Chess

Elo 1800

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 16:47:59 -0400

I finally crossed 1800 on Chess.com. It took 17 months to gain 100 points. It felt endless.

A few times, I was one game away from reaching 1800. Each time, I collapsed into a losing streak and dropped back to the low 1700s. Few things I do for fun frustrate me as much as chess.

Growth never happens in a straight line. Improvement often looks like regression. Even when I'm going backward, I'm still improving. That lesson carries into work and life.

When working out on the Peloton, I often watch 2000-rated players on YouTube. They're only 200 Elo points higher, but the gap feels massive. Skill doesn't scale linearly.

My game has certainly improved. I see weaknesses faster now, which helps me form better middle game plans. For better or worse, I still rely on a few familiar openings, but they usually get me to a playable position.

Still, 17 months for 100 points feels slow. Should I aim for 2000? Part of me wants the challenge. Another part questions the tradeoff, or whether I'll get there at all. I've not decided yet. For now, I am proud of reaching 1800.

When your brain lies to you

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 08:52:22 -0500

A friend texted me after his chess rating dropped. He had played a game right after a ten-hour flight, completely exhausted. I've done the same.

When you're tired, your brain overprices effort and underprices future consequences.

Finding the best chess move might take a minute of hard thinking. When you're exhausted, that minute feels too expensive. You stop calculating early and convince yourself the easy move is good. Then you lose.

In chess, the punishment is instant. But in work or life, the feedback is slower, noisier, or missing. You can feel sharp even while your judgment isn't at its best.

Think about driving after a couple of drinks. People feel fine, but their reaction time is measurably worse, and they can't tell the difference. Intoxicated drivers often believe they're fine when they aren't.

That immediate feedback in chess has taught me to recognize patterns I couldn't see before. It's rare in life to get feedback that honest, that fast. In a way, that is a gift of chess: it trains you to see your own mind more clearly, not just the board.

The lesson isn't "don't do things when tired". We all do. The lesson is to notice when your brain starts lying to you and build habits that keep you honest. Chess has helped me with this. But I'm not done learning.

Unexpectedly playing Kasparov

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 06:35:37 -0400

I had just published my post about having dinner with Garry Kasparov when I got a call. Belgium's Prime Minister Bart De Wever had dropped out of a simultaneous exhibition where Kasparov would play 20 people at once. Did I want to take his seat?

Of course I didn't hesitate. Within hours, I was sitting across a chessboard from Kasparov. I was never going to win. The question was: in how many moves would I lose?

Playing against Garry Kasparov. Photo © Jelle Jansegers.

Kasparov opened with white, and I defended with black using the Caro-Kann defense. I blundered my rook on move 11. A mistake I'm still kicking myself over. But I kept fighting. A few times I made him pause and think for a minute or so. I resigned at move 25. None of the twenty players managed a draw or a win.

Playing against Garry Kasparov. Photo © Jelle Jansegers.

The event was livestreamed, with GM Nigel Short and FM Lennert Lenaerts providing commentary. Here is a snippet where they review my position:

This morning, I entered our game into Chess.com's analysis tool. Kasparov played with 94% accuracy, while I managed 80% accuracy (estimated 2100 ELO performance). Not bad for someone who hung a rook early.

I'm grateful I got to play him. It's a game I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Playing against Garry Kasparov. Photo © Jelle Jansegers.

Here is the game in PGN notation for anyone who wants to analyze it:

[Event "Simul Exhibition Antwerp"]
[Date "2025.10.21"]
[White "Kasparov, Garry"]
[Black "Buytaert, Dries"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "B12"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation, Tal Variation"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 
5. c4 e6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Qb3 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Qc7 9. Ba3 Nd7 
10. Nf3 Rb8 11. Bd6 Qc8 12. Bxb8 Qxb8 13. cxd5 exd5 14. c4 Ne7 
15. Bd3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 dxc4 17. Qxc4 Nb6 18. Qc2 Qc8 19. Kf1 Qd7 
20. Re1 Kd8 21. Ng5 Rf8 22. e6 Qd5 23. exf7 Qc4+ 24. Qxc4 Nxc4 
25. Ne6+

And in FEN notation:

3k1r2/pp2nPp1/2p1N3/7p/2nP3P/8/P4PP1/4RK1R b - - 1 25

Meeting one chess master, mourning another

Tue, 21 Oct 2025 04:09:56 -0400

When I was about 10 years old, my uncle gave me a chess computer. It was the "Kasparov Team-Mate Advanced Trainer", released in 1988. More than 35 years later, I still have it. Last night I was lucky enough to have dinner with the man whose name is on that device.

