Chess is mainly about confidence. Contrary to what people think – Knowledge is not power – at least in chess. Self-confidence is the real power needed for Breaking into the top.
Have you seen the strong chess players keeping calm, despite all the turmoil happening at the chessboard?
Well, if you noticed, they are exuding a confident approach to the position and also seem to enjoy it.
How is the super-achievers Breaking into the top of their chess categories?
Here is my take on this question. Having two decades of chess training and teaching online chess lessons to smart kids I think I see something common in all the bright lights.
4 Qualities that Super Achievers have
1. Regular and daily practice.
Self-confidence is a by-product of regular practice.
I am not talking about the Super GMs who are at the very top – but my interest is in my students, who are dedicated to climbing the chess ladder of their category. Even if the position on the chessboard is not encouraging, they will not give up without a fight.
They have experienced, how lost positions can be salvaged by sheer tenacity. That experience in the training regimen will serve them the required confidence.
I can understand the difficulties in the past when there were no proper resources to help us in our chess learning. Nowadays we can get almost any information in a jiffy. BUT, there is also a drawback in this age of unabashed googling, and that is – everything seems confusing and distracting.
If all the information was presented in a properly structured format, customized to the understanding levels of the aspirants, then it is a blessing in disguise.
All this is happening due to the plethora of learning options available, to these kids. Whether it is in getting a decent game to play every day with their peers or to learn chess online every other day with their coaches who may be living on the other side of the world, they are blessed with choices!
3. Physical exercise and Stamina
You must be thinking, they don’t complete a hectic training session every day. It can just as well be walking, low-impact weight lifting, Tai Chi, or Yoga. The keynote here is not the type of physical exercise, but the idea to treat our bodies and minds like a temple to worship.
Whereas average people tend to take care of their physical health only when they have a small jolt, super-achievers have it as one of their top priorities.
Let’s take Barack Obama as an example. Do you know how his day starts?
It begins with exercise, of course.
So does that allow you to have an excuse? If the President of the USA has time to exercise daily, why not you?
4. Show eagerness to learn either in online chess lessons or sparring sessions
In my two decades of chess coaching experience, I have noticed that the super-achievers I have coached in my online chess lessons have some things in common – they are eager, fascinated, almost voracious learners.
These people are not just learning in my chess classes and tournaments. They look at every problem, every test, every impediment, as an opportunity to learn more and improvise.
They prioritize time for personal leisure, other classes, chess coaching, and reading relevant chess material. No wonder they are Breaking into the top of whatever they endeavor.
The days we spend without learning anything new, are the days that go wasted.
Make me a scientist of the commonplace puzzling over the mystery of daily stuff, wordlessly probing for the Great Mystery, the Mother of wonders and the awesome.
These kids spend a lot of time honing their skills and they come out with positive results. And even if they don’t get success now, they know it is not going to be long before they succeed.
While teaching online chess lessons, I have noticed that the main ingredient for chess improvement, is a natural curiosity that kids have for understanding the unknown. My students get to appreciate the finer aspects when I mix the game lesson with practical real-world stories.
After all who doesn’t like stories?
Is there a reason why Chess is booming?
Very simple. Lots of resources are available now as compared to two decades ago. No wonder, the age threshold of Grandmasters-in-the-making is going lower and lower, every day.
Interested in online chess lessons?
Here at Golden Chess Centre, we are committed to making the benefits of chess, accessible to all.
Sometimes our best lessons in chess, lie in the lost games. We can analyze these games and improve our understanding. Things like what knowledge we need to attain, what skill we need to tune better, to improve our chess game.
You decide how to apply your past learning experience, to either avoid another defeat or to find the results you strive for Breaking into the top.
Let’s analyze your strengths and weaknesses, and come up with a specific plan to take your game to a new level and open your vision to new possibilities… and enjoy it, even more!
FYI We use Zoom, Google, or Skype and our customized training portal with practice assignments for the energetic learner!
It’s been a while since my last blog post. Things have been very busy on all fronts. The good news is that – we have opened a branch of Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam to cater to the Chess aficionados of Adambakkam, St. Thomas Mount, and Alandur.
