CHESS FOOD FOR THOUGHT

MY HAPPY MOMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL INDIVIDUALS 2012

2012-03-18T14:38:00.003+08:00

This year's National Schools Individuals Chess Tournament 2012 at Northland saw significant results from my students who competed. Preparatory work started in February with close monitoring on their state of knowledge of opening lines, coupled with drills on tactics with lots of game practice online and OTB. I shall cover the various Age Groups, from the youngest to the oldest.

UNDER 8 BOYS

Visakan did well to come in 9th position though he could have done better in my opinion.

UNDER 9 - 10 BOYS

Royce Tan (who started a few months ago) made good progress this year after we made some changes in his White repertoire. He was playing the King's Indian Attack as White, which I feel was not the right choice for his personality given that he loves open positions where his pieces could attack. Generally strong in tactics, playing the KIA is akin to caging a soaring eagle. With his new weapons, Royce managed to climb to 4th position in his group.

The 2 other boys did not achieve their targets, mainly as they have yet to appreciate the need to use their eyes first to comprehend their opponent's move before making their own. It cost them dearly. As to the Under 10 Boys, Royce competed and stood at 17th place while Louis and Yuji fared poorly to finish, mainly due to insufficient practice.

The star of the Under 10 Boys undoubtedly goes to Nicholas Low, who has been diligently following my advice to play regularly online and checking his losses to improve himself. I am very proud of Nicholas mainly because he focussed on his game every round and only lost to Alfred because he was unfamiliar with his own preparation (he admitted he did not watch the video about his line and went astray.)

GIRLS UNDER 9 & 10

Tricia was playing her first National Individuals and was a little awed by the event, but she enjoyed herself scoring mainly wins over her fellow team mates. Having insufficient practice meant that she was often not perceptive at the board, lacks board vision and often missed opportunities when presented. She would need to spend more time playing if she wants to better her performance next year.

Hui Ling performed up to expectations of her 4th seeding.

UNDER 12 BOYS

I had high hopes for Shi Hao as his performance over the last year was exceptional. We had an overhaul early this year and he enjoys his latest weapons, so he no longer scores only with White. 6th position overall is a great score, being ahead of Rudolph Lau (though he lost) and Tommy Tan who definitely spent lots more hours in chess than he did. A performance rating of 1483 will see some more rating points coming his way.

UNDER 13 - 15

"Sadly Adrian could not muster enough courage to beat Aw Khai Loong and brave the final game against the top 4. It is not so much the result but what I was looking for is the gumption that he must have in order to move ahead. He definitely has the talent ( even back in his younger days he was already Derek's match) but lacks the bit of guts to climb out of his comfort zone to win. Hence he had to beat his friend for the last game to score 5.5 pts depriving Samuel of a chance to come into the top 10.

The giant killer of the Under 14 must undoubtedly go to Mitchell Han of SJI. Coming out of nowhere, he breezed through with 4/4 before being stopped by the Champion Soo Kai Jie. After that, he threw away a win (possibly due to fatigue) in the last round after being a piece ahead and secured a draw. It would be interesting to note what happens if he did win his last game, as it would place him in 3rd place. Not bad indeed for someone who managed to bring down the top seed Calvin Ong!

My students in Victoria School, despite their jovial and often clownish behaviour, took their games seriously and I am most impressed by Zhong Yi who, though never good enough for the Junior Squad, could still perform well against the favourites. Jonah Huang and Elliot were consistent in coming in at 8th and 9th positions respectively. Joven was a little disappointed at 20th placing. Time to buck up!

All of my students did not join the National Junior Squad and yet most of them have performed beyond expectations. I credit this success to them as all I did was to help them understand themselves, play in the style that suits them rather than me. More importantly, I have constantly reminded them not to be overawed by reputation or rating. What matters are the moves that will distinguish who's the better player, not whether he or she is part of an institution.

Having heard the announcement that this year's Age Group Championships in Singapore can only go to those who enrolled in the Junior Squad, I have no choice but to look for similar tournaments elsewhere. The Malacca Heritage Tournament and the Penang Open are good choices and I hope to get my students to better their performances in these tournaments.

THOMSON CHESS LEAGUE 3 FEB

2012-01-25T10:34:00.000+08:00

Dear members,

       As promised we are starting a league of slow games for you who prefer to spend some time thinking about your game. The time control is 1 hour per side. The chief focus is to get members to appreciate the game of chess through the discipline of thinking, planning and strategising.

   We will prepare a crosstable which will allow you to play any player at most twice, with alternating colours. The aim is to for each member to play as many games on Fridays. The last round will be on March 30, where we will then add up the total points gained by each member. Prizes will be given to the top 3 placings.

       All members please write to me at johnwong@pacific.net.sg to register. The closing date fot registration is Feb 1 2012.

CHESS CLUB CLOSED 20 JAN FRIDAY

2012-01-20T12:35:00.000+08:00

In view of the coming Lunar New Year festivities, please be informed that we are closed today and will resume practice on 27 Jan NEXT Friday

HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR

THOMSON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012

2012-01-20T12:18:00.005+08:00

It was a fun-filled and no-incidents day at the Thomson Club Championships, althought some players who signed up for the Seniors ended up at the Juniors instead due to a mis-categorisation at registration. I apologise to all for this and we will do better next year.

Tan Wei Liang showed and won the Seniors with 6.5/7 after some months of inactivity. Many of his games were filled with complications but experience told in the end. Here's a happy Tan Wei Liang, with tournament chief arbiter Christopher Lim , presented with the Jimmy Ng Challenge Trophy for the Senior's Champion.

The Junior's Section was approximate in numbers to the Senior's with 44 entries. This was the total number of entries for the whole tourmament last year! So it was a blessing that many chose to take part. Some of the top Juniors wanted to play in the Seniors, like Ashvin, Tommy, Qing An and I truly admire their desire to play against stronger opponents without worrying about whether they will eventually win anything. We need juniors with this healthy attitude because they will go on stronger and stronger to take on tougher opponents in the future.

Ashvin won the Junior's with a score of 6.5 pts winning his last game against Qing Aun, held to a draw only by Alfred Chua. Tommy finished second dropping a game to Lee Jun Wei. My observations were fighting chess was the order of the day for the top seeds.

My students fared satisfactorily with Nicholas on 4 pts, Dan Peng and Royce on 3 and Joshua on 2. It is a strong U12 tournament after all.

The surprise came in the Seniors when Mitchell Han scored 5 pts to take 7th position. This is an incredible score for him so he's got to handle 4 adult players and got 2.5pts. Against his peers, he successfully beat off Brendan's attack and won, though the draw with Joven was suspect (Mitchell had two pieces for a rook).

The prize giving ended with only 5 trophies for 6-10 positions in the Junior's section. All others received books (though used, but in good condition). It is an idea I learnt while I was working in Norway back in 1989. The tournaments there gave books donated by club members as prizes and the Champion gets the first pick of all the books on display, then 2nd place picks and so on. It is a system that will encourage the reading of chess books for self-improvement which encourages further chess growth amongst our youth. Mitchell (after some advice) chose the Sorceror's Apprentice, a good autobiography of the legend David Bronstein.

Bronstein was a genius in creating so many wonderful games and his chief legacy was the his account of the Zurich 1953 Candidates Tournament. I hope to find a copy of this for next year's Club championship.

Those who wish to look the Senior's results click here, the Junior's results here

85 ENTRIES FOR CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

2012-01-11T22:06:00.000+08:00

85 entries have been received at closing for our Annual Thomson Chess Club Championship. All are now members of the club and are free to come by every Friday to our weekly practice sessions starting 7pm.

We are giving away books and some trophies as prizes. Winners get first pick from a selection of 30 books displayed throughout the tournament. The aim is to encourage chessplayers to read about the game and foster their knowledge and skills on their own apart from relying on lessons. It has been proven that knowledge gathered through reading will always stick.

This event will be SCF rated and we will try to put up the starting list on Friday.

USED BOOKS FOR SALE

2012-01-04T00:05:00.000+08:00

A friend asked if there will be anyone interested in buying his used (near new) copy of

Interested parties can email me at johnwong@pacific.net.sg. Each book is under $30.

