10 Truths from a Chess Coach

What Every Chess Parent Must Understand – 10 Truths from a Coach’s Perspective

1. Talent Is Nothing Without Effort
   Every child has potential. Only disciplined work turns it into strength. Laziness disguised as “playful nature” destroys more talent than lack of ability ever did.

2. Consistency Beats Intensity
   Two to four hours of focused training daily is better than endless scattered effort. Long classes can’t stay intense. Short, sharp, and regular always wins.

3. Analyse Every Game
   A game not analysed is a lesson wasted. Each game must be written fully, reviewed the same day, and understood—without using engines. Real growth comes from self-correction.

4. Think, Don’t React
   Fast play and excitement show emotional instability, not genius. A good move played slowly is better than ten blunders made quickly. Thinking must become habit.

5. Solve Daily
   Tactics are the gym for the brain. A player who skips tactical training will freeze under pressure. Solve positions daily. Build calculation muscle.

6. Respect the Body
   Chess is mental war. Nutrition, sleep, and energy management matter. A tired or hungry brain can’t calculate. Nap 20–30 minutes, not more. Eat clean, rest right.

7. Detach from Results
   Trophies come and go. Progress stays. Play each move with care, analyse after, forget the outcome. Mastery begins when the child stops chasing medals.

8. Let Consequences Teach
   Shielding a child from failure weakens them. Pressure and responsibility forge champions. Fear isn’t an enemy—it’s energy to be channelled.

9. School and Chess Must Coexist
   If there’s no obsession with immediate results, let school continue. Chess complements education—it should not replace learning discipline in life.

10. Love or Fear Doesn’t Matter—Work Does
    Whether the child works out of love for the game or fear of missing out is irrelevant. Improvement has one condition: do the work, every day, without excuse.

Closing Note:
Parents, your role is to support process, not to soften the path. A child who learns to think, work, and face consequence will win—on and off the board.

Crafted by Sa Kannan, the Immortal Coach!

Bulletproof Coffee

Bulletproof Coffee: Biochemistry, Physiology, and Psychology Behind the Brew

Bulletproof Coffee (BPC) is more than a trend. It is a deliberate design of fuel, hormones, and focus. By combining black coffee with ghee and MCT oil, the drink exploits metabolic principles that align with both evolutionary biology and modern performance goals.

Biochemistry: What Happens at the Cellular Level

1. Caffeine as Adenosine Antagonist

   • Coffee’s caffeine blocks adenosine receptors in the brain.
   • Adenosine normally signals fatigue. Blocking it delays tiredness and increases neuronal firing.
   • Secondary effect: increased dopamine and norepinephrine release, which sharpen alertness.

2. MCT Oil as Rapid Ketone Fuel

   • Medium-chain triglycerides (especially C8 and C10 chains) bypass normal fat digestion.
   • They go straight to the liver via the portal vein, where they convert into ketone bodies (beta-hydroxybutyrate, acetoacetate).
   • Ketones cross the blood-brain barrier easily, supplying neurons with clean, fast energy.

3. Ghee as Stable Long-Burn Fat

   • Ghee contains butyrate, CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and fat-soluble vitamins.
   • Butyrate fuels colonocytes (gut lining cells) and modulates inflammation.
   • The longer-chain fats provide a slower, sustained release of energy, stabilizing blood glucose by minimizing insulin demand.

4. Hormonal Cascade

   • Low insulin spikes = no sudden crashes.
   • High fat intake in the morning promotes satiety by releasing CCK (cholecystokinin) and PYY, hormones that signal fullness.
   • Cortisol, which peaks in the early morning, synergizes with caffeine to mobilize fatty acids for energy.

Physiology: How the Body Feels and Functions

1. Energy Dynamics

   • Unlike carb-heavy breakfasts, BPC avoids postprandial (after-meal) lethargy.
   • Ketones enhance mitochondrial efficiency, leading to more ATP per unit of oxygen than glucose.

2. Cognitive Effects

   • Brain cells preferentially uptake ketones when both glucose and ketones are available.
   • Result: clearer focus, longer attention span, less mental fog.

3. Gut Health

   • Butyrate in ghee supports gut barrier integrity.
   • MCT oil has mild antimicrobial effects, suppressing pathogenic bacteria and yeast.

4. Metabolic Stability

   • Fat oxidation is prioritized.
   • Blood glucose remains steady, reducing mood fluctuations and energy dips.

Psychology: Why It Works Beyond Chemistry

1. Morning Ritual

   • The act of blending and sipping BPC is a controlled, intentional practice.
   • Rituals strengthen discipline and self-identity.

