Are you wondering why so many people get stuck at the 1500-1900 FIDE chess level without making any progress despite countless studying and practice?
You are not alone. Dozens of students around this skill hit a glass ceiling despite continued study of tactics and games, and more.
I recently reached out to a friend of mine, Argentine Grandmaster Damian Lemos, whose ascent to becoming a Grandmaster is very different than your typical story:
As a kid he showed incredible potential, reaching 2000 FIDE expert level at only 10 years old while putting minimal effort into formal study beyond just practicing casual games.
Around this time he began to take chess more seriously and began studying tactics for hours-and-hours each week. Unfortunately by the time he was 12, he was actually rated lower for much of the year! What was he doing wrong? Was formal study actually hurting his game?
He began to read more books on tactics, memorize and study openings to a deeper level, scrutinize his own games, and play in more tournaments. By this point he was studying chess 25+ hours per week and it basically his only extracurricular activity besides school at this point. This went on for nearly 2 years.
Did he become a Grandmaster? Hardly. By early 2004 he had barely gained 100 points. It would make him so angry to see his peers continue to seem to become better while studying less. Maybe he was one of those many children who showed promising results as a child “chess prodigy” that never translated into the adult world.
By early 2005 he had had enough. He was not going to give up and knew by this point that the problem was in the way he was studying. I’m sure many of you have heard of the “Pareto Principle” (also known as the 80/20 rule) and so began to completely rework the way he studied for chess, eliminating activities that had little gain and focusing on those that seemed to bring him the best return.
The results were shocking. The biggest mistake most club level players make is not shifting the WAY they study chess after they reach a certain level, and instead dedicate more time to studying the wrong way.
I think that when you hit this rating level, you need a massive paradigm shift in the way you think about improving your chess. Studying tactics and memorizing openings till your eyes bleed are no longer going to cut it. You need to learn the way Grandmasters think, which is completely different from the way club players think.
The results in the system he built for himself were insane. In early 2005 he didn’t have a FIDE title. By 2006 he zoomed past the IM title and less than 30 months after that he became a 2500 GM.
He never shared this secret study system he put together that year (except for a few lucky students he privately tutored, of course).
In 2014 FIDE Master William Stewart from our friends at iChess.net reached out to him to see if he would share the secrets of the system he created that year. They agreed to make a 20 disc authoritative course under the Empire Chess brand for struggling club players who are tired of seeing diminishing returns on their gains and want to leave the “beginner” way of studying tactics and openings out in the dustbin.
He spent the next 9 months carefully finding the best games to go over, the best content to cover and a way to maximize your chess gains in this course. The result was The Club Players Manifesto which went on to become the best selling Club Player’s video series on the market. The video is rated 4.8/5 stars on Amazon with over 35 reviews.
This bundle is not for everyone, it’s recommended for club level players in the FIDE range of 1200-1900 who are serious about improving their chess and want to add an excellent supplement to their chess study routine. I guarantee by just watching one lecture a day everyday for 20 days you will see marked improvement.
This 50 hour course retails for $249 but I was able to reach out to the iChess team and secure a special deal just for our members, and get it for $99!
Click here to get the Club Player’s Manifesto now (instant access download, if you want the physical DVDs, click here and enter coupon chessusacpmch to get a big discount).
Unfortunately part of the deal was we can’t offer it at this price for very long, so this offer expires in 3 days from now at 23:59 June 30 (2016).
The Club Player’s Manifesto has become iChess’ best-selling comprehensive course ever, selling over 7,350 copies as of February 2016. We’ve heard so many good things about this comprehensive course we wanted to make sure our fans get the chance to get it an extremely good rate.
Here is what you’ll get in the Club Player’s Manifesto:
• The first 10 volumes (Empire Chess #51-60) have a very heavy focus on attacking, tactics and defensive strategy.
• The next 10 volume follow-up (Empire Chess #71-80) released in 2015, focuses more on advanced positional play, maintaining a Grandmaster mindset, advanced calculation secrets, and of course more advanced lectures on attacking as well.
• 50 hours of incredible, well organized lectures GM Damian Lemos. Where he’ll take you through his entire thought process that took him from 2000 to 2500 in less than 3 years and how he did it without every having to rely on expensive coaches, chess engines or rote memorization
• Hundreds of relevant practice problems for each volume, including a work sheet for every single chapter so you can track your progress.
• PGNs of every single game covered so you can easily analyze it in your favorite chess engine.
• The highest quality audio and video quality possible. Patiently crafted and edited by the iChess team for an optimal chess learning experience.
If you’re ready to see a 100 FIDE point increase in less than 60 days then click here but please remember this offer ends on June 30 – after that the price will go up.
Chess USA
P.S. The links above will get you a huge discount on the digital download version of the Club Player’s Manifesto. If you want the physical DVDs, click here and enter coupon chessusacpm to claim your discount.
Leave a Reply