A Time When Friendships Are Renewed

“Human beings meet while competitors notice how quickly an opponent eats his soup”
Josh Waitzkin on participating in international events where different cultures and mind sets are brought together at the dinner table.

Well, the 13th Battle of the Kings was not even a FIDE Rated event, nor did it involve players of different nationalities, but the atmosphere over the 4 days made me think of Waitzkin’s words as I watched this Inter School team tournament progress.

Former school boy competitors dropped in to see how the present set of players were flying their school colours. More, maybe to catch up with old friends who they knew would be there and to recall the old rivalries, jokes and occasionally a memorable game.

In this age of technology, we can keep up with friends with a simple click thanks to various social networks, but there is still nothing to challenge a face to face renewal of friendship.

Chess was certainly the business for the 105 players who gave it their all. But for the vast number of former players turning up it was time to remember and move back to their lives away from the chess board.

Position 02

Second Position

Black to move

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FIDE And Meaningless Titles

These days, in its quest to popularize chess (a camouflage for enriching its coffers) FIDE has launched so many meaningless events. I’m not talking about the top events like the Grand Prix, but at the bottom end of the scale.

There are so a many useless events that award titles to winners of junior events that their strength of play does not entitle them to.

Certain Continental Youth events are simply just fought out between the players from the host country, with the so-called donor entries only allowing for a tournament to be kept. (Else it might be only just the player allowed per country plus the additional player allowed for the host nation making a grand total of two players). Yet the winner might walk out with a CM (What’s Candidate Master, any way? Candidate to be a Master?) or if he’s in the right age bracket an FM title.

But the FIDE account is credited with a minimum of 100 Euros per entry in so called FIDE Events and they just keep bidding out to these events. And worse because of the number of tournaments the events clash taking away what ever possibility of any meaningful competition as one event (the real one) attracts the players and the other is fought out between a bunch of pretenders.

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Solution To First Position

1… Rxf3 2. Kxf3 Bxe4+ 3. Kxe4 Rxg3 4. Rhg1 Qa2 5. Rxg3 Qxd2 6. Rf1 h4 7. Rgf3 Qg2 and the h pawn will decide.

Play To Improve While You Can

When I started playing chess and came across various literature one of the most important things that was highlighted to me was the importance of having an objective in my mind. Not just at the board, but in general about how to plan my tournaments and progress. Sadly external factors always prevented such an approach.

Later, as I began to coach I read books about other sports to get some ideas about planning a years schedule for my students and no surprise there too they talk off gradual progress.

Yet today many young players who have serious playing aspirations play in all sorts tournaments. These players are not playing to earn a living, so what is the point of playing in a tournament that will not give you any chance to improve your play? What’s the point of just beating some average players just so you can say you won?

After all when you are in the developing phase ratings, titles don’t mean much. Once your play improves to such a level the rating points and norms will come. But first you have to be good enough to get the points.

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A Coach’s Notes

A Coach’s Notes is series of articles I plan to compile that can be downloaded for free. The articles will cover various chess themes, both strategical and tactical and is expected to supplement chess coaching. At least it’ll give an additional material for budding players to study.

One part of the articles will be a weekly middle game position that can be analyzed by visitors to the page. I will provide the solution at the end of the week.

Later on you can email your games and I will analyze them and post it on the blog so that many players will benefit.

Hope you will make use of my efforts.

Position 01

First Position

It’s black to move. Make due consideration and suggest a continuation.

I’ll give the answer in a week’s time.

Solution

Training Workshops

One reason my blogs was inactive the last few days was that I was too tired from attending two different training programs – one an Asian Chess Federation sponsored intense program an Outbound Training Program organized by the University Sports Council.

First the Chess Training program aimed at Trainers was simply awesome. Thanks to Peter Long, FIDE Trainer who puts us through some intense sessions which I think I would have found useful even as a player. The intensity was something I had never felt in training session as a player, which shows how much our country’s training structure lacks. After the sessions, I think practicing hours on end for the sake is useless and smaller intense sessions would accomplish more than longer drawn out ones. This of course is used in other sports as well. (Heard of the Hurt, Pain, Agony Concept?)

The Outbound Training Program on the following day was a sharp relief from the chess workshop. I was the only chess player and I think my lack of physical training and muscle coordination was felt in the activities, where I feel my team mates weren’t exactly pleased with my efforts in the competitions. But it was good fun aimed at building team spirit and comradeship. Despite the effort, at the end of the day my mind was very fresh, though not my poor body.

Both those programs got to me and have helped me improve the training schedule I have put together for my students.

Time will tell whether the lessons I learned, have been passed on.

Holding Someone Else’s Dream

At least in the Davis Cup you can say there is a doubles event, where two players have to definitely work together. In team chess however the points add up, you just play your game and the other guys play theirs.

However, at amateur level playing team chess is very fun, and in my country the school and club events are even more competitive than some strong opens, simply because of the loyalties involved.

I suppose this is true in most of the team competitions be it an International Team event like the Asian Teams, one of the leagues where the GMs earn an outlandish amount for a club to which they have no tie except as their employer, or a school team championship where you give your all for your alma mator – specially in the first and last groups where playing is more than just about a competitive game of chess and some times carry the hopes and dreams of many others.

So how much do you trust your teammates and how much can they trust you to get the team through? For the performance under pressure will certainly reflect the trust the team has on each other.

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It Takes Guts To Play Chess

I recently read an article on cricinfo about the courage displayed by players to compete despite injury (physical and mental), as their team (country) needed them. Always it’s inspiring to see a player display such guts, be it in Football, Rugby, Cricket, Tennis or some other physical sports.

Sadly, people don’t tend to associate that kind of bravery with chess. After all it’s hard for a laymen to imagine a chess player overcoming the pain barrier to perform. But how many time’s have we given or best despite cold, migraine, etc.

But seriously, I think playing chess and competitive chess requires a certain inner strength. After all, chess is to a large extent about ego and every time a player suffers a setback it’s his or her ego that takes a pounding. To expose yourself to that again and again, it takes courage. To sit down and give it your all against a stronger opponent who had beaten you badly, the last time you two clashed takes strength of character.

Certain players have horrible records against a player who is clearly inferior, and tend to lose often against their nemesis. The continuous loss is probably not about chess skill but more about lacking the character to overcome the past.

To take physical knocks and come back for more is admirable, but to carry on after one’s world has fallen about one’s ears surely requires an effort quite out of the ordinary. (Dick Brittenden)

Chess players constantly display bravery, as much as a NFL Quarterback who puts his body on the line for his team. Only difference is the scars chess players suffer and battle against are in their mind and very few see them.

Of course at no point do I intend any disrespect for Bob Blair, who displayed a kind of inner strength very few ever find within themselves. Very few sportsman or women ever face the kind of challenge he faced with immense inner strength on Boxing Day 1953. Read the following for more about his and his teammates act of bravery.
Beyond the call of duty
Brittenden’s tale of Kiwi cricketing heroism