Coach Ramachandran Ramesh shared his approach to coaching chess players. Ramesh says that he does not tell his students what they should be preparing. Ramachandran notes that a good chess player must be able to make decisions independently. Ramesh spoke about it in an interview with Chess with Mustreader.

Ramachandran Ramesh

Ramachandran Ramesh

Indian GM, Coach

“I don’t believe in telling my students what they should do, and what they should not do. I just explain things the way I see them. And I try to put the best arguments to convince them. But it’s eventually up to everyone, whether they agree with this path, they want to go along this path or not.

I don’t give homework to my students. I don’t tell them what they should be preparing. I just tell them: “You have to learn everything”. And I define everything to them in technical ways. What are the different areas they have to improve, how they can improve, how they can learn these things.

And then I tell them: “Choose what you like. If you want to learn this, it’s fine. If you want to learn that, it’s fine. If you want to play this opening or that opening, it’s fine”.

They have to take the decisions. They should be ready to take their own decisions. What is good and bad for them, what they want to do and not. I try to explain the pros and cons and leave it to them.

[Interviewer: I think that’s not the most popular approach among chess coaches. Many of them are like dictators who insist on what their students should do]

That way you just make slaves! If you’re a good dictator, you will just be good at producing slaves.

Good chess players should be a leader, should be someone who can find their own solutions when they face uncomfortable, unpleasant situations. They have to find their own way that will work for them and take ownership of those decisions.

If they’re all the time going to listen to someone telling them what they should do, how they should do, they are not going to unlock their full potential.”

Indian GM Ramachandran Ramesh is widely recognized as one of India’s most successful chess coaches. He is the founder of the Indian Chess Gurukul academy. Ramesh trained Gukesh Dommaraju, Praggnanandhaa R, Vaishali Rameshbabu, Aravindh Chithambaram VR., Pranesh M, and others at this academy.

Credit: Lennart Ootes / FIDE