Adambakkam is well connected to St. Thomas Mount, Alandur, Nandambakkam, and Meenambakkam, so it makes sense to have a branch that would be a big help to the residents of these areas.
Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam will be focusing on the use of technology to accelerate chess learning.
It is an innovative idea to implement and has been going on in my mind for quite some time now.
The inspiration came from many directions especially after seeing how technology has eased our lives compared to say 10 years ago (not so long ago eh?).
I am planning on introducing the learners to the online chess arena, for playing with other chess players.
This will be a good idea to implement especially on those days when the energy level of the children is low 🙂
For those students who are coming from far-off areas, we have proximity to the St. Thomas Mount Metro and Suburban Railway station from where it is just half a kilometer distance.
Most importantly the centre is spacious and air-conditioned to give maximum comfort to the avid learners.
For those of you who are looking for a quality chess training academy in Adambakkam – do pay a visit.
Make sure you enroll early as seats are filling fast at the Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam and you avoid missing the bus!
After all, we are focusing on quality rather than quantity.
Photos will be added soon so stay tuned!
When I first got introduced to Chess, back in the 80’s, there was a lack of chess training resources and even now it looks like not many people have a clue about chess training.
When I come across parents and hear stories about how they got introduced to chess,
I feel that the current generation is blessed to have so many resources for learning any skill or subject.
All one needs is a Mobile phone to enquire online about chess training needs. And there are a plethora of choices that one can take.
How did we start the Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam?
Adambakkam is a locality that is both busy and quiet at the same time.
Busy market places are always crowded – as though there is no sleep time and people are always rushing to god knows where!
Then there are the residential areas where nothing much seems to happen.
When many school kids started enquiring at our Nanaganallur Golden Chess centre, we decided on setting up an alternative Chess centre at Adambakkam.
What is the Mission of Golden Chess Centre at Adambakkam?
The main mission is of course to teach chess. Using technological means and imparting modern-day tools for the uber kids!
Apart from that, we started the Adambakkam centre as it was an experiment in using computers in the much-needed chess training centre in this part of Chennai.
During these Pandemic times, all our classes are currently online.
There are Chess classes for all levels of chess players from the ages 5 to 18.
Bobby Fischer meets Mikhail Tal – the magician from Riga . Fischer – Tal 1960 Olympiad Team tournament. Leipzig, East Germany was chosen as the venue of the 14th Chess Olympiad, organized by FIDE.
It comprised of an open team tournament, as well as many other events designed to promote the sport. It took place between October 26 and November 9, 1960.
After winning a tournament in Reykjavik (3 1/2 out of 4), in October, the teenager Bobby Fischer arrived at the Olympiad in Leipzig, to head the American Olympic team for the first time in his life. And what a team tournament it was for him!
The American team was without Samuel Reshevsky who did not want to play below Fischer, yet the Americans succeeded in winning ‘silver’ for the first time in the postwar period!
The contribution of young Fischer who was also the team captain was significant: 10 wins, 2 losses and 6 tough draws! (+ 1 0-2=6), and more importantly the best result on board 1 in the final that clinched the second spot for the team.
Of his two defeats, one (in the semi-final) caused a shock; the Ecuadorian Master Munoz defeated Bobby who played against his ‘Dragon’ as black!
As for Gligoric, the Yugoslav grandmaster was a veritable opponent for the young Fischer. The 5th round of the team tournament saw Fischer having White against Tal. Fischer had read a lot about Tal’s swashbuckling style of sacrificial play and was also obviously eager to get even with him for past humiliations as well as to show him a taste of his own medicine!
It was a tactical slug-fest by a existing world champion against a future world champion.
Tal had beaten Fischer in their last four encounters, but Fischer came out aiming for Tal’s jugular.
The Olympiad wasn’t that important, they could easily have avoided a fight had it been so, but went for one deliberately to prove who was the better man standing.
The draw was looked as such by spectators who wanted a result, however the draw by perpetual check, was not because both players felt like it on that day, but was born out of practical necessity – the attack had died out and it was prudent to either repeat the moves or lose.
