How to prepare like a Grandmaster

Next week I will prepare my fiancée WFM Alessia in her OTB tournament in Maia, Portugal. The goal is to get her ready for the game with as little work as possible for her.

I will prepare her with a method I used for myself, my students, and a few 2600+ GMs, which I prepared as a coach for the chess team of FC Bayern Munich. In this article, I discuss the 5 steps of my preparation and give you tips on how to prepare against your opponents. As always, my method focuses on getting the most out of as little time as possible. Simplicity is key!

At the end of the article, I’ll share a fun, affordable, but time-limited way to learn more about preparing against opponents.

The 5 Steps to Prepare Like a GM

Whether I prepare an amateur student or a 2700 GM, I always go through the same 5 steps to prepare optimally. These are:

1. Gather data
2. Dissect Games
3. Decide on opening lines against this specific opponent
4. Analyze positions that are most likely to happen
5. Create a list of opening files to review for the student

You can use the same framework to prepare yourself. The only thing you have to add is the time to review the files so you actually remember what you prepared. This means that preparing without a Coach makes simplicity even more important.

My preparation mindset

Before I explain all five steps in detail, I want to briefly tell you my mindset when I prepare for an opponent. Whether I prepare for myself or my students, I have a minimalist approach to opening preparation. That means I do not want to cover everything and crush the opponents with engine lines. Preparing Alessia in Porto, my ideal outcome is that she gets positions she likes without a ton of preparation work. This way, she will be fresh and have all the chances to play a great game. In the optimal case, this position will also surprise our opponent and they won't feel super comfortable in that new position. Even if the preparation doesn’t appear on the board (which happens rather frequently!), the process helps Alessia be confident and fresh, and I’m happy with our work. Now, let’s get into the five steps I will do every round for her.

Step #1: Gather Data (10-15min)

Surprisingly enough, I already see many mistakes in practice here. If you don’t have the full data, you can’t prepare well. There are two main data points I research for any preparation against an opponent:

1. Games played
2. Various information on the player

Researching for games, I do the following:

• Check my updated Mega Database (never forget to download the weekly Twic updates; they are free!)
• Check for their Chess.com/Lichess profiles (google their name + lichess/chess.com to have higher chances of finding their profile)
• Look for games of the current tournament. Especially tournaments that have DGT boards or just generally upload the games of the tournament.

Once I have all the games, I create a separate database in Chessbase 16 with only the relevant games (right color, not older than 5 years, no bullet games). If this database isn't complete, the preparation won't be complete either. And if it is filled with silly bullet games where our opponent plays a stupid opening, they will never play OTB, then we get the wrong information.
Now, I take around 5 Minutes to gather a little more information about our opponent. Things like their age, where they come from, and how well they performed at the current event can influence my preparation. To get this information, I'll google their name, find their FIDE profile and check the results on chess-results (most European tournaments publish their results/pairings there).
This step will take only about 10-15 minutes and I do it as soon as the pairings are out.

Step #2: Dissect the games (15-30 minutes)

Now, it is time to process the gathered information. I have two main goals in this phase:

1. Understand the playing style and potential weaknesses of the opponent
2. Find out which openings are most likely to happen in the game
   Understand Opponents Weaknesses
   To achieve goal number one, I quickly play through 10-20 of their most recent games. A few questions I ask myself while playing through those games are:

• Is this player good in opening theory?
• Are they more of a tactical or positional player?
• Do they have any tendencies against clearly stronger/weaker opponents?

With my experience, I can get a general feeling about our opponents' playing style in around 10 minutes. At this point, I’m forming hypotheses in my head, but I need to be flexible to prove them wrong. For example, if I’m preparing against a 14-year-old who plays only Sicilians, Gambits, and trick lines, I’m assuming our best choice will be to go into a boring line or to sacrifice something ourselves.

What openings are likely to happen on the board?

With these ideas in mind, it is now time to go through their opening choices one by one. First, I will see what they play against Alessia's repertoire.
With the “prepare against (color)” function in Chessbase, I see the most common moves and how they score with it. At this point, I don't care about anything Alessia doesn't have in her Repertoire. In any CB database, click on "Players", choose your opponent, then see top left and click on the color you want to prepare against A few questions I try to answer are:

• What is the most likely opening to happen in this game?
• Is our current opening knowledge enough, or does Alessia need additional knowledge? -> That would mean I have to prepare some files!

If there are decent options within Alessia's current repertoire, I aim to keep things simple and just go a little deeper there. We might change some subtleties from move 10 onward, but I rarely prepare a totally new opening for my students.
In my opinion, the amount of time and energy it takes to learn such a new opening before a game weighs more than the potential upside of a huge surprise.

Exceptions for specific preparation

As with every good rule, there are exceptions. If the following points are all given, a big surprise might be good:

• Playing the students' repertoire seems not to lead to a favorable position
• The surprise is very likely actually to happen on the board
• When the surprise happens, the position will be very favorable for us
• There is little risk involved in the specifically prepared repertoire

It has taken me a decade+ of preparation to get the feeling I have today. Explaining all the details will be impossible. If you want to learn more, make sure to check out the course I mention at the end of the article, where you will see my thought process in action.

