Veritasium is a YouTube channel launched in 2011 by Australian physicist and science journalist Derek Muller. In professionally produced videos, Muller explains scientific phenomena, presents experiments and explores why people often perceive the world differently from the way it actually works. In doing so, he combines scientific studies with interviews, clear examples and surprising experiments.

In an episode on expertise broadcast four years ago, but still relevant today, chess plays a central role. To gain a better understanding of expertise, Muller wants to know why Magnus Carlsen can do what he does - and how he acquired that ability. Pattern recognition, or "chunking", is the central theme here. Over the course of their lives, strong players have played and analysed countless games or solved numerous exercises. As a result, countless patterns are stored in their chess memory, helping them to find the best move intuitively.

But that is not all: Muller lists four prerequisites for expertise and explains them clearly, while also touching on the pitfalls of buying shares and why one should not despair after being rejected in job applications.

The four prerequisites for expertise

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1. An environment governed by recognisable rules

In order to learn something, there must be recognisable patterns and regularities. This is the case in chess: certain strategic and tactical patterns occur again and again. Good moves increase the chances of winning, while bad moves can lead to defeat. If one wants to, one can learn from mistakes and losses.

Roulette and other games of chance are different: the outcomes are random, and there is nothing to learn from them.

2. Repetition

Practice makes perfect - tennis players hit thousands of balls, physicists solve numerous problems, and chess players analyse countless games and positions.

3. Fast and clear feedback

In order to learn something, one needs feedback. In chess, this comes from the results of games, from analysing one's own mistakes or from solving tactical exercises. In other fields, this is more difficult. Muller mentions how poorly experts perform at political forecasting, and why investment advisers are often not worth their high fees.

4. Deliberate practice

But experience alone is not enough: when training, one must repeatedly push against the limits of one's own abilities in order to improve. In sports science and psychology, this is called "Deliberate Practice": conscious, systematic practice that is demanding and stretches one's abilities.

In chess, one improves by analysing with stronger players or playing against stronger opponents. This also explains why coaches are so helpful: they recognise problems to which the player is blindsided, and they can select exercises that specifically address weaknesses.

A worthwhile and entertaining video that explains convincingly, and on a scientific basis, what the path to expertise looks like. One still has to walk that path oneself, however.

Master Class Vol.8 - Magnus Carlsen 2nd Edition

Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.