The world champion Tal employed a sharp variation of the French Defense involving the sacrifice of his king side pawns and opposite side castling.
At the critical moment he created a tactical melee on the board, leading to a draw by perpetual check.
This game showed Fischer why Tal was considered a tactical genius although Tal himself said of his tactical sacrifices sarcastically – “There are two types of tactics, the sound ones and the ones I make”!
As is seen the photo was taken when Tal played 7… Ne7 – see by the game lines.
Fisher appears to be analyzing with rapt attention (little nervous?) while Tal seems to be seemingly easy (preparation home ground?). The above photo is an evergreen classic in the annals of chess.
According to Tal himself, when he was interviewing Fischer at the 1962 Varna Olympics, the first question he asked Fischer was: “Whom do you consider to be the strongest player in the world?”
Fischer looked at Tal with surprise to which Tal simply made it easy by adding, “Excluding yourself, of course.” Fischer replied tounge-in-cheek – “Well, you don’t play badly.”
By that time (1962), Bobby had defeated Tal twice. One might assume that perhaps Fischer couldn’t consciously admit that Tal was the best, but when Tal eased the question ruling out Fischer, he readily accepted to Tal’s superiority.
Fischer visits Tal while he was hospitalized during the 1962 Candidates tournament
At that time Tal was still the world’s best chess player, when ever he was in robust health. If you may recall he lost his crown long back to Botvinnik in partly because of ill health.
In Tal’s own words, Tal was Tal but Fischer was not yet Fischer. They were friends. They became friends at the 1958 Inter-zonal.
Fischer was the only player to visit Tal while he was hospitalized during the 1962 Candidates tournament.
That showed the human side of Fischer and what he cared about friends.
Hope you liked this info about two of my favorite players! Your comments, suggestions and feedback are welcome. I will be happy if you were to share this article or copy it anywhere (provided you attribute it to this webpage).
Some good books for you to read about Bobby Fischer at the Bookdepository.com site with free shipping worldwide.
Some good books for you to read about Mikhail Tal at the Bookdepository.com site with free worldwide shipping.
Golden Chess Centre teaches chess for students staying in Nanganallur and suburbs like Madipakkam, Adambakkam, Moovarasampet, Kilkattalai, Kovilambakkam, Puzhuthivakkam, Ullagaram and Pazhavanthangal in South Chennai. Online sessions for players who live out of Chennai are also undertaken via appointments.
Under the Aegis of AICF,TNSCA, KDCA & MCA (AICF Event code: 115226/TN/2015 – TNSCA Approval No. R07/2015-16)
Venue: MODERN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL (Main Building)
Modern School Road, A.G.’s Office Colony,
Nanganallur, Chennai 600 061
Modern Senior Secondary School is a new generation CBSE SCHOOL situated at Nanganallur in Chennai.
Sri Lakshminrisimha temple, Nanganallur
Nanganallur is known for its myriad of temples dedicated to the Hindu Gods and Goddesses and the place appears to have a religious aura during festive occasions. It is also home to Modern Senior Secondary School that has showed a phenomenal support to chess playing students and Chess tournaments.
Apart from a robust scholastic endeavor, Modern School gives great importance to Co-curricular and extra curricular activities and encouraging chess among its students; and this has paid rich dividends.
K.Sasikiran, Grand Master – Alumni of Modern School, Nanganallur
The School is very proud of its alumni, K.Sasikiran, Grand Master and Arjuna Awardee in Chess who is ranked among the top 5 in Indian Chess list of Grandmasters. Following in his footsteps, the School has a host of eminent chess players.
Players like RK Ranjith,Anjana Sowjanya, Arun Hariharan,Saravana Krishnan, Santhosh Bala, Pon Krithikka, Mohanapriya, Radha Krishnan, Narasimhapriyan, V.Shvetha, T. Vishwanath, Akash PC Iyer, K. Anshuman and many others have been inspired by this school’s motivation and its teachers interest in Chess.