2. Appetite Control and Willpower

   • Stable energy reduces “decision fatigue” from food cravings.
   • This preserves willpower for higher-value tasks.

3. Reward Loop

   • Immediate satiety + sharpened focus creates a positive reinforcement cycle.
   • The brain associates the drink with productivity and calm intensity.

4. Identity Reinforcement

   • Choosing BPC over conventional breakfast signals alignment with a biohacker, performance-focused mindset.
   • This psychological framing increases adherence and long-term sustainability.

---

Conclusion

Bulletproof Coffee is not magic—it is applied science. Its power lies in aligning:

• Biochemistry: ketone production, neurotransmitter tuning, insulin control.
• Physiology: steady energy, sharper cognition, gut support.
• Psychology: ritual, identity, and reward.

Taken consistently, it harmonizes the body’s fuel system with the mind’s demand for focus, making it more than just a drink—it becomes a daily foundation for mastery.

Crafted by Randy Alstone!

Stay Alstoned!

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!

Bulletproof Chess Improvement Framework

Why 60% Mastery, 30% Tactics, and 10% Games is the Only Viable Way to Improve in Chess

Most chess players fail to improve because they attack symptoms, not causes. They spam blitz games, solve random puzzles, or read opening PDFs without a framework. Real improvement is not about doing “more.” It is about directing effort into the right channels. There is only one formula that aligns perfectly with chess growth: 60% mastery, 30% tactics, and 10% games.

1. Mastery: The Strategic Foundation (60%)

Mastery is fat—the slow-burning, stable energy source that sustains growth. In chess, mastery means:

• Studying classical games.

• Learning deep endgames.

• Understanding strategic plans and positional concepts.
  This builds long-term stability. Like fat in the body, mastery training gives depth and calm, the reserves you draw from in every real battle.

2. Tactics: The Muscle Power (30%)

Tactics are protein—the raw building blocks. Without tactics, your chess “muscle” breaks down. With too much, you become unbalanced. The sweet spot is daily puzzle solving, calculation training, and tactical motifs. Enough to stay sharp, not so much that everything is reduced to tricks.

3. Games: The Control Lever (10%)

Games are carbs—the fast energy. Necessary, but dangerous in excess. Endless blitz creates sugar highs followed by crashes: shallow play, bad habits, and stagnation. Limiting games to 10% means each game is played with focus, reviewed with care, and used as feedback to refine study.

The Improvement Mechanism

• High mastery = depth, stability, strategic clarity.

• Moderate tactics = sharpness, precision, calculation strength.

• Low games = controlled practice, no wasted energy.

This is not theory. It is the exact framework that separates serious improvers from stuck blitz addicts.

Why Other Ratios Fail

• Game-heavy training = flashy but shallow. No foundation, no growth.

• Tactic-only training = sharp tricks, but collapse in long games.

• Strategy-only training = knowledge with no execution power.

The Only Sustainable Path

The 60/30/10 ratio is not a temporary hack. It is the only viable structure for sustainable chess mastery. It aligns with how real improvement happens: deep foundation, tactical reinforcement, and controlled application.

Bottom line: If you want to actually get stronger, there is no shortcut around this ratio. 60% mastery, 30% tactics, 10% games—the Bulletproof Chess Framework—is the only way forward.

Stay Alstoned!

Chess Improvement Factors

Three Pillars of Chess Improvement: Learning, Effort, and Passion

For any student aiming to grow in chess under the guidance of a coach, three qualities are non-negotiable: the ability to learn from mistakes, the willingness to work hard, and a genuine interest in the game. These traits define how quickly and how far a player can progress.

1. Learning from Mistakes

Every chess game is a lesson. Blunders, miscalculations, and missed opportunities are not failures but stepping stones. A student who reflects on mistakes with humility and curiosity develops resilience. Instead of repeating errors, they evolve with each experience. Chess rewards those who treat every loss as instruction rather than discouragement.

2. Willingness to Work Hard

Talent without effort stagnates. Improvement in chess demands hours of study, analysis, and practice. Opening preparation, tactical drills, and endgame training require focus and persistence. A student who embraces this effort builds discipline and strength over time. Hard work is the bridge between potential and performance.

3. Interest in Chess

No amount of training is effective without genuine passion. Interest fuels the mind to sit longer at the board, to study games late into the night, and to push beyond comfort zones. When a student enjoys the process, learning becomes natural. Passion is the energy that sustains long-term progress.

Conclusion

A coach can provide guidance, tools, and structure, but the real engine of growth lies within the student. The combination of learning from mistakes, consistent hard work, and true interest in chess creates a foundation that no obstacle can break. With these three pillars, every coaching relationship becomes a journey toward mastery.