2011 RATING CHANGES

2012-01-03T11:45:00.000+08:00

Most of the students were inactive in the 4th quarter, so here's the ones registered changes at the Jan 2012 rating list:

With the exception of Hui Ling (who will undoubtedly see a jump when her rating is calculated in March thanks to her good performance at the last tournament), the rest registered healthy increases, notably Shi Hao's 124 pt increase thanks to his consistently good performance throughout the Queenstown and Rating Tournaments in Dec. Mitchell's Queenstown performance netted him 71 pts. while Visakan got his 49 pts from the Children's Day tournament. Same goes for Samuel at the last Children's Day tournament.

I am heartened by their scores and hope that they will keep this up at the tournaments this year.

STUDENTS AT THE SIYC

2012-01-02T14:31:00.004+08:00

Shi Hao garnered points from the unrated players like himself but lost against the rated Indians and a very strong Chinese Zhou Xiangheng. 3 wins, 3 draws and 3 losses is a satisfactory result for his first International outing. Though 2 of the games could have been saved if he had studied the opening more and played slower in the first 10 moves, as he lost pieces due to simple tactics and was not familiar with the lines he played.

Hui Ling was the surprise of the group, getting 5.5 / 9. She even managed to win against Breasha Gupta of India Though she scored only 0.5 from the first 2 days, she steeled herself to coast a winning streak of 5 wins till round 8. At the last game, she fell to an attack by Malaysia's Teh De Zen and lost. In spite of that, she had the best score out of my 6 students taking part. Her result came ahead of several Junior Squad trainees and for that, she should rightfully be very proud of her successful first International outing.

Though he managed a smile for this picture, nothing could be further from the truth that he had only 3.5 pts before the last round. Sam was hardworking throughout the tournament, preparing and working on the board longer than many of the other students and often last to finish, but the results were not rewarding. He would need to review his skills at the sight of the board to do better. For the effort he put in the games, he did get a gift of a chessbag from me despite the 3.5 pt result. A small setback, but a valuable lesson learnt in understanding what needs to be done.

Adrian always had what it takes to finish at the top, but never realised his potential owing to imagined fears he had of his opponents. I was very mad at him for agreeing to a draw offer by Indonesia's FM Ivan Maximillan when the position was obviously winning for Adrian. Our preparations worked to a T and yet he was afraid to deliver the final blow. Poetic justice soon found its way in the form of facing Vietnamese FM Tran Tuan Minh and he duly lost under intense pressure to end at 5/9 in 14th position. He will need to undergo tougher training in mental preparation if he is to do better in such tournaments in the future.

Mitchell only started chess in November 2010 and took part in this competition with relatively little experience in terms of tournament games. Whatever his shortcomings in terms of tournament play, he made up for it in terms of hard work in preparation on his opening lines and studied diligently to perfect his understanding of the endgame. These came to good use when he managed to keep his cool under attack from India's Aditya Lodha who had one stage was assaulting his King but blundered a piece in the skirmish. Mitchell managed to bring home the point at this critical round to end up 5/9 on 17th position, ahead of players such as Benjam in Yick and Sa muel Tan who took part in more tournaments than he did. A most commendable effort by this quietly confident student who I believe will outshine many of the talented boys simply because he loves chess and is constantly improving.

Nicholas's nerves gave way being his first International outing, which is understandable. He had the poorer of the draw , met and lost to Wong Yinn Loong in a French, Tommy Tan and Jerome Chan who were stronger. The game he should not have lost was against Keven Chua where he was up the exchange but lost a Rook in return for his hastiness to attack. Such lessons are painful but also beneficial for his growth. He can hold his own against the 4.5 point players but not those who did better. In spite of that, his 4.5 score for a first outing is commendable.

Though all my students qualified with ease for the NJ Training, I doubt if they would benefit much from it as they have had good scores when working with me and I hope to prove that once again, you do not need any training squad to imply that you can play chess well when your results speak for themselves.

Thanks to all their parents who consented to their 8 day training stint which had helped in their conduct of the game, especially Oileng and Chan Hong who offered their home for the boys to rest on days where there were 2 rounds to play. Thanks also to John Yeo for use of the function room in his condo for the training to take place.

DAY 2 AT THE SIYC

2011-12-27T23:19:00.000+08:00

Day 2 was rather eventful, with unexpected losses mixed with some tough wins.

Adrian was the first to go down, then Sam. Mitchell managed a planned draw as his opponent didn't know how to navigate the intricacies of the Queen's Gambit and exchanged pieces to a draw.

In the afternoon, things turned for the better after I reminded them to slow down. Nicholas won his second game through sheer grit, zeroing his opponent through the crosshair in the endgame for a nice checkmate. Adrian won through a neat sacrifice which got him the exchange and won with a backrank mating motif netting a piece but the opponent allowed the checkmate. Sam took the game in stride and ground down his opponent Jarrel who blundered towards the end of the 2nd hour.

Hopefully they will all settle in and let their talent shine through in the games tomorrow.

To lose a game in 8 moves then struggling till move 40 is not my idea of a game. I have stressed time and again knowing the lines to avoid any such mishaps, but I guess it does take a loss to truly jolt the mind to do something about memorising opening lines. Hopefully, they will recover in time.

ENTRY FORM FOR THOMSON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

2011-12-26T11:11:00.000+08:00

You can download the entry form here

THOMSON CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2012

2011-12-25T12:11:00.001+08:00

1. The tournament is organized by the Thomson CCMC and the games shall be played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess for Rapid Chess (G/25). Players may choose to play in the SENIORS (no age limit) or JUNIORS (Aged 12 and below) section.

2. ELIGIBILITY : This tournament is open to members only. Players paying the entry fee shall be made members of the Chess Club and are entitled 1 year membership with immediate effect.

3. VENUE : Thomson Community Club Hall, 194 Upper Thomson Road Singapore 574339

4. PAIRING : Swiss System of 7 Rounds, time control 25 minutes each side to finish.

5. SCHEDULE: 15^th January Sunday 10.00 am to 5.50 pm . Please report by 9.30am. Walkover time for Round 1 is 25 minutes. Prize Giving Ceremony at 6.30pm.

6. PRIZES : A minimum of 5 prizes shall be given for each section. Tie breaks will resolve the placing of each prize winner. Merit prizes may be added if number of entries exceed 60.

ENTRY FEE : $10 for children aged 12 (as at 1^st Jan 2012) and below, $18 for all others. Membership is complete only if you possess a valid PAssion Ezlink Card. PAssion Ezlink Card membership for those aged 18 to below 60 is at $12 for 5 years. Those aged below 18 or are 60 and above pay $10 for 5 years membership.

8. CLOSING DATE: There will be a limit of 100 first-paid entries received. All entries are to be submitted with entry fee and reach Thomson CC by , January 11 Wednesday 10pm. All cheque payments are to be crossed and made payable to “ Thomson CCMC”. DO NOT SEND CASH.

9. TIE BREAK : The System of Tie Break shall be announced before the start of the Tournament. The Tournament Director’s decision on matters on the tournament shall be FINAL.

The Organising Committee reserves the right to accept or reject any entry without assigning a reason. Rejected entries shall be fully refunded.

For drivers, free parking is available Sunday at Shunfu Blk 309-314 at the back of the CC. Enter via Shunfu Road along Marymount Road.

2012 RESOLUTIONS?!

2011-12-18T20:43:00.000+08:00

It's the time of year when plans are made for the forthcoming year ahead, reminding ourselves how we can improve upon the happenings past.

Looking back, some of the students have made significant strides in their performance, but will need the January SCF rating list for verification. Others have moved, though slower, but are surely playing better when I first worked with them.

My resolutions for my students for the New Year will be:

To score minimum 4.5 pts /7 for all 7 rd Swiss tournaments they participate
To ensure that they spend either 4 hours a week on chess-playing or equivalent of 50 puzzles a week, with the cooperation from parents
To help them gain about 30 rating points per tournament
For the better students, they should prepare for the top 5 spots in the local major age-group tournaments.

Achievement in chess does spur confidence in the child, however we must always emphasise that all good results come from thorough preparation and hard work. To inspire the child to want that is not an easy task, as many of our cloistered youth do not hunger for success. It is therefore a challenge I set for myself as a trainer to find new ways of motivating students to excel.

My usual practice was to suspend coaching after the National Individuals for all P6s taking their PSLEs that year. However, as I examined their exam results, it appears that the extra time off chess training did not help in improving their scores. Rather, the students developed malaise/stress fatigue in learning having too much time on their hands. So I am reviewing this practice.

THE REALITIES OF SPONSORSHIP

2011-12-17T13:32:00.001+08:00

In any sport or endeavour that requires sponsorship for its sustainability, the source of funds into the activity is usually limted.