They have brought many laurels for the school and made it a force to reckon with among CBSE schools Zonal and National Chess championships.
There are many upcoming juniors who are slowly inching their way up.
Every year, starting from the year 2008, Modern School has been conducting the Fide rated Chess tournament and this is the first ever International Rating Chess Championship at the School level.
Modern School Venue for the International Chess Tournament at Nanganallur.
This year, from 1st August to 5th August 2015 they are conducting conducted the annual 8th Modern School Nanganallur Chess Tournament 2015 for school children and there was a huge response to the event as it is one of its kind as far as chess tournaments go.
For the 5 days duration there was a carnival like atmosphere and children from various schools converged at the main building to participate in the tournament.
Meet the people behind the 8th Modern School Nanganallur Chess Tournament 2015 :
Many children from India and abroad take part in this event, that is now a permanent fixture for 8 years now. Kudos to the School and especially to Mr. Ravichandran, Mr. Santhanam and the P.T incharge Mr. Ramadoss who have built this program from its inception.
Special mention must be made of the Principal Dr.(Smt.) Mrs. Mohana – M.Com., M.Phil., B.Ed., Ph.D, who takes personal interest in hearing the chess players’ results and motivates them even amongst her very busy schedule, and that too with a perennial smile.
Like wise the Vice-Principal Mrs. L. Padmavathy (M.Com., PGDCM, C.I.C, D.W.T, B.Ed) who is adored by all, and the Office staff who have worked hard in maintaining a professional routine.
Recognition in Chess:
The Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi allotted the Southern Zonal Chess Tournaments to the School, in 2004 and 2006 under its Competitive Sports Program. The final all India Chess Championship was conducted in the School in 2007.
With this background, the School endeavors to conduct Modern Senior Secondary School International Rating Chess Tournament every year. We at Golden Chess Centre, wish them a very huge success in the coming years!
Day to day Chess-results and pairings will be pasted here from chess-results.com
Please note: The results are/will be updated as soon as the pairing is ready.
As a gesture of appreciation, Golden Chess Centre Nanganallur, will analyze any games played by the children (free of any charges) and also give tips on how to improve their game.
Power of the common Pawn – Chennai (Tiger) Express
This was one brilliant game of technique played by Vishy Anand, that shows how positional understanding is the foundation of all tactics. Its not often you get to see a game that literally keeps you mesmerized. There was some inefficiency by Wesley So but that does not take the credit away from Anand. A champion has to be brave and this is what Anand demonstrated – he showed the Power of the common Pawn today in Shamkir 2015.
The 2nd Vugar Gashimov Memorial took place in the Heydar Aliyev Center in Shamkir from 17th to 26th April 2015. The participating players were: Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana, Viswanathan Anand, Anish Giri, Wesley So, Vladimir Kramnik, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Adams Michael and Mamedov Rauf.
Magnus Carlsen won the 2nd Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir, Azerhaijan with 7/9 a point clear of Viswanathan Anand. However Vishy produced some of his best games here and notable is this one as told earlier.
Carlsen finished a point ahead of Viswanathan Anand who had an interesting event. Anand was also impressive as he remained undefeated, though he also had ample chances to win against his arch nemesis Carlsen in the first round.
We can learn how chess is played from up-there. The perspectives are sure to raise your understanding and your elo too. A game that I liked a lot is shown below.
A brutal technical win over Wesley So by the Chennai Tiger Vishy Anand. It was all about endgame finesse and understanding. And the Power of the common man, er… the common pawn.
