The Power of Long-Term Thinking in Chess Improvement

Imagine making steady, lasting progress in chess—without the stress of chasing quick results. What if improvement wasn’t a race but a steady climb, where success was inevitable? This is possible if you have the right mindset!

The world has only sped up since Gates said this. If we adapt it to chess and our times, the principle still holds:

Most people overestimate how much they can improve their chess in a month—and underestimate how much they can improve it in a year or more.

Expanding your time horizon makes improvement simpler, easier, and more achievable. And the longer you stay in the game, the less competition you’ll face.

Think about gyms in January—crowded with people chasing New Year’s resolutions. By March, the crowd thins. By April, most have disappeared.

The same pattern plays out in every area of self-improvement, including chess.

Short-term goals, like 30-day challenges or two-month improvement plans, attract a lot of competition. Everyone wants quick wins. But few have the patience to persist over the long run. If you commit to steady improvement for years, you’ll surpass 99% of players who give up too soon.

When I started playing chess, I was behind. Many of my peers in Switzerland had been training for years. Some were already competing internationally while I was still learning the rules. For my first few years, I never even made the podium in my age group.

Yup, that silly guy in the center is me… at a chess tournament.

But I kept going.

By the time I was 15, one of my top competitors stopped training. I moved up. At 16, another dropped out, and I finally won my first national championship. At 18, I turned professional when others left the game and went to study at university.

Eventually, I became the youngest grandmaster in Swiss history—not because I was the most talented or trained like a maniac. It was mostly because I stayed in the game longer than everyone else.

I got a little bit more serious over the years…

A long-term mindset doesn’t just improve results—it makes the entire journey less stressful.

Every game feels high-stakes if your goal is to improve as much as possible in 90 days—every rating drop stings. A short slump can feel catastrophic.

But when you take a long-term view, one bad game, a losing streak, or even a month without progress won’t shake you. It’s just a small chapter in a much longer journey. Instead of obsessing over short-term fluctuations, you can focus on real improvement—without the emotional rollercoaster.

I see this pattern all the time in my private students. Those who expect instant results—thinking a few weeks of coaching will take them to their peak rating—often burn out. They get frustrated when things don’t click right away and struggle to push through setbacks.

On the other hand, students who say, “I know this will take time, and I’m willing to put in the work for years” are the ones who see real success.

I experienced this myself when I started working with Grandmaster Iossif Dorfman (former second to Garry Kasparov). He completely rewired my approach to chess. And for the first few months? My results got worse. Chess seemed more complex than ever. Had I been focused only on short-term gains, I might have quit.

But I stuck with it. Over time, the new way of thinking started to click, and the long-term benefits were massive. Now, nearly a decade later, I still apply his lessons—and I understand chess far better because of them.

The question I want you to ask yourself is the following:

“Am I ready to be in it for the long run?”

If the answer is yes, you are one step closer to achieving your chess goals. Think long-term, stick to your training, and ride out the lows. You’ll be surprised how much you can improve.

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P. S. You can share your thoughts in the forum.