Much depends on the popularity of the activity, its target audience base and most importantly endorsement from the powers that be.

In the context of chess, the problem of low sponsorship has inherently stifled the growth of the sport over the last 10 years. We have had it good during the 80s and 90s thanks to the generosity of Datuk Tan Chin Nam, a tycoon who is fervent about chess. It was he who sowed the seeds of China as a superpower in chess by sponsoring the Tan Chin Nam Cup in Beijing in the 90s.

Apart from that, whatever sponsorship SCF collects ( during my tenure of office there) comes from the usual Lee or Tan Foundation, Singapore Pools (before SSC streamlined the funds transfer) and well-wishers who were once prominent chess-players in their youth.

I somehow get the notion that interested parties in the chess community ought to do something about the situation, but why shouldn't parents of chess-playing children take an interest in this matter? After all, with the local scene dominated with junior players, the health of the chess scene directly impacts the chess-playing prospects of their children.The reason why I cannot count on parents of chess-playing children as potential sponsors is the vested interest factor. Most will generally contribute to any shortfall in funding for an activity if it concerns their child, but no further. Most of them will not wait to get off the hot seat once their child stops playing. That is a reality.

The current pool of Life members who are active in chess unfortunately do not see eye to eye with the current SCF administration, so there's no likelihood of any sponsorship forthcoming from them.

Hence it is an uphill task of raising funds, for which there is no immediate solution or fix. The Kasparov visit last year could have been a splendid opportunity kickstart the rise in profile of chess in Singapore, only to be marred in political quagmire because it was FIDE election year. Well, I suppose the current administration may wish to reconsider inviting Kasparov back in Singapore as he is actively championing scholastic chess education throughout Europe? His last visit was to Turkey. It's not FIDE election year after all in 2012..

SCF NEW TEAM 2012-2013

2011-12-13T19:53:00.001+08:00

December 11 saw the formation of a mixed team of old and new chess officials stepping in to chart the course of Singapore Chess for the next 2 years.

With the unopposed nomination of Ignatius Leong, Ang Yao Hao (the son of former MP Ang Kok Peng) was roped in as Vice President along with incumbent Shashi Jayakumar. Leonard Lau of Serangoon Chess Club volunteered to fill the hot seat of Treasurer. The other new Committee members (apart from Grace Leong) are Tony Tan, Jason Goh and Luke Leong. Both Jason and Luke would have to be co-opted as they were not present at the meeting.

I find it most amusing when some members in the AGM were indignant at the questions on matters relating to the accounts, remarking that it was a waste of time to go through details or perceived discrepancies. They felt that time should be given for the EXCO to convey new directions for chess with regard to their children who are currently active in chess.

Perhaps these parents were misinformed about the AGM? Anyone who knows about corporate workings would understand that an AGM is held where the current executive body reports on the workings of the organisation and must stand up to questions from members. Most of the time, the questions can be blunt but in earnest, necessary to ensure that the organisation is properly run. When members question the prudence of holding chess tournaments which historically run into losses, their main concerns are about the viability of the Federation should it become financially insolvent in the near future. When that happens, who would foot the bill for the Federation to continue as a going concern (which was pointed out by the Auditors present at the meeting)?

We've had many misconceptions clarified at the meeting, which came to light after much insisted demands from members from the floor. Members were not aware that the Federation had its IPC status suspended since 31 March 2011 and would be restored only if the accounts for FY2009 and 2010 were passed. The auditor and accountant had verified at the AGM that all monies that were unaccounted for in FY2009 were tallied in FY2010. Hence, the presence of concerned Life Members ensured that the EXCO discharged its corporate responsibilities and proved to be a most effective watchdog of the SCF, albeit that their curt remarks were not welcomed by the incumbent EXCO.

As for the parents of chess-playing children joining the EXCO, please be mindful that you are in it to serve chess in Singapore - that is, all chessplayers and not just junior chess (although the current chess scene is predominately junior in nature). Hence all age groups should be given due attention. The sharp drop of affiliates, little sponsorship, high fees for SCF organised activities, reduction of SCF tournaments are a cause for concern. Hopefully, they would get their act together to improve matters in 2012, perhaps starting with a improved National Championship 2012?

YOUTH RATING RAPID CHESS TOURNAMENT

2011-12-12T14:43:00.000+08:00

Shi Hao and Hui Ling took part in this and did very well. Shi Hao scored 5.5/7 (losing only to Tyler Lian in the first round) and came in first while Hui Ling came in 4th in their category.

Training coupled with practice to reinforce their knowledge is by far the best way to achieve rapid progress, which is measured by their rating performance ( 1473 for Shi Hao and 1361 for Hui Ling).

Oliver Cheok took part in the above 1400 and scored 5th position with 4.5, losing to Tommy Tan and Aloysius Chia.

TOA PAYOH WEST CC TOURNAMENT RESULTS

2011-11-28T08:16:00.002+08:00

Here's the results for the Toa Payoh West CC Tournament

Under 13 Here Under 7 Here Under 8 Here Under 9 Here

and of course, the OPEN is already published here

TRAINING DAY

2011-11-22T11:24:00.001+08:00

We've started the first of our 8 training days for the coming Singapore International Youth Tournament. It lasts 4 hours per session (designed to stretch the players to cope with the first 4 hours of play). Quite a fair bit done with vision drills, followed by solving tons of 2-3 move tactics.

I'm harnessing the wisdom of Michael De La Maza and Dan Heisman, thanks to their insights I've incorporated their advice on working on chess-playing ability rather than stuffing more chess knowledge at this point. Training Day 2 promises to be gruelling, with more puzzles, more intense visualisation tasks ahead.

Sorry but there will be no photos as the competitors's names and faces are confidential at this point.

Players who have done well were rewarded with a good bowl of lotus root soup with rice plus kit kat too between breaks. Not a dull moment !

JUNIOR CHESS PROMOTION - DOES IT HELP ?

2011-11-10T12:10:00.002+08:00

Lately there was talk of a group of parents wanting to appeal to the MOE for chess to recognise as an official sport.

Though I commend the noble effort of the group, some doubts linger in my mind:

How does having more children playing chess raise the stature of the game here in Singapore?

How does it increase the popularity of the game here? Will chess be as popular as that in Indonesia, India and other countries?

Here is my opinion. Throughout the countries that are promoting chess from age 6 onwards, we have several institutions like Chess-in-the-Schools program, the Susan Polgar academy in the US, while in the UK Michael Basman and Malcolm Pein also championed the Chess in Schools & Communities project. Lately we have Kasparov starting Chess for Schools in the EU. The Scholastic chess ( chess in primary and secondary school) model is being seen as the most likely model to propagate chess interest amongst the populace.

Sadly, the results of these noble efforts do not commensurate. The situation is quite the same in the countries that have chess in school programs - the high dropout rate, little focus on the children's chess well-being after they've grown out of the game, lack of well-funded activities to stimulate the child's interest once they realise that chess is not about winning trophies and looking good for mum and dad while the picture is taken. When the success of winning disappears, so does the enthusiasm.

Witness the shrinking of secondary schools offering chess as a CCA, notable ones like ACS Baker have closed and some are following suit owing to poor attendences. However, this is mainly due to the school's policy on branding chess as a non-core CCA, which I hope MOE will overhaul for the benefit of our flagging chess community.

If we are to study how chess flourished in the old Soviet Union, where it was Lenin who fashioned the use of chess to keep the population mentally active, some lessons can be learnt. A good junior program taught by strong player/coaches in the Palace of Young Pioneers (much like our community clubs), competitions with Grandmasters in the White Rook tournament where a team from a republic pits itself against a known Grandmaster in a simultaneous match. After that, there's lots of activities in the form of chess clubs where enthusiasts meet to share their interests, stories, analysis of games and what not. When these adults get into positions in high places, it is only natural that they become prospective officials and sponsors for the game, continuing the funding for such chess activites thus maintaining the healthy pool of chess fans. Grandmasters and masters have jobs producing games for magazines, or retire as coaches for the next generation and their livelihood is well cared for. Others who are not as proficient get to enjoy the tournament games, trying out the ideas learnt in their own tournaments. So the culture of chess is hereby preserved, but only if chess promotion does not stop short at the school level alone.