Stay Alstoned!

Shaktiman is Me

Shaktiman Within Me – The Five Elements in My Chart

Most people know me by my outer self – an Aquarian reformer, a thinker, a guide with Piscean undertones of mysticism. This is the layer the world sees: the Gangadhar face – intellectual, reform-minded, and eccentric in the pursuit of higher truth. But hidden within me lies something far more powerful: the Shaktiman essence, born from the conjunction of five planets in my 12th house.

In my chart, Capricorn in the 12th house holds Moon, Mars, Venus, Saturn, and Rahu. These five planets are not random placements – they directly represent the Pancha Bhootas, the five elemental forces of the universe:

1. Moon (Water – Jal Chakra)
   Symbol of intuition, healing, and adaptability. It governs the flow of inner emotions and the unseen currents of life. This is my ability to channel deep subconscious energy.

2. Mars (Fire – Agni Chakra)
   Exalted in Capricorn, Mars fuels unstoppable willpower and fiery destruction of obstacles. This is the core of my indomitable energy, the flame that never dies.

3. Venus (Earth – Prithvi Chakra)
   Anchor of materialization, attraction, and fertility. This is my power to manifest comfort, magnetism, and balance in the physical realm.

4. Saturn (Air – Vayu Chakra)
   The karmic disciplinarian, master of breath and endurance. This is the force that grants me patience, structure, and mastery over time itself.

5. Rahu (Ether/Space – Akash Chakra)
   The power of illusion, expansion, and astral reach. This is my access to hidden realms, to break through barriers, and to connect with the infinite.

Together, these five planets form a complete elemental integration within me. This is not mere coincidence – this is the mark of Shaktiman. Just as the superhero in the series embodied the Pancha Bhootas through his chakras, I too embody them in my subconscious power.

The Dual Identity

• Outer Life (Aquarius Lagna + Pisces Sun/Mercury): The reformer, visionary, eccentric scholar – my Gangadhar side, visible to society.
• Inner Life (12th house conjunction): The hidden superhero, the elemental powerhouse, the Shaktiman within.

This duality defines me. The world sees a thinker. The universe knows a force. I am not just a man navigating society – I am the bearer of all five elements, living proof of the Shaktiman principle in real life.

Strength Training is the Key

Strength Training: The Only Real Way to Lose Fat

Most people think walking or cardio is the answer to fat loss. They’re wrong. Walking helps. Cardio helps. But only strength training changes the one number that actually decides whether you stay fat or get lean: your BMR.

What is BMR?

Your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the calories your body burns every hour just to stay alive. No exercise, no movement—just organs working, brain firing, heart beating.

• A 35-year-old man, 170 cm, 88 kg → 74 kcal/hour
• A 32-year-old woman, 169 cm, 80 kg → 64 kcal/hour

That’s 1,700–1,500 calories per day, even if they do absolutely nothing. This is the “silent fire” of the body.

Why Strength Training Beats Everything

Walking 30 minutes burns ~105 kcal. But at rest in the same 30 minutes, your body would already burn ~32 kcal. So the net gain is just 73 kcal. That’s half a banana. That’s not enough to change your life.

Strength training is different:

1. Higher Session Burn
   Even 10 minutes of lifting weights burns ~100 kcal -already more than slow walking.

2. Afterburn Effect
   Strength training keeps metabolism elevated for hours after the workout. Cardio stops the moment you stop.

3. Muscle = Permanent Calorie Burner
   Muscle is the only tissue you can voluntarily increase that raises BMR. Each kilo of new muscle adds ~13 kcal/day at rest. Two kilos of muscle = ~26 kcal more burned daily, forever. That’s ~9,500 kcal/year = 1.2 kg of fat, even if you never change diet.

The Trap of “Only Cardio”

Yes, cardio burns calories while you do it. But it doesn’t rewire your metabolism. It doesn’t build calorie-hungry tissue. That’s why cardio-only dieters lose weight, stall, and rebound. Their BMR stays low. They’re fighting against their own biology.

The Strength Training Advantage

• Lifting makes you stronger.
• Strength means muscle.
• Muscle means higher BMR.
• Higher BMR means fat loss on autopilot.

Walking is fine for health. Cardio is fine for stamina. But for fat loss that sticks, strength training is the only lever that transforms your body’s baseline engine.

Bottom Line

If you want to lose fat and keep it off, stop chasing small calorie burns with endless walking or jogging. Start lifting. Build muscle. Upgrade your BMR. Strength training isn’t just exercise - it’s the only method that changes your biology so fat loss becomes permanent.

Stay Alstoned!