000 USCF to 1860 Fide in two years (not working on it full time but tbh putting in lots of work.) What’s the peak timeline/study plan you would go for, hypothetically. I don’t hear a lot of stories of adults getting a title out there so would be interesting to hear peoples thoughts.

@dfranke Absolutely! Often the question isn’t “can I learn from this?” But rather “what could be the most effective use of my time?” Or…how many correspondence games can I play - for someone specific ;)

@KrykunYuriy It's a damned good book. And I agree. Everybody should read a few of the chapters on structures that come up everywhere (IQP, etc), followed a selection tailored to their opening repertoire. Forget the rest.

One interesting tip/obstacle I see with many adult improvers: reading books 1st to last page. Often, all you need is a few chapters! For example, the great book on pawn structures by Rios. Most club players could benefit from 20% of the book immediately and 20% down the line - but studying 100% is not effective! #chesspunks, what's your main issue with the books/courses/videos?

@Dixit__Nikhil Doing some chess 5-6 days a week is much better than 2-3 sessions a week. Even shorter daily sessions.

Even if you study chess daily, doesn't guarantee your success. Weekly 2-3 sessions of 1-2 hours works best

@sunrise_pony My sample size is hundreds of private students and 15,000+ hours of coaching experience and over a dozen best-selling Chessable courses - and interaction with hundreds of course students. It’s a great thing for the game.

@KrykunYuriy another way: I got into chess watching yasser and finegold vids and looking up tal games on youtube before the boom. Your sample size is small and also this really wasn't the point of my post. (I know I asked but not into a rabbit hole rn)

@Mukherjea @chessable I have 8 years and 15,000+ hours of experience coaching club players. I know very well what works. If you have other experiences, post about it - we’d love to read it!

@KrykunYuriy @chessable That's insanely wrong-headed for several reasons. At 1700-2200 FIDE or 1500-2000 in India, the level is simply not there to either memorise these reams of plans (as they include many permutations of normal moves which sometimes transpose and sometimes don't), so you'll lose often

This is by far the best line in QGD to play as a club player, in my opinion. By far - nothing comes close. A bit more problematic at 2000+ FIDE but still great. That’s why I chose it for my @chessable course!

@Lawr26X @chessable Published 2 years ago!

@KrykunYuriy @chessable Are u writing a chessable course on QGD?

Very easy. 1. My student saw stream of chess. Watched bullet streams. Got curious. Watched some YouTube videos. Reached out about lessons. Now 1800 USCF. 2. My student saw YouTube videos, started playing rapid on Lichess, started taking lessons, now 1600 USCF. One a kid, one in his 60s. How would these people discover chess otherwise?

@KrykunYuriy also, genuine question: how exactly are blitz bullet and atreaming the gateway drugs to classical chess, I don't understand the logic.

The most important tip in any activity? Consistency. Tip: solve one puzzle a day. At least. But with effort. If you solve one, chances are you'll solve more than one. Make sure one is a daily minimum. Anyone can do that! #chesspunks

I’ve opened a few coaching slots (private, small groups, or game-review plans). If you’re interested, fill this quick form—if it looks like a good match, I’ll invite you to a free 10-minute call to map next steps. forms.gle/xpGvm8LH6QqadT… (If this could help a chess friend, feel free to share.)

To all club/amateur players, what do you see as the main obstacle to reaching a new level at chess? #chesspunks

@Mukherjea @chessable That is absolutely not true. It’s very easy for black to take over super fast in these positions. <2000 FIDE level means A LOT of positional mistakes and lack of positional understanding. My private students are crushing with this setup.

@KrykunYuriy @chessable #2 You have the worse side of a very dry position and in practice, this is just going to mean many simple losses as your opponents will play great with no pressure on them. #3 adverse selection: Players willing to enter this are ones who are very good in +/= endgames.

@c_kennaugh That would blunder the bishop to ...Nxc7. I posted the answer!

@KrykunYuriy The move I like best here is Qe2. It threatens doubling on the d-file and means black can't develop the QN on f6 with gain of tempo. Nbd7 can now be met with Bc7 when the d6 pawn must fall.

TEACHING THINKING IN CHESS - continuing the long posts! White to play. How to proceed here? Use this position as an exercise. Write down your THOUGHTS - not just moves, and come back to my explanation. 1. White has long-term advantages (d5-outpost, weakness on d6) and short-term advantages: better development. 2. But, if Black has a few moves to get the pieces out with ...Nd7-f6, and the rook gets in the game, he'll be kind of okay. Permanently worse but kind of okay. So, the entire thought process here should be: 1. What are the weaknesses? 2. How do I find a way to act NOW before he develops? Answer these questions correctly and you'll solve this position! #chesspunks

@Mukherjea I posted the answer. Almost anything isn't winning though!

@KrykunYuriy I'd think this was practically winning for White. The main reasons are 1) d6 is very hard to defend. 2) Two bishops advantage 3) No good squares for Black knights 4) Development lead. Almost anything that doesn't blunder material is winning. 1)Ba5-b4 is the preferred plan.