Our current chess scene for adults amount to 5-6 individual tournaments at most, with the National Championship, Rating tournament and the year-end Singapore Open. This pales in contrast to our neighbours Malaysia who apparently does much more for the seniors in terms of the DATCC weekly leagues, the 3 international level KL, Malaysian and Penang Opens and several weekend tournaments for the adults. There's also a good number of informal chess clubs formed amongst the youths, evident by the number of blogs on chess there. Hence I'd say that the Malaysians are on the right track in promoting the culture of playing chess amongst the young and elderly, while in Singapore there is really nothing much happening that will motivate the young adults from continuing to play.

My past articles have shown that we did have a vibrant chess culture in Singapore back in the late 70's and early 80's often dominated with a good mix of young and old adults and some children. Today I see many adult foreigners who are taking our places in the tournaments. Though the prize money is not great, what is sad is that few are keen to take part purely for the game's sake rather than seeking to claim a prize. Of course there are demands on everyone's schedule, but I think this is mainly an excuse simply because the conditions to entice them out of retirement are not attractive enough. We will need more iconic events I guess before we do coax them. Perhaps Anand should visit Singapore?? Or Carlsen??

CHILDREN'S DAY CHESS CHALLENGE

2011-11-07T09:33:00.000+08:00

I've got several of my students to take part in this, with no expectations as I wanted them to enjoy playing after such a long break from chess because of the exams. In all, the stronger students did not disappoint, while others played to enjoy themselves in spite of the mistakes.

Shi Hao's game against the winner of the Open, Ashwin, was rather close from the opening to the middlegame. He had surprised Ashwin with the Danish Gambit which was declined. Generally when a player declines a gambit, it implies a psychological victory to the gambiteer but probably the more prudent choice when one is not prepared to enter the battle a pawn up. I viewed the game vaguely where White was training his heavy pieces on Black, thought it went well but was told later that Shi Hao lost. After a day's battle, Visakan came in 4th with 6/7 pts.

Joshua was very much himself, playing with his hands rather than his eyes on the board, made the usual mistakes but won some games against like-minded opponents. Tricia was still very much a beginner and had trouble viewing her opponent's threats. More online practice will be needed to overcome this deficiency.

The night before the tournament, Samuel was going through most of his opening lines with me to iron out any questions and doubts about the variations. Being my student for 4 years, Samuel had understood the importance of good preparation before good results can be obtained. Though he lost to Nathan Mar, he managed to draw against Nicholas Teo (which was a lucky result as he was losing). His final game was against Shi Hao.

I did not offer any advice but told them to play their best. The game was fiercely fought and Samuel achieved a winning attack, but he needed to go relief himself. Having to choose between losing some minutes running to the toilet in the thick of battle, he decided to concentrate on the game and won..at the expense of wetting his pants.

Yes, quite an eventful day it was, but everyone enjoyed themselves whether on the chessboard or outside (especially in Nicholas Low's case, who was more keen on his Angry Bird score than the chess score). There will be time to demand their best but then, there should also be time to just let them be.

PREPARING FOR TOURNAMENTS

2011-10-25T09:35:00.002+08:00

Most children I know love to sign up and enter every tournament they can participate in, but the results they obtain do not always measure up to their enthusiasm.

Sometimes we need to understand what is meant by " LESS IS MORE".

To put it simply, why play 5 tournaments and end up getting 50% score ? Why not prepare and play 2 good tournaments and end up top 5 placing?

Even grandmasters do not go past 60 games A YEAR. They spent the rest of the year PREPARING.

So how does one PREPARE? Rather than reproduce the same text, why not read it for yourself here

However, I must qualify some of Botvinnik's comments - they are meant for top players, not club players.

" I study games played by my rivals during the forthcoming competition"

You can only do that if you are playing in a round-robin tournament, where everyone meets everyone. This approach is not practicable in a Swiss system tournament, where your opponents vary. But then, if you are observant enough and have a good memory, you may be able to recognise the usual openings played by most of the tournament regulars. Having that is the first step - you can now go into researching what to play against them should you meet them.

"For one competition, 3 or 4 opening systems with White and same for Black are quite sufficient"

Sufficient for a master, yes, but TOO MUCH for a club player. In my opinion, club players and students do not have the time nor energy for 3 or 4 opening systems. Maybe 1, maximum 2. In other words, you have 1 good line against your opponent's reply. It is not possible to play 1 e4 and 1 d4 and have the time to know all the variations made by Black. You can have at best 2 replies to 1 e4, then one against 1 d4 and hopefully one that will be able to answer 1 c4, 1 Nf3 or any other first move.

"But these systems MUST BE PREPARED THOROUGHLY. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THESE SYSTEMS AT YOUR COMMAND YOU CAN HARDLY COUNT ON FINISHING VERY HIGH
UP THE TABLE"

Here I agree with Botvinnik 100%.

"Certain of your schemes should be tried out in training games.."

Botvinnik was talking about playing real training games with a regular partner ( in his case Ragozin) but if you don't have one, playing on the Internet with 15 minutes or more per side does help. One should of course analyse the games to look out for weaknesses which could then be rectified.

"Anyone who wishes to become an outstanding chess-player must AIM at perfection in (the realm of) analysis"

I often wonder how many children do take their lost games and subject them to a proper analysis BY THEMSELVES and not using their computers or coaches?? This is a very important phase in chess learning. Identifying your weaknesses in your thought process is a necessary step to refining how you select your moves and how well you SEE your opponents' threats. If you lose in the same opening again and again, there must be something you do not understand about your opening, or the way you've planned right after the opening ends. Have you consulted how the masters have played?

Aaagard in his book EXCELLING AT CHESS rightly recommends that one should analyse first without the computer's help, mark out the critical phases in the game and then use the computer to check what better moves there are AT THE CRITICAL phases.

With that, good results will come to those who work at their chess the smart way.

NOVEMBER & DECEMBER TOURNAMENTS

2011-10-24T10:55:00.002+08:00

School's out pretty soon, so it's time to revisit the tournaments that will be in place for November and December. There's 25minute rapid chess and longer time controls of 2 hrs per game or more, plenty to choose from.

I am broadcasting mainly those tournaments which are not organised by the SCF. For SCF tournaments, please goto the SCF for all the Upcoming Events.

TOA PAYOH WEST CC NOVEMBER 20

Round 1 starts 930am. There are 3 sections, A1 Junior Under 13 yrs, A2 Junior Under 10yrs, and Open (no age limit). Cash prizes and trophies awarded for Sections A1 and Open, trophies only for A2. Lunch will be provided for Junior Sections A1 and A2 only. The entry form can be downloaded here

CAIRNHILL CHESS FESTIVAL 2011 DECEMBER 3-4

There are again 3 Sections, Open (No age limit), Major (16 yrs and under) and Minor ( 12 yrs and under). The Open and Major Sections are played in 45 minutes per side, thus over 2 days while the Minor is a one-day tournament played with 20 minutes per side. There is also a Blitz Tournament (5mins per side) on Dec 4 Sunday.

More details on the entry form downloadable here.

Inclusive of the SCF events, there should be a total of 4 local events and 2 overseas ( the Asian Amateur and Penang Open) which should fufil any chessplayers hunger for this period.

Please note that the local tournaments listed are NOT organised by SCF, hence they are NOT SCF rated and zero start does not apply.

40th QUEENSTOWN CHAMPIONSHIP

2011-10-17T11:11:00.003+08:00

The tournament has 2 sections, the Open for those 1601 and above and the Novice Section for those rated 1600 and under.

Shi Hao and Mitchell took part, with Shi Hao ending on 3.5 and Mitchell on 4.5. He was placed 23rd in the field of 96 players, beating Foo Kai En in the last round who's rated 1392. He should get about 30 rating pts from this tournament.

What matters to me is not so much just the results but tbe valuable lessons one learns during the course of the seven games. When Mitchell started off his first game, he lost it in about 20 minutes. What he was not aware of is the time management of his game which needs a little adjustment. He was working out 1 variation which he saw and did not try to see other moves which could be better. After explaining to him that the purpose of spending time was to first SELECT the candidate moves, evaluate the resultant position of EACH candidate move and then picking the best of the lot. Hence the need to take one's time to do this, especially if there are many possible ways to make a capture or a pawn move that can change the pawn structure leading to a different game. I was impressed that he reflected on this and proceeded to slow down, playing better moves from Round 2 onwards. He managed to draw Andrew Tan, rated 1423 even though he had a win but did not have the confidence to convert. The reward came in the final round when he kept his cool, played the Fort Knox and gradually consolidated his position from the huge space advantage White had throughout the game. It was in the endgame that the decisive mistake was made, out of time trouble I believe. White went into winning a pawn but that meant exchanging all Rooks and Queen into a lost pawn endgame which Mitchell converted. Finally, he understood why the Fort Knox was the name chosen for the opening he played, simply because he has discovered that good defence is also another way of winning a chess game apart from direct attacks on the King.