Garry Kasparov is one of the greatest chess players of all time. He was the number one chess player in the world for 21 years and became famous for his matches against IBM's Deep Blue. Since retiring from chess, he has become a prominent advocate for democracy, even running against Putin in 2008.

With Garry Kasparov in Antwerp, October 2025

During our conversation, Garry broke the news that Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky had passed away unexpectedly. He was only 29. The news stopped me cold. For a moment, I just sat there, trying to process it.

I've probably watched every video Daniel Naroditsky published on his YouTube channel over the past four years. His videos made me fall in love with chess in a way I never had before. I was drawn not only to his mastery but to how generously he shared it. His real achievement wasn't his chess rating but how many people he made better.

Here I was, sitting across from the chess legend whose computer first introduced me to the game as a child, learning about the sudden loss of the person who reignited that passion decades later. One sitting in front of me, very much alive and passionately debating. The other suddenly gone.

It's strange how we can form connections with people we never meet. Through a name on a device, through videos we watch online, they become a part of our lives. When you meet one in person, the excitement is real. When you learn another has died, so is the grief.

I left that dinner thinking about the strangeness of it all. Two people who shaped my relationship with chess, colliding in one unexpected evening.

Elo 1700

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 15:34:26 -0400

A couple of months after reaching 1600, I hit another milestone: Elo 1700!

When I reached an Elo rating of 1600, I expected the climb to get more difficult. Surprisingly, moving up to 1700 was easier than I thought.

I stuck with my main openings but added a few new variations. For example, I started using the "Queen's Gambit Declined: Cambridge Springs Defense" against white opening with 1. d4 – a name that, just six months ago, might as well have been a spell from Harry Potter. Despite expanding my opening repertoire, my opening knowledge remains limited, and I tend to stick to the few openings I know well.

Trying my luck against a chess hustler in New York City. I lost.

A key challenge I keep facing is what my chess coach calls "pattern recognition", the ability to instantly recognize common tactical setups and positional themes. Vanessa, my wife, would almost certainly agree with that. She's great at spotting patterns in my life that I completely miss. To work on this blind spot, I've made solving chess puzzles a daily habit.

What has really started to make sense for me is understanding pawn breaks and how to create weaknesses in my opponent's position while avoiding creating weaknesses in my own. These concepts are becoming clearer, and I feel like I'm seeing the board better.

Next stop: Elo 1800.

Elo 1600

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 08:51:21 -0400

In news that is sure to rock the world (or at least mildly interest a few chess enthusiasts), I'm excited to report that I reached an Elo rating of 1600 on chess.com!

For most people, "Elo 1600" doesn't mean much. I understand; it didn't mean much to me a few years ago. According to chess.com, this ranking places me in the top 2.5% of players worldwide. While that sounds impressive, it's important to remember that many users on chess.com don't stay active for long.

In the real world, outside of chess.com, an Elo 1600 rating probably means that I'm a decent intermediate player. I estimate I'm about 100-200 points away from being competitive in beginner-level chess tournaments. However, this is just an educated guess, as I've never played in an official competition.

The path from 1400 to 1500 took 18 months and was filled with ups, downs, and even moments of self-doubt. In contrast, the climb from 1500 to 1600 was much faster, taking me just a month.

I'm still working with my chess coach. I stuck with the opening repertoire we developed and I spent a lot of time on visualization training and solving puzzles. I feel my training acted like a "coiled spring" – it took time to build up my skills, but once I understood enough opening theory and chess principles, I improved quickly.

I'm sharing this milestone for two reasons. First, to continue documenting my chess journey. Second, to highlight this key lesson about learning: progress often comes in spurts. You might be stuck for months, then suddenly leap forward.

Memo to self: expect to face challenges and setbacks in the future, and remember that this is a normal part of the process. Staying positive can be easier said than done, as the emotional rollercoaster of progress and setbacks can be intense. However, this experience has reinforced the importance of consistent effort and persistence. Hard work will often pay off in the end. This has been true in college, business, other parts of life, and now in chess.

Next stop: Elo 1700.

Elo 1500

Mon, 20 May 2024 14:53:05 -0400

Seventeen months after reaching an Elo rating of 1400, I finally achieved a stable rating of 1500 – a milestone that was far from easy for me. I never expected it would this long.

To be fair, I briefly reached 1500 in August 2023 but quickly fell back to 1300. In chess, progress can be slow and setbacks can be swift.

Because of my swift drop to 1300, I decided not to write about it at the time. However, I'm happy to update you on my progress today as I'm back over 1500, and it feels much more stable.

Chess as a personal mirror

Perhaps most importantly, over the past year, I've realized that chess is much more than a game – it's a reflection of my personal strengths and weaknesses. I've learned a great deal about my motivations, patience, discipline, decision-making, pressure management, strategic thinking, and learning ability.

