By Anonymous
A game of chess played in the open might appear to be a simple, quiet game, but most of the winning is actually done away from the board. Everything from training to recovery, sleeping, and travelling can affect a player’s performance. This holds regardless of whether the player is taking part in an over-the-board tournament or playing online in preparation for live events.
For a number of years now, I have been tracking and observing the world of competitive chess and how it is increasingly becoming intertwined in the realm of strategy games and modern chess culture. I'd like to remain anonymous to protect my standing in the community, but I participate in a few online chess tournaments and follow the progress of international chess and e-sports games. Having gone through more than a dozen sites for chess and games, I have found that enjoying a game of chess is a very different experience than preparing for, or participating in, for real games.
What Competitive Chess Players Do Behind the Scenes
It’s not hard to get a sense of a chess player’s life during a tournament — news reports, interviews, and the players’ own accounts paint a fairly accurate picture. But once the tournament ends, we return to our usual routines, which are less familiar even to those who follow chess news. Every professional chess player spends far less time on “just the game” than most people think. The game itself is only the visible part. Most of the real work happens before and after the game.
What you usually do not see includes:
- Building and updating opening files
- Checking pairings and likely opponents
- Preparing specific lines before the round
- Managing nerves and conserving mental energy
- Recovering quickly after a bad result
From my experience, even one weekend chess tournament demands early travel, a cramped schedule, and long breaks that still feel draining. On top of that, I also need to switch from calculation mode to recovery mode fast.
That is why strong players that I’ve competed with often look more disciplined than dramatic. A good tournament run usually comes from simple habits done well:
- Eating at regular times
- Avoiding unnecessary distractions
- Keeping focus between rounds
- Not wasting all their energy on one position when more games are still ahead
A calendar is equally important. Even strong amateurs can underestimate the significance of time as it relates to form in most cases. It is much simpler to be in peak form in time for one tournament than to maintain that form through an entire chess season, even if that season contains other commitments.
How Competitive Chess Players Practice: Online Chess, Study, and Daily Training
The improvement routines that I’ve found to be most useful are often far from the glamorous routines that many people think of. A proper week will involve opening review, tactical training, endgame practice, post-game review, and one or two exercises under pressure. What matters is not doing everything simultaneously but working on the correct skill to the correct degree.
My practical training week often looks like this:
- One block for opening maintenance, not endless memorization
- One block for calculation and tactical discipline
- One block for endgames and conversion technique
- One or two serious game sessions with review afterward
- One short session focused only on mistakes and patterns
This is also where a good chess platform starts to matter. You need a place to play an online chess game, test time controls, enter a chess arena format, and review positions without friction. The right tool is not the whole answer; but the wrong tool creates noise, and noise kills consistent practice. I personally tried many platforms at the beginning of my “career,” and it was a mistake — I lost a lot of time switching between platforms and making almost no progress.
I’m a member of Chess Online, an official FIDE online chess gaming platform that features rated games, titles, and tournaments organized via online tournaments. Though other options exist, I’ve found this to be the ideal place for preparation, conditioning, and dealing with tough opponents.
Why Online Chess Matters for Competitive Players
Many older players that I met along the way still treat web chess or virtual chess like a lighter version of the “real” game. In my opinion, that view is out of date. Online play has become part of normal serious preparation, and FIDE has formal online regulations for competitions where moves are transmitted over the internet, including events played on a virtual board or with connected electronic boards. In other words, online chess competition is no longer a side hobby sitting outside the sport but a part of the modern competitive structure.
The distinction lies in the following: Not all games are necessarily exercises. While most online chess games tend to be casual, good players make sure to play with a goal in mind. For example, I have shorter games to test my openings, rapid games to get used to playing under pressure, and longer games to identify any repeated mistakes. The idea is not to play a lot of games, but to learn something from each exercise.
What Separates Professional Chess Players From Strong Amateurs
From what I’ve noticed over the years of playing with different people, strong amateurs often think pros simply know more. In reality, pros usually do something harder: They stay more stable when the event starts pushing back and rely on the experience that they gained when preparing. I like the approach of a well-known player, Vaishali. In her interview after winning the Women’s Candidates, Vaishali said she just kept to the routine and prepared as usual. Another famous player, Sindarov, described a similar mindset after the Open Candidates: Most of the heavy work was done before the event, and during the tournament, he was mostly reviewing what had already been prepared.
So, that difference usually looks like this:
- Pros waste less energy during games
- Pros prepare for likely problems, not every possible one
- Pros recover faster after a bad result
- Pros trust their routine more than their panic
- Pros make steadier decisions late in the round
Energy control matters just as much as chess strength. Sindarov said he did not want long, complicated games with White because he wanted to “save energy for the critical ones with Black.” That one line says a lot about professional chess, and I completely agree with the idea. The point is not to prove something in every round but to get through the whole event in playable shape.
You can notice that Vaishali’s comments point in the same direction. Her event routine was not only about opening prep. It also included naps, simple food, and small habits that helped her stay balanced over a long tournament. That is much closer to real professional chess than the usual fantasy of endless calculation and inspiration.
Is Competitive Chess Worth It for Non-Professional Players?
My personal answer is a straightforward yes, provided that you enjoy the process. This is precisely what separates professional chess players from ordinary people who play chess for fun or to pass the time. Even the most successful professionals rarely earn enough through the game to support themselves and their families fully; however, the process of working towards excellence is enjoyable enough to continue.
Thanks to the modern development of online chess, achieving such an aim is much easier now than it used to be. One does not have to find a perfect location for training and participating in tournaments. Instead, one can simply do it all from home, train, join future chess tournaments, evaluate mistakes, and practice whenever necessary. Such players would hardly be considered any less serious because the game board happens to be digital.
Anonymous is a competitive chess player based out of Russia.
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