What Vidit and Anish teach us about learning

by Rasika Ratnaparkhi - 15/07/2026

"How do I get better at chess?" It's one of the most frequently asked questions, and recently, it received two different answers from two of the world's best players. Vidit Gujrathi and Anish Giri share contrasting perspectives on the process of learning. This article explores why their ideas might be two equally important pieces of the same puzzle.

The beauty of different perspectives

Every once in a while, the internet gifts us a conversation that's worth slowing down for. Recently, it came from two grandmasters. Vidit Gujrathi and Anish Giri. They both get asked the same question: How do I get better at chess?

Their answers sound like they are from two different planets! One says: love the process. Curiosity is everything. Be a beginner again. The other says: forget love. Show up anyway. Motivation is overrated.

So... who's right?

Honestly? Both of them!

At first glance, it feels like they are disagreeing. Read their posts one after the other, and you almost expect a debate to break out. But the more you think about it, the more you will realise they were not talking about the same part of the journey. They were describing different moments in it.

Vidit begins where every learner begins. His tweet isn't really about chess. It's about something many of us lose as we grow older: the courage to be a beginner.

As children, we asked questions without worrying whether they sounded silly. We painted messy pictures, sang off-key, and proudly showed everyone our work. Nobody had to convince us to explore. Curiosity did all the heavy lifting. Somewhere along the way, things changed.

We became adults. We built careers. We earned degrees. We developed a reputation for "knowing things." Suddenly, not knowing felt uncomfortable. Trying something new felt risky. We would rather spend hours researching the perfect course than actually begin. Vidit's message is simple: permit yourself to be bad at something again.

Then comes Anish. His tweet starts where Vidit's leaves off.

Imagine you have finally started learning chess. The first few weeks are exciting. You solve puzzles, discover a new opening, maybe even gain a few rating points. You can't stop thinking about chess. And then... the "honeymoon period" ends. The puzzles get harder. Your rating gets stuck. You lose games. Your opponent plays something that disrupts your preparation. Suddenly, learning feels like work. That's what Anish was trying to say.

He mentions that improvement isn't built on the days when we are excited. It's built on the ordinary days. The boring days. The days when we would rather do literally anything else but still sit down to study.

Curiosity is wonderful. But it doesn't always show up. Habits do! Curiosity is a spark. Habits are fuel. The spark gets you started. It's that moment when you think, I want to learn this. It's what makes you stay up late analysing an interesting position or experimenting with a new opening simply because you want to know what happens.

Fuel comes later. It is what gets you through the 100th tactic, the tenth losing streak, and the endgame study you don't particularly enjoy. It's what keeps you moving when excitement fades.

Without the spark, you never start. Without the fuel, you never finish.

Maybe that's why this conversation resonated with so many people. Whether you are picking up a guitar, trying to learn a language, writing your first story, or preparing for your next tournament, the journey usually follows the same pattern.

There will be days when you need Vidit's advice. The days you are afraid to start, afraid to fail, or afraid of looking like a beginner. And there will be days when you need Anish's. The days when the excitement has faded, progress feels slow, and showing up is the hardest part.

So if you are wondering how to get better at something, don't choose between the two. Borrow a little from both. Know which piece of advice you need today!