A happy Mitchell with his trophy

Shi Hao was steamrolled by a young Ting JinShun. This was a pure case of underestimating his opponent, whom he thought he could just play to win without much resistance. I did not chastise him after the loss but wanted him to reflect on his attitude towards younger opponents. Sometimes, the best way to teach a lesson is not necessarily to explain, but allow the player to reflect and understand where he went wrong. The lesson would be internalised for sure after a painful defeat.

Some of the losses were due to the unfamiliarity of the openings like the Scandinavian or not so common replies to their White repertoire. Will need to do some work in repairing the chinks in the armour. Till their next tournament...

STUDENT REPORT CARD

2011-10-07T11:56:00.001+08:00

Based on SCF October Rating list, most of my students have made improvements in their ratings. 3 have created their accounts in the SCF Rating List. Good work boys and girls!!

My target is for all students to increase their ratings by 30 points for each half year. That is achievable should they work hard in their performance for the remaining tournaments to be held in the year.

THOMSON CHESS CLUB PRACTICE SUSPENDED TILL OCT 28

2011-09-30T09:31:00.002+08:00

STUDENT vs TEACHER

2011-09-28T21:05:00.002+08:00

There were many famous chess collaborations between the student and teacher. Arturo Pomar and Alekhine, Karpov and Semyon Furman,Kasparov and Botvinnik, finally Magnus Carlsen and Kasparov, Carlsen and Simen Agdestein. Some worked, some didn't.

For those who did work, the chief success factor was on the personality of the student and his view of the trainer. Chemistry.

If we studied the influence of Furman on his pupil Karpov, both men had similar styles, positional wizards to be exact. However, Furman was able to impart his wide body of chess middlegame knowledge to his student. Botvinnik managed to convince Kasparov on the need for chess research despite having enormous talent. He often scolded Kasparov for his impulsiveness in churning out variations without careful study of the requirements of the position. "You'll never be a good player if you let the variations control you instead of you controlling the variations!" I believe Kasparov learnt his lesson under the hands of Karpov in their 2 matches. So Kasparov was a product of the Botvinnik school where deep study and research of the game is the main training method of choice.Botvinnik and Kasparov parted ways mainly due to different political beliefs, but respect is always shown to the master.

Comes the Norwegian wonderboy Magnus Carlsen with his trainer Agdestein. Agdestein believed that the boy learned well when least pressured, stimulated by his own creativity over the board rather than sticking to a fix routine. When Carlsen realised that Kasparov was ready to unleash the Botvinnik approach on his training (which is totally against his learning approach), he had to terminate their relationship.

There were also chief differences in the character make-up in both men: Carlsen, with a happy childhood, always believing in the world of plenty, seemed more like a Mozart compared to Kasparov who lost his father at a young age, often paranoiac of help from others except from trusted sources. Kasparov was probably much more hungry for success as compared to Carlsen, who did not seem to mind if he became the youngest ever World Champion beating Kasparov's record. My opinion is that Carlsen would prefer to stay out of Kasparov's shadow by not going into the record-book race. He will ascend into the Olympus of chess but at his own bidding.

Therefore as coaches, we need to be mindful about the character of our charges and often make adjustments to maximise their potential. Sometimes, that may mean changing some paradigms. No approach fits all. Imposing one's will on a student may create resentment and indifference.

MY STUDENTS AT THE INTER-SCHOOLS

2011-09-12T11:24:00.000+08:00

Here's the report of the performance of my students who participated at the recent National Inter-Schools at Rulang Primary School. 3 of them achieved perfect scores, while the rest scored 4 and above. What more can I ask? Well done boys and girls! Perfect score achievers get a present as promised.

PERFECT SCORES

THE 4 & ABOVE POINTERS

VICTORIA SCHOOL U14 IS 3RD

2011-09-12T10:45:00.000+08:00


From Left: Oliver, Zhong Yi, Jonah (standing),Elliot and Joven

Victoria School emerged 3rd in this year's National Inter-Schools Secondary Open Under 14 at Rulang Primary School held Sep 11. We were seeded 4th behind ACS I A, RI A and HCI. I had stressed to the boys the importance of a good showing in our trainings and its impact on the survival and well-being of the VS Chess Club in future years. Most of the boys who played in school competitions shyed away from the Club because it is a second CCA.

With this mission in mind, the boys were playing online games consistently during our preparation and worked towards sharpening their tactics. We had discussed possible scenarios of the possible scores that we could get against the higher seeded teams, as well as individual openings that can occur against them. All that remains is the state of form the players were in. Before the tournament day, I wrote in our Facebook group that we had a realistic chance of coming in 3rd, if we were to achieve the predicted scores against the top 3 teams.

Into the storm, as they say..first round was a 4-0 whitewash of St Andrews Sec, then a 0-4 crash against ACI A! Zhong Yi showed me his game and he managed to stretch Edward Lee (who'd just returned from a grueling KL Open) way into the endgame till he bungled a Queen for Rook. Against HCI, it was Oliver and Zhong Yi who managed to hold Calvin Ong and Soo Kai Jie while Elliot was outclassed by Bryan Tan and Jonah sought revenge by beating Yeoh Li Yuan. At this point, I arrived and told the boys that if they achieved 4-0 scores against their opponents, 3rd placing is still possible. It made them ever more determined to go for the target.

After lunch (which I advised them to eat less rice and just sandwiches, sushi), they faced a dud RI Team 2 and steamrolled 3.5 - 0.5. Though not a 4-0, this was good enough for us to meet the next RI Team 1, which we miraculously won 4-0! I predicted a 3-1 win against them but the boys did even better. Finally, the day of reckoning when I received an SMS from Zhong Yi that we needed 4-0 to get 2nd. Though ACI B were the former ACPS boys who had not played much, they were nonetheless no pushovers and managed to tie the match 2-2. With that, VS managed to go above their seeding and ended 3rd place as well as East Zone Champions for 2011.

Hopefully, this can be an inspiration to the other schools who closed their chess clubs simply because the school officials do not think it could be possible to garner results with the top schools dominating the scene the whole time. The boys from VS do not embark on any Junior Squad Training but were simply interested in the game to want improvement. 3rd placing is as good as it gets and I am thankful to the team for making history - its the best showing we had since the 5th placing in the 2007 U16 result. Last year, the same 4 boys finished 11th! A massive improvement indeed.

RIP DR WONG YIP CHONG

2011-09-01T23:22:00.000+08:00

I don't really envy myself as a eulogist, but I had to say something for our ex SCF President who served the Federation in the years 1986-87. Among those who served were Choong Liong Onn, Tan Lian Ann, Giam Choo Kwee, George Wong, myself and Lim Chye Lye. Ignatius Leong was then Competitions Secretary.

SCF meetings were usually held at Dr Wong's home at Chancery Lane. As a great host, Dr Wong will welcome us in person and before starting the session, he will treat us with the most appetising of tidbits. Afterward, he would insist that we go for supper at the Whitley Road hawker centre, then situated under the Whitley flyover. As a President, Dr Wong often listened to suggestions and gave his insights on the big picture, but left us to iron out the details. His biggest contribution at his time was his submission of a paper to the SNOC on why chess should be rightly labelled a sport rather than a game. He tried hard to impress upon the authorities that being Asian, Singapore should embrace the promotion of sports and games that relied less on strength and physique. This was already discussed back in 1987.

Before the term chess parent came about (probably since the formation of the National Junior Squad in the late 90's), Dr Wong would certainly be the first in Singapore. He would attend his children's chess tournaments when he had the time, bringing with him his trusty camera. When either Meng Kong (GM Wong Meng Kong) or Meng Leong would be making the winning move, he would always be ready to snap the winning moment. In fact, during one of the school team tournaments, my cheeky RI chess friend went up to him reporting that Meng Kong was winning. An unassuming Dr Wong readied his camera to take the shot, only to freeze at the last moment - the camera lenses revealed that Meng Kong was actually losing!

Dr Wong was always supportive of his children, whether they would give up a year of studies to pursue chess, or other interests. His congenial disposition and affable smile would infect anyone. I would remember Dr Wong as patient, cheerful President who contributed his time and energies to steer SCF in the late 80's and also groomed a GM and 2 National Chess Champions without pushing them.

