I was stuck around 2470–2500 for almost five years. It was a painful phase where it felt like nothing was moving, even after I became a grandmaster. I kept making the same mistakes again and again. At some point, I decided to try something different. That change is what eventually helped me cross 2600.

Before getting into that, I want to share the backstory.

In October 2017, I reached my then peak rating of 2469 for the first time. I had a great few months and jumped from 2315 to 2469 in a short span. About a year later, I became a grandmaster and reached a new peak of 2527. I was playing very well, and that’s when things slowly started to go wrong.

I had a couple of bad tournaments. My form was off, and I lost a lot of rating. After some time, I wasn’t losing because of my chess anymore, but because the earlier losses were still affecting me. If I remember correctly, I dropped all the way back to around 2460.

A few more years passed, and I was still struggling to cross 2500. This is one of the biggest psychological problems chess players face. I call it “the grave of hundreds.”

The Grave of Hundreds

As chess players, we give a lot of importance to certain ratings—2300, 2400, 2500. Ratings like 2470, 2549, or 2586 don’t feel the same. When we set goals, they are almost always based on round numbers. Unless you’re already 2600+, then the focus shifts to 2650 or 2750.

This creates three big mental problems.

First, when we are close to one of these numbers, it is always in our head. We stop fully focusing on the game. Many players have reached 2399 or 2499 but never crossed the line to get their IM or GM titles. These rating barriers are like scoring a century in cricket. Even the best batsmen have been out in the 90s many times.

Second, the problem starts after crossing the barrier. I’ve felt this myself. You begin to doubt yourself:
                                                  “Am I really a 2500 player?”
                                    “I need to prove that I deserve to be here”

Interestingly, we don’t feel this pressure at 2498. It starts only after crossing 2500.

This becomes even harder if you lose rating and fall back into the 2400s. You’ve placed so much value on the 2500 mark that accepting being below it again becomes very difficult. Honestly, it can feel shameful.

This becomes even harder when you lose rating and fall back into the 2400s. You’ve placed so much value on the 2500 mark that accepting being below it again becomes very difficult. Honestly, it can feel shameful.

This is the third problem, and in my opinion, it is the hardest one to recover from. That feeling of shame and sadness slowly settles in and often leads to long periods of stagnation. I’ve spoken about this in my other articles as well.

 

Gukesh’s form after becoming World Champion

I think Gukesh is a tremendous player. In my opinion, people have taken his success for granted. After he won the World Championship, many noticed his sub-par performances this year, and because of that, the respect for him seems to have dropped.

From a chess point of view, Gukesh has impressed me a lot. At times, he has played out-of-this-world chess, the kind that very few players can produce. If we look at his tournament performances, what he did in the two Olympiads is insane. That level of dominance is something only a truly great player can show.

Here is my take on what might have happened with Gukesh—and I want to be clear that I could be totally wrong.

The pressure of being World Champion

I think Gukesh might also be dealing with the “grave of hundreds” problem, just in a different form. For him, it’s not about 2500 or 2800. It’s about the World Championship title.

He is facing the second problem I described earlier. He is the World Champion, and there is a constant pressure to prove that he deserves that title. The pressure has been immense, and that’s completely understandable.

Maybe he himself questions at times whether he truly deserves to be there. Maybe there’s a constant voice in his head asking him to prove it again and again. That kind of pressure can affect anyone.

One reason this pressure might feel even stronger is because he played Ding Liren, who was not at his best during the World Championship match. Because of that, the need to prove himself could feel even heavier.

Again, this is just my perspective. I could be completely wrong, and there may be many other reasons for his recent results. But from my own experience, this kind of mental weight is very real, and it can slow down even the best players.

The Change

Coming back to my story—after a 2–3 month trip, I realized it was time for a change. I wanted to try something different. This time, I planned my next tournament very deliberately, about a month later.

So what was the big change?

Killer Chess Training

I decided to sign up for an online coaching academy run by Jacob Aagaard and others. I’ve always enjoyed searching for interesting chess material online—it’s a hobby of mine. Over the years, I’ve bought many courses this way.

Before joining, I convinced a group of friends to join me in buying an Advanced Calculation course on the Killer Chess Training website. My honest opinion was that the course was very instructive, but the video classes were a bit long. Jacob is extremely passionate about teaching, and sometimes he forgets the time 😀.

This time, I decided to take a monthly membership and just try it out for a month. If I remember correctly, it cost around 150 euros.

That month, I watched a lot of classes on the website. I’ve always been a video person. I learned a lot by watching chess videos. When I was younger, I was a huge fan of ChessBase DVDs—some of them I could binge-watch for hours. So naturally, I was drawn to the video content.

