The Ultralearning Gambit: How I Became a Top 20% Chess Player in Under 50 Hours
Ultralearning turned me from a complete beginner into a top chess player—and you can apply it to learning any skill
--
After starting chess, my rating immediately settled in the 800s. This is considered low novice territory; 2889 is the highest all-time rating, held by Magnus Carlsen. I wasn’t getting better regardless of the time spent.
That all changed when The Queen’s Gambit inspired me to ask: How can I catapult myself to the top like Elizabeth Harmon? How can I hack the learning process?
Googling brought some quick answers. Practice alone doesn’t actually lead to performance gains. In fact, people generally develop skills to a plateau and need to change their approach to improve. Without practicing smarter, my rating would stagnate forever.
These are the principles I distilled from hacking the learning process, propelling myself to the top 20% of chess players in just two months.
Ultralearning Distilled
To craft an effective practice plan, I turned to ultralearning, a field flooded with frameworks and crowded with content. Everything I read — Ultralearning by Scott Young, The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin (child chess prodigy and world champion martial artist), Andy Matuschak, Peak by Anders Ericsson, The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler, and Atomic Habits by James Clear — offered theoretical guidance and witty anecdotes but lacked coherent next steps.
Using chess as a testing ground, I condensed these ultralearning teachings into four overarching ideas. You can apply these principles to supercharge your level of anything.
- Optimize your plan to exclusively focus on high-impact activities.
- Practice with intention to maximize your training outcomes.
- Drill on deconstructed skills to internalize learning.
- Ruthlessly target your weaknesses to overcome your barriers.