THOMSON CHESS CLUB OPEN FROM 7PM SEP 2 and 9

2011-09-01T11:46:00.002+08:00

As the school holidays start with effect from Friday, Thomson Chess Club will be open from 7pm till 10pm for Sep 2 and 9 Fridays. Members who wish to come practice before the National Inter-Schools Team Championship are welcome.

DOES IT PAY TO BE A CHESS COACH? OR GM?

2011-08-09T10:04:00.000+08:00

After reading Chess Ninja's post on the topic, I am sure many will be convinced that chess coaches or normal GMs do not make much financially.

I have asked GM Torre back when he was here: " Would you recommend the path of a GM to anyone?" He stopped to think before replying : " It's not for anyone. The path to GM is tough and only those who are deeply passionate about chess and not much else should venture into it". So please forget about trying to make big bucks when you enter into the world of chess. Most of us who are involved in chess organising give much of our time, energies and sometimes even money just to ensure that tournaments are run well, players are at least silent on complaints. As a coach in Singapore, I speak for myself that I can survive comfortably being single and not having to feed a family, given the high cost of living here. In many ways, chess coaching is about the few professions I can go into once you are in your 40s here. Getting a professional job paying more than $6000 a month is impossible, you may get one at $3000. Then there's taxes, your car and really its mere subsistance living from month to month.

Now I decide how hard to work and plan my schedule according to the school calendar, go on vacation or plan my curriculum when the students are preparing for their exams in October. Fortunately I also plan functions and weddings which are another source of income during this time. So I cannot quip about my current state of affairs as I have dropped out of the rat race and all the stress that comes with it. My chief joy today comes from my students when they execute a win successfully, win trophies along the way and behave themselves in between tournament rounds. Lunch appointments are often flexible, that's where I catch up with my friends. On Sundays, I still manage to run a jazz jam session at a local community club after my classes to keep up with my other interest.

Hence my advice to those who may want to consider being chess coaches (or GMs for that matter) - You need to firstly ensure that you are comfortable financially, no longer aspiring big money, be deeply passionate in your game, have a big heart to contribute to the community, enjoy the intangible perks that come with it. Life is never a dull moment if you set your objectives right, go all out to achieve it and most importantly, have fun and joy doing what you do.

SOME GM STORIES

2011-08-04T09:54:00.000+08:00

This month, I am in pensive mode so I thought I'd share a few interesting and funny GM stories before I start to lose them.

1995 - Eugene Torre was in Singapore and had just won the Asian Inter-Continental Rapid Chess Championships. I was his escort and tried to help him get some local goodies for him to bring home. The first was durian. I told him that it was forbidden to bring it onboard but he was relentless. So rather than dissuade him, we managed to find a durian seller who would pack it airtight so that no smell would be emitted. That done, he needed cash to pay. So we went to a money changer.

I introduced Eugene to him and announced : " This is Asia's first Chess Grandmaster! You must give him a better rate." To which the friendly Indian money changer replied : " Yes, he is Asia's first, but not first compared to India's Visawanathan Anand". Both Eugene and I were red-faced after his remark.

1992- We had just landed in Singapore and I spotted GM Daryl Johansen of Australia who was on the same flight. I had played him in 1978 in the Christmas Festival tournament held at RI hall then, losing in 34 moves. We exchanged greetings and I asked him if he remembered playing me then. He gave a long hard look before he blurted : " Reversed King's Indian, right?" I was floored. " How could you have remembered such a game? After 14 years?" I loved his reply:

" I REMEMBER ALL MY GAMES"

1985 - Miguel Najdorf was in Singapore in transit and gave a simul of 15 boards. He told us this story:

"I was playing in Saltojsbaden Sweden in the 1948 Interzonal. My opponent the next round was the Swede Gosta Stolz. He was sitting at the bar and he spotted me. He was already quite tipsy and asked me to buy him a beer. I thought to myself : Why not? He's going to get a hangover and that's alright with me. So I bought him one, he finished it real quick and asked for another. And another. Altogether I bought him 12 beers. He finally stopped, thanked me and went to bed."

" The next day we sat down to play and in less than 1 hour I was totally lost! While I was sweating to try save my position, Gosta smirked and bent over: Draw? You can imagine my relief when he said that. But then he uttered after the scoresheets were signed :" Ah Miguel, I'll let you in on a little secret:.."

"NOBODY BEATS ME AFTER 12 BEERS!"

NIKOLA KARAKLAJIC

2011-08-03T13:02:00.001+08:00

He's probably done the most for Singapore chess during 1968-74, having helped the Singapore Olympiad team then in their preparations. Many of our senior players remember him for his affable, congenial disposition - always courteous, smiling, never losing his composure.

My first meeting with the man was in 1978. Karpov had just defeated Korchnoi in Manila. As students at RI we were told that a FIDE delegation would be visiting the school and I was given the task of organising a simul for the FIDE President Fridrik Olaffsen. Strangely, a man came in the afternoon into the lecture hall where we staged our reception and started to give a talk on pawn endings. He was ready to give away collar pins to anyone who could solve the puzzles. Several of the boys did, which made him very happy. Then he proceeded to give the simul. He had not yet introduced himself.

The simul started and shortly after 20 minutes, another group of people entered into the simultaneous match. One elderly gentleman borrowed a set from me, set the pieces up and sat down opposite the master. The master looked at the position, then at the gentleman and they both burst out laughing and started to hug each other. Prof Lim then introduced them - Nikola was giving the simul as the President did not show, while the gentleman was none other than GM Yuri Averbakh! We were all stunned. I know GM Averbakh after reading about the famous Queen sacrifice in his game vs Kotov in Zurich 1953. Finally I get to meet him! I had to find a book for him to sign and all I had at the time was ? Fischer's 60 Memorable Games. Nonetheless I sheepishly approached him for the autograph. He grunted for a while when he saw the title, but smiled nonetheless and signed on the book along with GM Josif Dorfman. It was a sunny day for the chess boys at RI.

Nikola was also invited to lecture the 1st FIDE Trainers' Seminar prganised in Singapore in December 2003 in place of Adrian Mihailschin.He was honest to remark that he could not deliver Adrian's syllabus but gave us wonderful endgame puzzles to train our calculating ability. The puzzles were taken from his published book "De Ta Pitam"

Sadly I learnt that he passed on in 2008 but he will always remain as a friend to Singapore Chess and the wonderful man who gave everyone a pawn endgame puzzle to solve.

TRAINING WITH GRANDMASTER GUFELD 1987

2011-08-03T11:21:00.001+08:00

I was manager of the then National Junior Squad back in 1986-87, which comprised names like IM Hsu Li-Yang, Wong Foong Yin, Ong Chong Ghee, Low Pe-Yeow,Mark Tan, Lee Wang Sheng, Lee Song and Mark and Jeremy Lim (?!). The SCF then received news that GM Eduard Gufeld was available for a 3-day seminar having spent some time in Malaysia at the Chess Palace there doing the same thing. After deliberation, IM Tan Lian Ann agreed to sponsor the training but made sure that all proceedings were recorded and that I would be the chaperon.

GM Eduard Gufeld was renowned as the trainer who help Maya Chiburdanidze rise to world fame by beating the then Women's World Champion Nona Gaprindashvilli. He was also the creator of several beautiful wins in the King's Indian Defence, notably his "Mona Lisa" against Bagirov in 1973 and then another against Mestel in 1985 in Hastings. He showed both games in the simultaneous match in Singapore at the Chinese Swimming Club and it was really a wonder how a Russian with his brand of English could captivate the audience not just with his accent, but wonderful moves and ideas.

Gufeld laid the rules for the training - a notebook for recording ideas and variations, 2 games prepared by each student for analysis, but what's great is that he starts and ends each day with an exercise to have every student recite chess maxims and rules. Not just the ones he propounded but also the ones the students had already known. During the 3 days, he covered extensively useful topics like the relativity of values of pieces, the art of calculation, intuition and how it is derived, using mainly his own games as illustrations which were found in the book below:

I had the chance to buy this book in Europe and started to read through the games and thankfully, the English version named " The Search for Mona Lisa" finally appeared before I had to revise my knowledge of the Russian language just to read the book.