Then came the Killer Homework, which was honestly torture for me. This was also their biggest selling point, especially for titled players. To be honest, I think I signed up mainly for the videos, not the homework.

The Killer Homework

The process is simple. There are 12 positions in total:

• 6 calculation positions
• 6 mixed-topic positions

You solve them to the best of your ability, write down your analysis using a PDF tool, and send the file by email. Back then, Jacob himself was correcting the homework. You would get marks—for example, 4/6 in calculation and 3/6 in mixed.

I clearly remember that my score was terrible. Jacob welcomed me to the academy and still offered some encouraging words, which meant a lot.

That month, I managed to complete quite a few homework sheets, including some older ones. I followed this semi-consistently. Watching videos, however, was very consistent. I wanted to watch as much as possible before my membership expired.

My Tournament After One Month

You might expect that after all this work, results would come immediately—but they didn’t, at least not in the first few rounds. I had a very slow start, making four draws in the first five rounds, if I remember correctly.

There was no real chance to fight for a top-four finish, which were the qualification spots for the World Cup. Still, I told myself I wanted to win the remaining four games. I even told a friend that I would win all four, just like that.

I managed to win three of them, and it almost felt like manifestation. In the last round, I couldn’t convert my chances and had to settle for a draw. In the end, I finished tied for second place.

Even so, it felt like a success to me. I had played good chess, and more importantly, I felt different. That’s when I decided to take the yearly membership.

Looking back, this felt like the new opportunity I had been quietly searching for all along.

My Next Success

The first tournament I played after buying the yearly membership was the National Championship in Delhi. My play was far from perfect, but I managed to win the National Championship, which was obviously a huge confidence boost.

After that, my games slowly started to improve. Looking back, when I first became a grandmaster and was in good form, I probably had the potential to reach 2600 quite quickly. But I can confidently say that my chess is better now than it was back then—and a big reason for that is Killer Chess Training.

What Exactly Changed After Joining Killer Chess Training?

1. I Started Solving Seriously

As I mentioned earlier, I was always a video guy, not a solver. I relied a lot on my intuition. I even believed that solving too much might ruin my intuition or my natural feel for the game.

That mindset changed. I started to solve a lot more, especially difficult positions.

2. I Focused More on Training

I stopped playing tournaments back-to-back. Instead, I chose to train more and play fewer tournaments. That balance helped me reset and improve.

3. The Way I Looked at Chess Changed

Slowly, the way I played chess and understood positions changed—for the better.

This is my personal belief: if you want to break stagnation, you must change something. It could be:

• the way you train 
• your lifestyle habits 
• how often you play 
• or even your playing style 

For me, joining Killer Chess Training and slowly moving from a video guy to a solving guy was the change that helped me evolve.

Why Did Solving Bring Results for Me?

Whenever you start something new, the growth potential is huge. The path to improvement is usually clear and simple at the beginning. But once you repeat the same method for years, your brain gets used to it, and progress slows down.

When I switched to solving hard positions, I was actually at a very early stage compared to other players of similar strength. Many of them were—and still are—much better solvers than me because they had been doing it since childhood.

For them, improvement is harder if they keep using the same method. For me, it was the opposite—I had a lot of room to grow.

Some Common Questions

Is Killer Chess Training for Everyone? Can You Succeed With It?

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends on the person. But I genuinely believe everyone should try it for at least one month.

Which Top Trainers’ Classes Have You Attended?

Some of the top trainers whose classes I attended include:

• Michael Adams 
• Sam Shankland 
• Boris Gelfand 

Whose Classes Did You Like the Most?

For me, Sam Shankland stands out. He later moved away from traditional classes and started series like:

• Solve with Sam 
• Technique with Sam 

In these, he solves positions that are curated by Jacob. While these sessions are very good, I personally prefer his traditional classes.

Is This Sponsored?

Unfortunately, no. This is not sponsored. I’ve said this many times, and I’ll say it again:
Killer Chess Training and Jacob Aagaard played a huge role in my improvement, especially in my climb from the 2480s to 2600.

Conclusion

Looking back, my stagnation wasn’t because I lacked talent or worked less. It happened because I was doing the same things, in the same way, for too long.

The biggest lesson I learned is simple and uncomfortable:
Nothing changes unless you change something.

For me, that change meant doing things I didn’t enjoy—solving positions I wanted to avoid, accepting how bad I was at them, and trusting the process anyway. The rating gain came later. The real change happened much earlier, in how I trained and how I thought about chess.

If you are stuck—at 1800, 2400, or 2500—don’t wait for it to magically pass.
Change something. Anything.
Your training, your schedule, your habits, or the way you approach the game.

It may feel small at first. It may feel uncomfortable.
But over time, that change is what moves everything else.