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3
d6 9. a3 Nb8 10. Ng5 $5 Nc6 {[%csl Gd4,Rg5][%cal Rc6d4,Gf3g5,Yd4f3] Taking
advantage of teh fact that the Knight on f3 is missing in action albiet
temporarily.} 11. Ba2 Nd4 12. Ne2 {Exchanging the Opponent’s active piece.}
Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 h6 {The courage of a chess player. A very intuitional sacrifice
(that happens only when you look at the position from a bird’s eye view) and
one that is purely positional rather than tactical. Wonder what the engines
must be thinking about this move. It is what I call a human-like move!} 14. f4
$5 hxg5 (14… exf4 {seems to be an idea for another day. However I think
Anand must have simply moved back the Knight to f3.} 15. Nxf7 (15. Bxf4 hxg5
16. Bxg5 $19 {Seems to be bad for White.}) (15. Nh3 $13 Bxh3 16. gxh3) 15…
Rxf7 16. Bxf7+ Kxf7 17. Bxf4 {Nothing tangible for White again. So there seems
to be a lot of ways where Black could have kept White subdued}) 15. fxg5 {
Pawns on the 5th rank and beyond, are powerful and work almost like a piece in
terms of strength. That is what makes a player stand out when he can
understand the fluid nature of how the power-balance can shift subtly.} Ng4 $6
{What is that Knight doing?} 16. g6 {There goes the battering Ram! This pawn
is on steroids and seems unstoppable! That is the ‘Power of the common pawn’.}
Bg5 $5 (16… Nh6 $5) 17. h3 $1 {At first sight this looks like a move that is
kicking the Knight. Look deeply and you will see that the h-pawn is raring to
join its friend on g6! This li’l fella is planning for the future!} (17. Bxf7+
Rxf7 18. gxf7+ Kf8 {gets nothing for White!}) 17… Bxc1 18. Raxc1 Nh6 19. Qh5
$1 {The Queen comes in for the kill. A menacing move that takes adv of the
power of White’s active pieces.} Be6 20. Bxe6 fxe6 21. g4 {There is that pawn
rush to attck and soften Black’s fortress. Poor Black is helpless even though
he is a piece up.} c6 $6 {Anand thought this was a mistake during the press
conference as I guess it is not doing anything about the impending aftermath.}
22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 23. Rf1 Qe7 24. g5 Rf8 25. gxh6 Rxf1+ 26. Kxf1 Qf8+ 27. Ke2 $1 {
No more checks!} gxh6 {Subtle pawn play by White. Conversion from this
position is an entire game altogether. It is here that Anand had to shift
gears and play delicate strokes. No mad rushing here.} 28. Qg4 Qf6 29. h4 d5
30. h5 d4 31. b4 $1 {Bringing the point home. This requires finesse on the
part of the White player.} Kg7 32. Qf3 Qe7 33. Kd1 Kg8 34. Qf2 Kg7 35. c3 dxc3
36. Kc2 Qc7 37. Qc5 Kg8 38. Qe3 a5 39. Qh3 axb4 40. Qxe6+ Kf8 41. axb4 Qa7 42.
Kxc3 Qa3+ 43. Kc2 Qa4+ 44. Qb3 Qa7 45. d4 1-0
Never under-estimate the Power of the common Pawn !
Further Reading –
Kish Kumar is a passionate Chess player and coach at Golden Chess Centre and loves teaching the various aspects of Chess. When not involved with Chess he is busy life-coaching! Connect with him here 🙂
Meet Carissa Yip – the Youngest Female Chess Master!
Carissa Yip, 11, of Andover, Massachusetts beat a master chess player last month and earned her title while also creating an all time record as the youngest female chess master. In 2013, she became youngest American to reach expert level! Carissa began playing chess at age six and is now ranked 50th best female chess player in the country by United States Chess Federation.
She became the youngest to ever to defeat a grandmaster, Alexander Ivanov, during the New England Open in 2014!
Carissa said she loves chess because it is a challenging game, according to the Boston Globe.
‘I prefer to play with someone who’s actually good,’ she said. But sometimes her opponents do not always take the loss in stride. Carissa said during one of her first tournaments, she beat a competitor when she was just seven years old and that opponent just showed his displeasure and said that he did not like playing against kids.
That shows how deep it can hurt people to be humiliated by children like Carissa who are barely out of their milk teeth! Thank goodness I did not have such a treatment meted out by anyone so small… Atleast not yet 🙂
The Author Kish Kumar is a coach at Golden Chess Centre and is passionate about teaching Chess to beginners, intermediate level and advanced players.