For example, at one point, frustrated by my setbacks, I hired a chess coach. The first couple of months were fun and rapidly improved my understanding of chess. However, after three months, I was ready to quit chess. Despite hours of practice and study, my Elo rating wasn't improving. I felt stuck, began to doubt if I could ever achieve a 1500 rating, and started to think that maybe chess wasn't for me. I even questioned my own intelligence.

Feeling frustrated and disheartened, I confided in my chess coach that I was considering quitting chess. Instead of letting me give up, we developed a new training program tailored to my needs. Within three months, I achieved my highest rating ever!

Reflecting on it now, even though it was just a few months ago, it was actually relatively small adjustments that helped me progress – and all changes were unrelated to my intelligence. This experience showed that it can be important to keep going. Sometimes, a new strategy, some support, and a little faith are all you need to reach new heights. It also reminded me that, like in other parts of my life, I'm driven by seeing progress and achieving results.

Why did reaching Elo 1500 take so long, and what actions did I take?

One of the main reasons why it took so long is because I tried out different openings before finding ones that worked for me. To make matters worse, I didn't study or practice these openings enough before playing games.

My coach helped me build and study an opening repertoire, a set of standard openings and responses.

→ Lesson 1: It's important to select an opening repertoire that aligns with your style and level, and to practice them before competitive games.

Opening repertoire

For most of 2023, I was playing the Pirc Defense and King's Indian with Black, both of which are somewhat advanced openings. More recently, I switched to the Caro-Kann, which is better aligned with my level.

As White, I moved from the Four Knights Scotch to experimenting with the Stonewall and Queen's Gambit, before finally settling on the London System in early 2024. Adopting the London System improved my results.

Another reason for falling back from 1500 to 1300 is that I switched to shorter 10-minute games, which set me back quite a bit. I made a lot more mistakes under time pressure. Returning to 30-minute games helped me win more often.

→ Lesson 2: Longer time controls improve your decision-making.

Lastly, I mostly played games and almost never did chess puzzles. This meant my pattern recognition and tactical skills were weak. My coach quickly identified these as areas needing improvement.

Once I started focusing on puzzles, my pattern recognition improved. It became easier to spot tactical patterns such as forks, pins, and skewers. Puzzles also improved my visualization skills, i.e. the ability to calculate moves ahead.

→ Lesson 3: Rapid improvement in chess doesn't come from playing games 90% of the time. A balanced mix of playing, studying and solving puzzles is essential. For me, puzzles made a big difference.

Conclusion

My path to Elo 1500 was marked by many ups and downs. I had to develop better habits, dedicate more time to training, and learn new openings.

Although it took seventeen months to improve just 100 Elo points, my chess foundation feels a lot stronger now. I'm hopeful that the foundational work I've done over the past year will accelerate my progress toward a 1600 rating.

Elo 1400

Sat, 10 Dec 2022 17:42:39 -0500

Today, two months after reaching Elo 1300 on Chess.com, I reached Elo 1400.

Since reaching 1300, I decided to study two openings: Four Nights for when I'm playing with white, and the Pirc Defence for when I'm playing with black.

I watched some YouTube videos and memorized the top 3-5 lines for each. In practice, it is not often that my opponents follow any of the main lines that I studied. That said, I found it helpful to start each game with a basic plan.

I noticed a pattern on my path from Elo 1300 to Elo 1400: I'd make a move and then immediately realize it has problems. There were just too many: "I could have avoided that mistake if I spent more than 15 seconds thinking!"-moments.

I now realize that the weak point in my play isn't any theoretical knowledge of openings, but a lack of discipline before making a move. I've been trying to force myself to slow down, pick a few candidate moves, and calculate the one that is best. It has helped me blunder less.

As a next goal, I'd like to get to Elo 1500. That would take me from "decent social player" to "beginning club player". My best win to date was against a player with Elo 1488. Reaching Elo 1500 feels far off right now.

Trying to become better at chess has been a humbling experience. I'll let you know when I get to Elo 1500 – if I can get there at all.

Elo 1300

Mon, 10 Oct 2022 17:09:59 -0400

Today, at the peak of the biggest chess drama in years, I silently reached Elo 1300 on Chess.com.

Elo is the rating system used in chess, and Elo 1300 means I'm a "decent social player".

I shared this news with my family, and got something between a blank stare and an eye roll. I don't blame them.

If you think chess is boring, I encourage you to take a look at game 6 of the 2021 World Chess Championship.

I'll let you know when I get to Elo 1400. Being busy and all, that will likely take me several months.