3 Tips to Improve your Chess with GM Swapnil Dhopade

3 Tips to Improve your Chess with GM Swapnil Dhopade

Swapnil Dhopade was born on 5th October 1990 in Amravati, Maharashtra (have you even heard of this city?!). He became India's 40th grandmaster late last year. Swapnil has lived a life of struggle in his pursuit of excellence. And he has some useful tips with which you can improve your chess. But, first, let's wish him a happy birthday!

Are you ready to learn from Swapnil?  It does not mean all of us can become grandmasters, nor does it mean anything from the point of view of results. Swapnil believes that it all comes down to just one thing -- the game you are playing now. In chess, as in life, it is not about winning or results, but the game itself.

So, how do you become like GM Swapnil Dhopade?

1. Attitude: Focus on Playing, not on Ratings and Results

In February 2016, a few minutes after Swapnil convincingly won the IIFL Wealth Open, I took this short interview of him where Swapnil explained the key to his leap in chess strength. In the second round of the National-B 2015 tournament, Swapnil lost to a 1900 player. That is when he realized that he must change his attitude.

He was stuck at the 2400-2480 range for a long time, struggling to cope with the fear, anxiety and negative results. Then he changed his attitude. He focused on his play, and the game itself, and chose to ignore ratings and results completely. He has won 5 FIDE Rated Opens and 2 Team Championships for his Team Railways since then, all this in one year. Of course, he also became a grandmaster.

You can skip directly to 1:58 to hear the relevant part. (Translation in gist above.) It does not matter what rating level we are in. We all can learn from Swapnil and change our attitudes!

2. Find the Best Squares for your Pieces!

Not long after he became a grandmaster, Swapnil visited Sagar Shah's house for a couple of days of training and fun. Sagar took the opportunity to shoot this video where Swapnil explains to all the chessbasers at ChessBase India the art of positional play - find the best square for your pieces!

So that is his secret! Improve your worst placed piece by finding the best square for them! Quite simple, yeah? Well, not really.

3. Study Model Players

Swapnil thinks that studying a model player deeply made him strong. He commented: When I was young I once went to IM Anup Deshmukh for coaching. He told me many important things and also gave me my first chess book – an Informator. He told me to study Karpov’s games to improve my positional understanding. I am not sure how much I understood back then, but his games had a great impact on me and my playing style.

I liked the way he slowly built an advantage and converted it into a full point without giving his opponents any chances. Studying his games in childhood also increased my liking for endgames – I would love to trade queens and go into endgames whenever possible. So I think that subconsciously I started imitating Karpov’s style.

Swapnil Dhopade-Tsekov (Notes by GM Swapnil Dhopade)

Swapnil hails from Amravati in Maharashtra, which does not have much of a chess culture. The situation was worse back when Swapnil was developing as a young talent. "I think if you fall in love with chess and desire to improve, you always meet people who help you take your game to the next level." believes Swapnil.

Don't forget to wish Swapnil on his birthday!

Interview with Swapnil Dhopade Part 1 & Part 2

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