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What Happens When You Study Chess Full Time?

Perpetual Chess Podcast

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Paulo SantAnna is living the dream of many adult chess improvers. The retired software engineer has spent the past several years treating chess like a full-time job, and the results have been remarkable. After his FIDE rating fell to 1850, Paulo rebuilt his game through disciplined study, tournament travel, physical training, and years of persistence. In his mid-50s, he has now surpassed 2100 FIDE.
We discuss:
How Paulo rebuilt his chess after retirement
Studying 25-35 hours a week
The biggest mistakes adult improvers make
Openings, tactics, calculation training, and coaching
Physical fitness, stamina, and tournament preparation
Why adults struggle to improve
More about the Adult Improver series:
https://www.perpetualchesspod.com/adu...
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0:00 Intro
4:00 Paulo’s comeback story
8:00 Retirement and studying chess full time
11:00 Studying 35 hours a week
13:00 Avoiding common training mistakes
17:00 Calculation training and daily routines
20:00 Openings and Chessable streaks
23:00 Online blitz and coaching
27:00 Avoiding burnout
31:00 Working with top chess coaches
33:00 Blindfold training
36:00 What mattered most for improvement
38:00 Hiding online repertoires
41:00 Breakthrough tournament performances
42:00 Tournament preparation philosophy
46:00 Fitness, stamina, and nutrition
49:00 Chess scenes in New York and California
52:00 Senior tournaments and future plans
54:00 Favorite chess books and resources
57:00 Advice for busy adult improvers
58:00 Rating goals and pursuit of FM
1:00:00 Why adults struggle to improve
1:03:00 Final thoughts
Paulo can be reached at psantann at gmail.dot.com

19 Comments

@Grandcapi 4 months ago

It was nice to see Paulo (whom I know personally) explaining his improvement, and it is inspiring to "old" players like me (almost 79 and still studying chess every day).

@kalebealmeida8570 4 months ago

Nice to see a Brazilian chess improver here on the channel!
Very nice episode!

@Orwaha 4 months ago

Nice to see. I’m an adult learner doing a similar gig. I’m unrated but I’m 2100 online. Hard work pays off. I did two years of multiple lessons a week.

@tatilemming 4 months ago

Congratulations, Paulo!!!

@Mystrolo1986 4 months ago (edited)

It’s interesting because he was nearly 2200 USCF in 2015 before the dip and he’s basically been getting back to that rating.

It might have been interesting to ask him whether or not he just thinks 2200s now are much stronger than 10 years ago (I suspect they are).

It’s also a bit misleading in a way to say he went from 1800 to 2100. More like around 2100 FIDE (2178 USCF) down to 1850 and back to 2100.

@chrisatkeson4638 4 months ago

Impressive progress. I remember Paulo from Kolty.

@Karpivara 4 months ago

Congratulations, Paulo and Ben, very interesting and informative interview.

@Summalogicae 4 months ago (edited)

The chess club in Campbell, CA Paulo is talking about is the Kolty Chess Club, the oldest continuous traditional chess club in the South Bay of Silicon Valley.
Paulo has been a Champion of Kolty before, as well as NM Mike Splane, NM Dana Mackenzie, and CM Frisco del Rosario.

It’s great to see Paulo (whom
I know personally) doing well.

Come see us again, Paulo!

@machadoapoena 4 months ago

nice interview....

@viewer-i5o 4 months ago

very cool! thanks!

@XadrezBrasiliaEventos 4 months ago

nice

@captainnolan5062 1 month ago

So devoting full time to chess got him back to his former rating of 2070 and then he gained a net of 30 rating points? Seems like a lot of time and effort and resources expended to gain 30 points.

@seop1721 4 months ago

One thing this episode makes me wonder is the tension between chess everyday versus a rest day. Studer advises a rest day; I find it maybe builds motivation for the other 6 days. But others say everyday. I'd love a comparison or discussion of both. Perhaps people can email Ben with a vote and we could survey it. Then again, most may not be mindful of what a full no-chess rest day can do and maybe never heard of it.