Grandmaster Colovic on Plateauing

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Today we have a guest post by Grandmaster Alex Colovic on the subject of plateauing.

This will be a familiar subject to virtually all chess players who are trying hard to improve but just cannot seem to make the next big step forward.

I think readers will find the thoughts of Grandmaster Colovic on plateauing very interesting indeed.

Over to Alex…

Grandmaster Alex Colovic on Plateauing

Plateauing into Frustration

Sooner or later it happens to everyone. A certain level is reached and then making progress becomes almost impossible.

The plateau can be of different “height” depending on the talent of the player and the work he had invested. For some it is a rating of 2300, others struggle at 2550, while a genius like Bobby Fischer was “stuck” as a World Championship candidate for 11 years, from 1959 until 1970, when he finally broke through not only to the next level, but all the way to the title.

Being stuck can be very frustrating, especially if it lasts for a long time. What frequently happens is that the work that brought you to a certain level can easily prevent you from going further ahead. But you don’t know that, so you keep doing what worked before and then it becomes a vicious circle.

On the other hand, sometimes the perseverance pays off and indeed the same work can continue to push you forward. Only how to know that…?

How to Move Forward?

What I know from experience is that a profound and qualitative work is necessary to overcome the plateau. The work must affect the core of the player, since a qualitative leap is required. 

In my case the profound work meant improving the quality of my calculations. In practice this meant studies solving every single day with no exceptions for at least one hour a day. But how did I know this was profound, that it would change things? After all, this was not the first time I worked on my calculations…

What was different this time was that the actual drilling in of the work, day in, day out, for a long period of time, accustomed me to the new level of calculations. I got used to the new standards of calculation, they became the new normal. And this is the factor that determines whether the work is of high quality or not – if you have raised the level, if you function on a new level and it becomes normal for you to do so, then the answer is yes.

One of the main reasons why the strongest players become such a level is that they do this kind of work all the time. Whether by the help of coaches or by themselves, they manage to keep the level of their work so that it always affects them in this profound way. They are always changed after this kind of work and emerge as better players after it.

It is never easy to become better. But it is possible. It only takes hard work.

Thank you, Alex! We are looking forward to your next guest blog post.

Meanwhile, readers can find more articles on Alex’s official website.

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