Chess courses by GM Igor Smirnov: Students

There was an amusing coincidence after I published the previous lesson. One person posted the following question in comments:

The next day I received an e-mail from another student. Surprisingly, it related to the same topic. So I’ve asked the student if it’s OK to publish his e-mail. He didn’t mind, and sent me his photo. Here’s his message.

Dear Igor

My name is… Igor :). Originally I’m Russian, but I lived in Denmark for many years and still do. I am your big fan from and I would like to express my greatest respect to what you are doing. Your teaching system is absolutely fantastic simply because you are really sharing the SECRET KNOWLEDGE about chess! Something one wouldn’t find in any chess book!

I learned chess quite late, at 16, and played my first tournament at 17. I’m 27 now and some years ago I reached 2400 ELO but really couldn’t make any single IM norm for more than 2 years. I was outplaying lower rated opponents, but my results against IMs and GMs were simply bad.

Then I heard one IM mentioning how important it is to “keep the tension” during a game. This idea was a complete surprise for me, but seemed very interesting and I started to look for any kind of chess material on that topic – there was practically nothing… But then I accidentally found one of your free lessons where you state this beautiful principle: TO TAKE IS A MISTAKE! I implemented this new (SECRET :)) method into my thinking system and immediately made 2 IM norms quite easily!

Then I decided to buy your chess course “CALCULATE TILL MATE” and was absolutely amazed by how much valuable information it contains! I started thinking more and more about my thinking algorithms and tried to improve them. Finally one month ago I made my final IM-norm and became an International Master. I really want to THANK YOU! Your course really opened my eyes and now I know what to do to improve my chess.

Best regards

Igor Teplyi

First of all, I’d like to congratulate Igor Teplyi on becoming an International Master! This is a great achievement for a person who played his first tournament aged 17 and stagnated in his progress for more than two years before breaking through to the IM title.

Lots of players share a common delusion – that it’s hard to progress in chess in adult age. Today I’m publishing messages from different people; let me publish my comments as well

This is what I answered to the student’s message presented at the top of this article.

IN CONCLUSION:

If you have some doubts like this:

“Do I have enough talent to be good at chess?”
“Am I too old to progress?”
“Can I progress now if I was stagnating over the last few years?”
“Can I progress if I live in a small city/country where chess is not popular?”

Take into account this simple fact: while you are having doubts, other people are making their way forward and achieving great successes.

I regularly receive messages from students who have considered buying my complete courses for months and even for years (!!). This is ridiculous. Chess players must think quickly and efficiently.

If you want to achieve any real chess progress, you should train SERIOUSLY. Learning random videos/books here and there will not help (your results will be as random as your training).

You need to make a certain decision and move in that direction. You may buy my complete courses; they should help for sure. If you dislike my courses for some reason, then find a good private coach. But DO SOMETHING!

Over the next three days, till Monday 31st March, I’ll provide you with a 10% DISCOUNT for any of my complete courses. Use the discount coupon “action“ while placing your order and it will cut 10% off the price. You can find instructions on proper usage of a discount coupon here: LINK

<<Get Your Course Now>>

Usually I plan “special offers” in advance, but this one is completely spontaneous. I’m so annoyed to keep on reading messages from people who “have their unique doubts” (while, in reality, these doubts are very common, shared by 50% of players, and are WRONG!).

Once again: you need to make a certain decision and move in that direction. Buy my complete courses, or find a good private coach, or admit that your chess results will stay on the current level forever. But MAKE A DECISION. As “Nike” states: “Just do it!”