GM Gufeld through his inimitable way expounded useful concepts to our juniors, especially in the areas of opening preparation. He cited his game against Plaskett at Hastings, where the opponent played a novelty which he felt was not quite sound. He then quoted this rule : " When your opponent first make anti-rule move, you can also reply with anti-rule move..BUT NOT BEFORE!"..or : " I tell my students everytime they brush teeth they must say CENTRE..because CENTRE is best place for chess pieces!". Other famous quotes : "You not move pawns in side where opponent more strong, because it stop opponent for second but not long".."In attack, you must bring Rook into attack, and to exchange pieces which make defence Object of your attack". Finally : " When student give Bishop for Knight, I invite them to zoo. Because in Russian Bishop is same as ELEPHANT, and knight is HORSE. WHO MAKE MORE FOOD? ELEPHANT OR HORSE?".

Of all the recordings I had, only 1 survived and to this day I am still playing and replaying them to learn from the man who taught me how to teach chess and make it memorable. The game he was talking about was his famous French Defence game against then up and coming Boris Spassky in 1960. He described how he played WITH RULES and soon Spassky .." World Champion but he cannot make move! because I play with RULES! Remember..when you play without rules, you lose 80 games out of 100, but you win 80 games out of 100 if you play WITH RULES." Now I understand why he makes the students recite the RULES.

ps: In 1993 the Grandmaster was still in Malaysia taking part in the Merdeka tournament in KL and our team was paired to meet them. I brought along the book of his games and deliberately left it on the table of my first board Tan Chin Hoe. Gufeld sat down, but was visibly shaken when he saw the book. He looked at me and asked : " You read this book?" I answered calmly : "Yes, Grandmaster". When the game started, he did not play his usual 1 e4 but 1 Nf3 instead. My psychological gambit worked. Though we lost the 1st board game, Black was objectively better and Gufeld was annoyed trying to convince the audience that he was winning. He did win, but on time of course.

MORE HARVESTS

2011-08-01T11:21:00.004+08:00

The list of prizes continues with Nicholas Low coming in 2nd at the Under 9. He was winning against Hui Ling on Round 6 but gave a stalemate. So he learnt his lesson of not playing fast after this game, because he could have been Champion with the win. Lessons are best learnt this way I feel, despite all the advice and reminders I gave, this fact would do much more in shaping his chess future. But receiving the trophy made him forget his brooding all too soon.

Kaarthik also won a Merit Prize at the Under9. This boy's achievement is due mainly to his diligence in playing many games online, which helped in improving his chess vision since I took over his training.

Shaw Fong (pictured below) missed out of the top 5 placings for the Under 10 section, coming in 7th on 5/7. He was always cheerful through the tournament and enjoyed his games. I believe this achievement will spur him to work harder for future successes.

Matthew Sim got a Merit Prize at the Under 10. Dan Peng's regular visits to Thomson on Fridays made him a mature player this time, getting him a Merit Prize in the Under 11 section. So was Hui Miin in the Girls Under 11.

The last recepient of the Merit Prize for Girls Under8 goes to Tricia Koh. She is now excited at the win of the prize and wants to do more in her chess. A little motivation does go a long way in spurring students forward, at the same time, losing badly due to poor or no preparation can wreck a young player's confidence. Hence selecting the right tournaments and good preparation makes all the difference between finishing at the podium or at the playground.

GOLDEN HARVEST AT TOA PAYOH WEST

2011-08-01T10:55:00.002+08:00

Yesterday marked the Toa Payoh West CC Invitational tournament with 223 participants, organised by the Toa Payoh West CC and Kheng Cheng School. There were 6 categories, from Under 7 to Primary Open. I persuaded most of my students to take part, as a measure of their progress after months of training.

In the Under-7 category, my latest student Visakan Swaminathan scored 7/7 to win the category. I can see the glint in his eyes when he told me about it and that in itself is priceless. The joy of achievement and success is always sweet and should be remembered. The photo below said it all.

I am very proud of Visakan mainly because he has listened to my instructions during the tournament - not to run around whilst others expended their energies, stay focussed on the game and with the help of his father, did just that.

My 2 other students, brother and sister Lee Shi Hao and Hui Liang respectively, once again showed their composure in being Champion for their categories. Shi Hao and Hui Ling both won with 5.5/7. I have seen stable improvement in their chess over the last 6 months, mainly because they were diligent in their homework though they could do better with more games practice. All in all, well done!!

They will receive prizes from their teacher of course, at the next lesson.

MEASURING PROGRESS

2011-07-25T11:08:00.000+08:00

In spending months and years of time in training, parents will often ask the question: "How is my child doing?" A very fair question as it involves investing precious time on the student's part and money on the parent's part in pursuing this interest of playing chess. So how does one answer this question? Is chess progress quantifiable?

I for one do not base everything just on results alone - it is too narrow a yardstick. Results from tournaments are often the quickest way of establishing the performance of the student, yet there are some intangible traits which should also be noticed, primarily in the student's behaviour, his outlook not just on chess but on other matters as well.

How about presence of mind for one? I've seen many of my students taking better care of their belonging now, being more forthcoming with questions rather than just listening. These are all encouraging traits that chess can help inculcate - a higher self-esteem, goal-oriented focus, being more pensive rather than impulsive. If we can foster these qualities in our young, it would be a lot more beneficial to them in their later years. Striving for one's goals and achieving them does wonders to one's self confidence of course, but we should also educate our students to face defeat in the right spirit. Learning from failure in chess is almost mandatory for one to succeed in later events, being objective about one's abilities is also important in assessing one's capabilities before embarking on another tournament. Those who discern these life lessons would end up being better students than the ones standing on the podium who know nothing about disappointment and loss, for often their fall is a lot more traumatic and scarring.

Values - that's the other aspect that coaches often neglect. Good values like being honest in owning up a mistake (especially in a touch-move situation), being able to congratulate one's opponent for his/her win, respecting the decision of the organisers even though they may not be right at the time..the list goes on. Learning to be accountable for one's actions (as opposed to blaming everything and everyone else) is also a sign of maturity.

Are these not wonderful qualities that we would want to see in our youths?

MY CHILD IS INTERESTED IN CHESS, BUT...

2011-07-18T08:58:00.001+08:00

CANNOT FIND TIME TO PLAY

For parents reading this, you should sincerely ask yourself why. If a child is truly burdened with school work and does not even have time to find a spot in a day to play, what happens generally is that weekly hourly lessons do not take much effect.Often it is pouring sand onto a sieve. Much of the material covered cannot be assimilated. It will be difficult to make progress if the concepts learnt cannot be applied, made to work and then remembered. Chess is no different from learning Chinese. It does require time and practice.

DOES NOT READ CHESS MATERIAL

Parents should also realise that some kids are only keen on playing but not learning about chess. They enjoy the interaction, socialising with other children (which is also healthy) but may not wish to spend time in learning the materials given to them because they view it as WORK which is not fun. As coaches, it is a primary challenge to motivate all students and make them understand that only hard work and focused practice yields results. This is no different from getting good grades in school.

LIKES COMPUTER GAMES MORE

This is typical of every household. Computer games are more exciting graphically and addictive. One can get hooked on MapleStory or other XBOX or PlayStation or Wii games especially those where groups can collaborate. So there are only a selected few children who will see chess as a game that requires more out of them than just pressing buttons and shooting down aliens. One also needs high esteem and conviction of one's thoughts to demonstrate a point on the chessboard. It is this quality that creates visionaries, entrepreneurs and leaders. Chess is not called the Royal Game for nothing.

All coaches desire enthusiastic and eager students with high aspirations because they are like gems which are hard to find. Once they are found, they can be honed into diamonds which shine. However, for those who see chess just as a tool for mental development and can't spare the time or effort to excel, that is fine too. But there will not be tangible results in the near term, so I would not promise any.

CHEMISTRY

2011-07-11T10:40:00.002+08:00

"Yeah, Chemistry" said the great Marlon Brando in his movie Guys and Dolls. No, we're not talking about the science here, but the affinity that needs to exist between student and teacher. Chemistry defines the main ingredient that generates trust between 2 persons especially at the point of the first meeting, when no prior information is obtain by either parties to size up the other.

What makes a great student sometimes is not just the greatness , enthusiasm nor ingenuity of the teacher to inspire or expound. Often, it is the student's innate trust of the information that the teacher provides and the belief that this knowledge can and will certainly work for him/her. Hence, it is the onus for the teacher (who is generally the more experienced when it comes to sizing up) to first ascertain if there is indeed chemistry between student and teacher before deciding on continuing future lessons.