Step #3: Opening choice (10 minutes)

After dissecting the opponents' games, it is time to make a final decision. As Alessia needs to feel comfortable playing the openings I prepare, I will shortly present her several ideas and get her opinion on what she prefers. If she has a clear preference, we’ll go with that. No matter how good I feel about a certain choice, it won't work if Alessia feels uncomfortable with it!
Once we decide on the openings, I will write down a list containing:

• Lines I want to analyze further
• Opening files Alessia should review before the game

Step #4: Analyzing Openings (10minutes – 2 hours)

At this point, it is probably 10-11 PM, and Alessia might be ready for bed (or record her YouTube recap video).
If needed, now it is time to analyze some of the most likely openings a little bit deeper. The goal is to prepare a simple file for Alessia to review before the game. How to create such a file would turn this already long article into a book, so I’ll save that for another time.
Here are a few tips if you do this for yourself:

• Ask yourself frequently: does this really matter? à Don’t waste time on lines that have a super low likelihood to appear on the board.
• Keep it simple. If you have a decent choice that you feel comfortable with, go to bed and rest instead of analyzing deeper.
• Remind yourself you also need to remember this! The more you prepare, the more you’ll have to remember. Only work on things that you have a chance to recall the next day.

Doing this step for Alessia, I will first analyze the positions that need some more work. Once I am done, I will convert this mostly chaotic analysis file into a neat, simple and digestible tournament file.
The main point here is that Alessia should not be overwhelmed with a dozen lines she doesn’t need to remember. Let’s say I analyze 5 different moves for us and then decide on the best one. The file Alessia sees will only include the best move. We only have a limited amount of storage space in our brains, so we need to be mindful of what we use that space for.
Keep it simple, and focus on what matters most.

Step #5: Opening List; Student reviewing files (max 1 hour)

The final step for me is to create a list of things Alessia should review before the game. It could look like this:

• Najdorf 6.h3; focus on 6...e6 (20mins)
• Petrov defense 3.d4, focus on 3...Nxe4 (10mins)
• French 3...Nf6 (10min)

Again, this aims to keep things simple for Alessia. As a rule of thumb, I will tell her to spend the most time on the lines that are most likely to happen on the board. Obviously, her feelings will play a big role here as well.
If she feels terribly uncertain in the French but has absolutely no fear against the Najdorf, she might spend more time on the French and ignore the Najdorf altogether. This process is successful if:

• Alessia spends time on what is most likely
• Thanks to the review, Alessia feels confident before the game

For this to happen, she has to accept a harsh truth: Nobody will ever feel 100% prepared for a game of chess.
One could always know more or remember the lines better. The key is to know that one did the best with limited time and resources. And to be able to relax and trust one’s chess skills. Because those are most likely to decide the game anyway.
If you feel that you need to review your openings for 2+ hours before the game, something went wrong along the way. Either you prepared way too many new things, or you don't feel comfortable enough to trust your chess skills.
I remember a tournament in Italy, which I won with 8/9. I spent all mornings at the beach and reviewed only a small file for 15 minutes before the game. I felt super fresh for every game and crushed the field. That's the right spirit and makes chess tournaments way more fun!

Recap – The five steps to Grandmaster preparation:

• Step #1: As soon as the pairings are out, I’ll gather all games and some other information on our opponent (10-15min)
• Step #2: Then I dive into the games, try to find weaknesses, and understand what openings are most likely to happen on the board. (10-30min)
• Step #3: I’ll present my ideas to Alessia and decide together with her what our plan for the next game is. (10min)
• Step #4: While Alessia sleeps (or records the YouTube recap video of the previous game), I will analyze the necessary openings and create simple, digestible files for her. (10min-2hours)
• Step #5: Fully recharged, Alessia will wake up to a simple list of opening files she has to review for a certain amount of time. I will remind her to keep this process under an hour so she has a lot of energy for the game. (max 1 hour)

This isn't suitable for Amateurs.

“But Noël, this is way too much/hard for me,” some of you might think now. I agree. This is a Grandmaster approach and difficult to imitate 100% if you aren’t experienced. And, if you have to do everything yourself, spending up to 4 hours on preparation might just seem like a waste of time and energy to you. So, for anyone below 2200 FIDE wanting to improve their preparation, I have two suggestions for you:

1. Learn from someone more experienced. I'll tell you how in a minute.
2. Simplify the process as much as possible.
   To start out, your process can look like this:

• Step #1 Gather information stays the same (15min)
• Step #2 Find the most likely opening and only prepare against this one (15min)
• Step #3 Only analyze/review the most likely opening (30min)

This way, you cut down your preparation time to 1 hour, including a review of the files. In the course, I will also share alternatives to Chessbase 16 and the Mega Database.
Will this be less thorough? Hell yes! But it will do the job without spending too much time and money on this process. Once you get more comfortable with this approach and your opponents get stronger and play more openings, you can build up to my preparation routine.
But always remember: the goal isn’t to win out of the opening but to prepare you for a good game of chess.

How To Prepare Like A Grandmaster

As you might have realized reading this article, preparing against your opponent is a very complex process if you want to do it well. I’ve done it for 10+ years and observed many of my Grandmaster Coaches. When Alessia asked me to prepare her in Porto, I thought, why not combine it and share my knowledge with you guys? So, we came up with an interactive course you can join for only $40 until the end of the tournament on August 31st. You will receive a behind-the-scenes preparation video for every round. I will explain why I opted for which opening, what I prepared for Alessia, and whether our preparation ended up on the board. This will help you make the right preparation decisions for yourself in the future.

As this is an open tournament, the nine preparations will be very different. I expect to get a round where we have basically no information (Round 1) and hopefully some preparation against Titled players and against weaker opponents as well. What makes the course interactive is that you can ask questions in comments to these videos, and I will answer all of them in a Q&A during the last round of Alessia’s tournament on August 31st. You will love the course if one or more of these things apply to you:

• Play or plan to play OTB tournaments
• Want to know how Grandmasters prepare for their opponents
• Like to get a behind-the-scenes insight into Alessia’s chess tournament adventure

If this sounds like something you'd enjoy, go check the course out here. Otherwise, thanks for reading this long article, hope it will help you in the future.
Keep improving,
Noël

This article was originally posted on my Blog, nextlevelchess.blog. You can read other articles by clicking this link.

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