Magnus Carlsen revealed what mistake is the biggest one chess players make when learning chess in an interview with Russian GM Maksim Omariev. Magnus pointed to the importance of adjusting expectations and noted that chess is not intuitive for most.

Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen

World No. 1

“I’ve been learning chess for a very long time. But, generally speaking, the approach to learning can’t be the same at different ages.

It seems to me that many people who start learning chess at an older age do so with a certain fear. Adjusting expectations and not expecting the learning curve to be steep at the start is very-very important. Chess is endlessly fascinating, but it’s not something that is very intuitive for most people. Intellectual satisfaction doesn’t come immediately.

Therefore, in my opinion, the mistake that many people make, especially beginners, is that they expect too much too quickly.”

Statistically, achieving the first FIDE Title — Candidate Master takes a chess player from 5 to 10 years of dedicated, consistent training. Out of approximately 600 million players, only about 4,000 hold the International Master or Grandmaster Title.

Credit: Megacampus Summit