Chess Coaching Truth

Chess Coaches Are Cheating Their Students

In today’s chess world, many coaches are taking shortcuts. They package “chess improvement” into tactics drills, opening files, or casual playing sessions without supervision. On the surface, this looks like training. In reality, it is negligence. It is cheating.

The Illusion of Progress

Tactics are flashy. Openings look attractive. Playing games feels active. But none of these, by themselves, build true chess strength. Students may feel they are improving because they get quick wins or memorize traps. In truth, their foundation remains shallow. They collapse once the opponent resists.

The Real Core of Chess Learning

Chess is not built on short-term tricks. Chess is ideas, strategy, and long-term understanding. This foundation does not come from puzzles or memorized lines. It comes from master games.

When a student studies how masters think—how they build positions, transform advantages, and convert wins—they absorb the essence of chess. They see patterns of harmony, not just fragments. They learn when to attack, when to defend, when to exchange, and when to wait.

Why Coaches Avoid Master Games

Showing master games takes patience. It demands effort from the coach to explain complex ideas in simple terms. It requires guiding the student through the slow process of thinking like a master. Most coaches avoid this. They choose the easy path: tactics apps, opening dumps, and unsupervised play.

This is not teaching. It is entertainment disguised as education.

The Honest Path

A real coach does not cheat students with shortcuts. A real coach builds chess understanding step by step. That path runs through annotated master games. Tactics, openings, and playing practice have value—but only after the student has first absorbed strategic truth from the classics.

Final Word

If a coach is not showing you master games, they are holding you back. Improvement in chess means entering the minds of the masters. Anything else is surface-level training that wastes time and money.

Stay Alstoned!