Chess Players Make Problems, Then Try To Solve Them

When I was about 19, I an 2 friends were to organize the National Chess Championship. As part of the organizing we had to get caterer to supply the food and on the day before the event, I and a friend, Chaminda (another organizer) who knew a caterer were to go and meet him.

We met near his house and while we walking to the bus stop, we realized that several buses had stopped for a traffic light. He and I ran to the nearest bus and tried to enter. Unfortunately the lights turned green and only he was able to get on. I got on the bus behind it.

As the bus I was in approached the next bus stop after the traffic lights, I saw him get down and come towards my bus. However, the bus I was in was trying to get ahead of the other buses that had stopped at the bus stop and it just overtook them without stopping at the bus stop. Chaminda could not climb on.

Now I was wondering wondering what to do. We needed to see the caterer immediately, and we had stuff to get done today – we were pressed for time. I did not know even the name of the caterer, let alone how to get there. I also was afraid to get down from the bus because, what happened at the last bus stop might happen and the bus Chaminda was in may not stop. Both of us did not have cell phones either.

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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.

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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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.

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

Playing Until Mate

Definitely an interesting idea proposed by the International Chess Arbiter and Organizer, Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh.

Of course, part of the heritage of chess is that it was the only sport where one or both players could give up the struggle. In several other sports, the result is a forgone conclusion but the game continues till the end of the playing time.

This of course might make it even more interesting, and we may see more winning games blown away. However, top players may well object.

After all, if we are lost and asked to play on, most players will still put in some effort to make the win difficult for the winning side. This will definitely lead to wasting energy, and may result in drop of quality of play in events, that have multiple rounds a day.

Also it may lead to some farce as players might try to set up ‘help mates’ to get the agony of the game over and done quickly as possible.

Probably a change in the rule (and this probability is next to 0) will test the attitude of the individual, as very few of us (almost a non existing group) are used to just continuing once we have concluded that there is nothing more to try for. We may have to learn to go through the motions.

Chess and Drugs

For those interested banned substance or performance enhancing drugs are divided in to several categories.

Stimulants
Substances that increase alertness and reduce fatigue. They may also increase competitiveness and hostility. They are banned because they can produce a psychological and physical stimulus which may improve athletic performance. Some physical signs of when you have used stimulant include dilated pupils, increased sweating, nervousness, anxiety, hand tremors, weight loss, insomnia, rapid heart rate and increased blood pressure.

Narcotics
Primarily substances that help overcome effects of pain, some of which include morphine and its chemical and pharmacological analogues. Banned because they mask pain. A false sense of security can cause an athlete to ignore a potentially serious injury, and by continuing to train and/or compete, risk further damage. Also, narcotics may reduce anxiety which may artificially enhance an athlete’s performance.

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Read the following.

drug tests for chess players
drugs tests at world mind sports games are a riddle
drug testing in chess and bridge

Ivanchuk And Doping In Chess

So,one of the world’s best players may be banned and then a team that pulled off a sensational result to win bronze at the Olympiad will be asked to hand over their medals back.

In a way it’s fair that the USA has to lose their hard earned Bronze Medals because the fact that Kamsky beating Ivanchuk started the mess.  The loss caused Vasily to go off in anger (maybe disgust at himself and disappointment) and avoid participating in doping control.

So, in stead of getting rewarded for an excellent win, the USA has to be penalized. Well, that’s what the rule book says.

Never mind common sense, all that is fair.

Doping Rules have never been fair.  At the 2000, Sydney Games, Andrreea Raducan, a Romanian Gymnast (then Gold Medalist) was disqualified for failing a drug’s test. The traces of a banned stimulant came from a drug given for some minor illness – flu, I think. A senior IOC doping committee official told they know that the girl did not take performance enhancing drugs nor her performance was drug helped. Yet, he said she has violated the Doping Rule’s by having traces of a banned drug in her urine sample and so has to be disqualified – Gold Medal taken away.