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What makes chess so difficult to learn, study, or train?

its not like other games like "oh this character goes like this, you can play like this, do this, do that" by, i dunno, watching pros or youtube content, something like that?

what makes chess inherently difficult to understand, and just apply your learnings? could this be overcome?

its not like other games like "oh this character goes like this, you can play like this, do this, do that" by, i dunno, watching pros or youtube content, something like that? what makes chess inherently difficult to understand, and just apply your learnings? could this be overcome?

There are many reasons why chess is so hard, here are just a few of them:

  1. There are more possible chess games than atoms in the universe
  2. You have to think of many, many moves and calculate moves ahead
  3. You need to learn ideas and concepts (that may or may not be good in a specific position!)
  4. You need to memorize and truly understand your opening repertoire

Remember that this is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many other reasons.

There are many reasons why chess is so hard, here are just a few of them: 1. There are more possible chess games than atoms in the universe 2. You have to think of many, many moves and calculate moves ahead 3. You need to learn ideas and concepts (that may or may not be good in a specific position!) 4. You need to memorize and truly understand your opening repertoire Remember that this is just the tip of the iceberg; there are many other reasons.

You cannot overcome inherent complexity of thing. Any truly serious mind game is hard to learn. In Backgammon you be fairly good in couple of years - with massive amount effort. And event that far more complex than games you refer to. In chess, go, shogi, xianqin no way. There is speed people can learn anything. In all these games you need program your brain to understand what you. There information like rooks on open files etc. But these always contradict and you need learn to balance the conflicting signal which happen only via experience

You cannot overcome inherent complexity of thing. Any truly serious mind game is hard to learn. In Backgammon you be fairly good in couple of years - with massive amount effort. And event that far more complex than games you refer to. In chess, go, shogi, xianqin no way. There is speed people can learn anything. In all these games you need program your brain to understand what you. There information like rooks on open files etc. But these always contradict and you need learn to balance the conflicting signal which happen only via experience

We have 12-year old grandmasters, so it cannot be that difficult.
The key is to play and to learn from your losses.

We have 12-year old grandmasters, so it cannot be that difficult. The key is to play and to learn from your losses.

typically they started with very young age. It still takes time. Abhimanyu Mishra started at the age 5. Kids lear faster than adults IF they really want to. And yes they must hate losing and workout improvements by studying their games. Also fairly sure there also coaching available to these prodigies

typically they started with very young age. It still takes time. Abhimanyu Mishra started at the age 5. Kids lear faster than adults IF they really want to. And yes they must hate losing and workout improvements by studying their games. Also fairly sure there also coaching available to these prodigies

"... It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve. ... Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. ..." - from a 12 page chapter on becoming a chess professional in the book, Luther's Chess Reformation by GM Thomas Luther (2016)

"... It is all too frequent that a wrong evaluation is made of what a talented player can achieve. ... Most players have the potential for a certain level; once they have reached it they can only make further progress with a great effort. ..." - from a 12 page chapter on becoming a chess professional in the book, Luther's Chess Reformation by GM Thomas Luther (2016)

A brain has to develop the skill to make choices. It has to recognize patterns to be able to find them easily in a game.
Is the GM trying to say, they cannot find patterns easily or has not learned to make logical choices?
Maybe I'm missing the reason for the initial post form such a high rated player.
Something just feels odd.

At my level, chess is not difficult to learn, nor to study, or train.
Maybe it's because I'm not trying to be perfect.
Maybe it's harder on the perfectionists.

A brain has to develop the skill to make choices. It has to recognize patterns to be able to find them easily in a game. Is the GM trying to say, they cannot find patterns easily or has not learned to make logical choices? Maybe I'm missing the reason for the initial post form such a high rated player. Something just feels odd. At my level, chess is not difficult to learn, nor to study, or train. Maybe it's because I'm not trying to be perfect. Maybe it's harder on the perfectionists.

@Toscani said ^

... At my level, chess is not difficult to learn, nor to study, or train.
Maybe it's because I'm not trying to be perfect.
Maybe it's harder on the perfectionists.

[Site "https://lichess.org/fkR4XJum"] [Date "2026.05.17"] [Black "Toscani"] [BlackElo "1556"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+0"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/DOIcvkF5"] [Date "2026.06.19"] [Black "Toscani"] [BlackElo "1526"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+0"]

@Toscani said [^](/forum/redirect/post/JqzP5tnf) > ... At my level, chess is not difficult to learn, nor to study, or train. > Maybe it's because I'm not trying to be perfect. > Maybe it's harder on the perfectionists. [Site "https://lichess.org/fkR4XJum"] [Date "2026.05.17"] [Black "Toscani"] [BlackElo "1556"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+0"] [Site "https://lichess.org/DOIcvkF5"] [Date "2026.06.19"] [Black "Toscani"] [BlackElo "1526"] [Variant "Standard"] [TimeControl "600+0"]
<Comment deleted by user>

There is no effort in consuming soup. You take a spoon and swallow one spoonful at a time. The effort comes when we dislike the soup or when we try to fill our mouths with more than we can swallow.

Being forced to learn chess is difficult. Love makes things easy.

Math feels difficult when we first encounter it, but it becomes easy once we understand it. Then new areas of math appear, and again the difficult part is understanding what we need to do. If it is taught well, and you listen in school, it is not difficult. It becomes difficult when we do not listen.

A grandmaster (GM) may find it difficult to keep winning because, sooner or later, strong competition leads to near-perfect play and many games end in draws. Some may not be content with draws, especially when fame or achievement is at stake. I don’t need the fame.

There is no effort in consuming soup. You take a spoon and swallow one spoonful at a time. The effort comes when we dislike the soup or when we try to fill our mouths with more than we can swallow. Being forced to learn chess is difficult. Love makes things easy. Math feels difficult when we first encounter it, but it becomes easy once we understand it. Then new areas of math appear, and again the difficult part is understanding what we need to do. If it is taught well, and you listen in school, it is not difficult. It becomes difficult when we do not listen. A grandmaster (GM) may find it difficult to keep winning because, sooner or later, strong competition leads to near-perfect play and many games end in draws. Some may not be content with draws, especially when fame or achievement is at stake. I don’t need the fame.