Generally there are tell-tale signs whether the chemistry exists. It comes in the degree of diligence that the student exhibits in his play in applying the knowledge that was taught, plus the many questions he/she would ask to know more of the subject. Another sign? Homework that's done and handed on time. Homework be it in the form of solving puzzles, or playing a minimal number of games online. When these are diligently followed, there should rightly be an improvement of the level of play and that generates into more wins, which should fuel the interest further. Correct?

Now look at the other side of the coin.

Student is not happy with the teacher's recommendations but cannot find a good enough reason to refute the directions of the teacher. Hence he/she may put up with the lesson but mentally decides to go his/her own way in the search for chess truth. I have had one experience some years back, where my student H decided that he would want to learn about the Najdorf Poison Pawn and use it in his games. Of course, in this part of the world, there would be few takers willing to engage Black in the theory of this variation. Hence my view is that time would be better spent in studying other more regularly played variations. To begin with, I had warned him of taking up the Sicilian in the first place knowing the huge amounts of study required, but at the back of my mind I knew he could do it so I let the issue go. However, he was adamant about his view and decided to venture of it secretly. The riff between us had started and gradually we drifted further and finally parted ways. On record, he is no longer playing chess today competitively.

Most of my students who had truly listened to my advice and followed it conscientiously (without question) had made huge strides in their play. I am of course heartened, but then it made me think hard on how I can overcome the Chemistry factor - or can it be overcome in the first place when it does not exist? How can I make the student see the point of it if he doesn't? Generally, the results would speak for themselves but often this is not the best way to convince a student with his/her mind set on his/her own views. If we do plod on, over time, the performance of the student in tournaments would show and this is often what I use to verify the riff. Then perhaps it would be pertinent to re-examine if there needs to be a change in the teacher-student relationship.

SOUTH ZONE 2011

2011-07-01T00:23:00.000+08:00

Here's Shi Hao who scored 5/7 and came in 9th, while Hui Ling scored 6/7 and was third in her category.

THOMSON JUNIOR ENDGAME LEAGUE

2011-06-30T14:13:00.001+08:00

Starting tomorrow 1 July Friday, Thomson CC Chess Club shall be running a weekly Friday Junior Endgame League. This is FREE and open to junior members aged 15 and under.

RULES

- Venue is the Chess Club Room on 3rd Floor, Thomson CC Classroom 03-05. Play starts at 8pm.

- Each week, players get to play 1 endgame position with level material. Players toss to choose which colour they will be playing.

- Scoring is 1 point for win, 0.5 for draw and 0 for loss.

- Players who show up shall be paired with an opponent. Each player may play at most twice against the same opponent but with different colours.

- Time Control is 30 minutes per side.

- Recording is optional.

- Prizes are awarded to the top 3 players who score the most number of points as at 30 August 2011.
Interested members please send me an email to johnwong@pacific.net.sg stating your name, age as at 1 Jan 2011. If you are not able to come for that week, please sms 97985479 on Friday morning. This will help us in confirming opponents for all who are coming.

RIP TANG KUM FOO, IA

2011-06-07T23:57:00.000+08:00

Just received the sad news that a dear old friend, Tang Kum Foo, or KF as I often called him, has died.

As I've known KF from my chess days back when he was SCF Executive Secretary in 1993-94 (and I the treasurer) to the days when he took over the Presidency in 1998, KF was always the cheery sort, never flustered. He was also one of the founding fathers of Intchess, with the aim of creating a vibrant professional chess scene in Asia having been involved in the popularising of chess in China in the early 90's. It was in 1996 that he achieved his IA title, putting to good use in chess organisation in Singapore and the region.

KF and I shared many views on chess during our friendship. However, he often lamented that the state of affairs in Singapore did not turn out the way he had wanted it to.Hence he departed from Intchess to pursue other interests but continued to monitor the chess scene.

Many may not be aware but he was a top scholar having won the Colombo Plan scholarship in 1967. He was also a chess enthusiast in his early teens. My recollection of him as a chess player goes back to the tournament days of 1980 when he was in the play-off for the Cairnhill CC tournament that year, against a Sec 3 boy named Loi Chee Seng. The game was hard fought but sadly I do not have the scoresheet.

Kum Foo gave me some of his books, but staunchly retained his copy of The Games of Robert James Fischer which was then the must have for any chessplayer borne out of the Fischer-Spassky 1972 era. We were all Fischer fans I guess, recalling that his games were often very tactical and complex. He gave up playing chess in the 90's, preferring to delve into arbitering.

As a person who witnessed the saga of chess politics in 1996 in Yerevan, he told me what he saw and indeed it made me cringe to think our beloved game had been so tainted with the threats that were uttered. More of this can be found on Don Schultz's book Chess Don which was as close to what he told me. In short, KF also became disillusioned with the chess world after that and thought it best to leave. However, owing to a bad investment decision, he had to continue working in Intchess until his debt was cleared and left in 2009.

I last visited him in KTPH 2 weeks ago. He was lucid, but clearly weakened by the bouts of heart attack he sustained. It was my premonition that he wanted to see me again for old time's sake. We chatted a little but I knew that there was no need for more words. It was as if he was, in his own way, saying goodbye to me.

Two days ago I received an SMS from him that he's in ICU after suffering a stroke. He passed on today.

We will miss you.

RATINGS vs AGE

2011-06-07T10:49:00.000+08:00

My afterthoughts on the recently concluded THOMSON CUP INTERNATIONAL tournament is focused on this topic.

It comes as no surprise that the majority of the 103 players in the Silver Section were children under the age of 14, many even below the age of 10. As parents of young children, they would naturally want the chess-playing experience of their kids to be pleasant and memorable. Hence it would be a traumatic episode should the child face someone bigger than his size or older, as the prospect of winning quickly evaporates with the daunting resignation written on their minds even before the first move is made. Hence there was surprise that there are a few adults milling in between the rows of schoolchildren, metaphorically seen as vultures or predators preying on the innocent young players and depriving them of a much desired prize.

My principle in hosting the THOMSON CUP tournament is firstly to uphold the sanctity of the rating. All chess players playing in a chess tournament should compete based on one matter - to determine for each of themselves HOW GOOD, not HOW OLD they are. Chess playing ability is measured by the rating, which is computed primarily on the performance of each chessplayer against another rated player and so long as the wins keep coming, the rating goes up. Of course if you fail to perform, your rating goes down rightfully. It is the fairest way of determining your chess-playing progress.

Giving prizes to children based on their age-group by pairing them within their categories may seemingly make the path to winning easier. Some say that it encourages them to play. However I maintain this is merely a placebo effect. The effect soon wears out when the winners of the respective category continually end up winning at every age-group tournament. The complacency sets in and they start believing that they are good enough (of course, beating those in their age-group).

When these winners start playing alongside someone rated higher, the security of the age-group pairing is taken away and you can see the apprehension and self-doubt emerge. They may not necessarily be worse players than the older or higher rated opponent, but somehow many psyched themselves to lose.

The whole purpose of this.tournament format is to help the young players overcome this fear and mental block. When the budding players taste victory after their harrowing encounter with a stronger player, it is a great feeling of achievement no prize can buy. The euphoric sensation will also lend confidence to the young budding player that he/she is capable of overcoming his/her own fears and respecting the notion that in chess, only the skill and ability of the player matters in bringing in the point once the nerves are taken care of.

In my youth, there was no concept of age-group pairing and therefore my generation of players only understand that what matters is your ability to find good moves on the chessboard to beat your opponent. There was never any notion of fear. In fact, we used to look forward to playing older players and if we lose, we will pester them to tell us how we lost. Many valuable lessons were learnt in discussing the game after it was over. Our determination to win the next time round made us tougher mentally to face the same opponent at the next tournament.

If the young chess community are to grow in terms of maturity of thought and mental strength, I feel it is high time that organisers have a change of direction. Let's bring back the old tournament format of pairing by rating. Let's wean off the practice of awarding age-group prizes. Many of course will give up once the trophies they used to win are gone, but I believe that those who stay the course will be the ones that will continue to love and play the game for years, like I. Perhaps we can revive the chess culture that we once had in the 70's and early 80's that the current generation of players never knew. Some returned after years of inaction and can still win! That speaks much of the depth of players in the past that the previous system produced.

FEEDBACK FOR THOMSON CUP

2011-06-06T16:31:00.001+08:00

Thanks to all who have signed up to play, we are most grateful for your support

We had 144 competitors who registered for the competition, thanks to the overwhelming last spate of entries.

I appreciate if you can give us some feedback on how we can do better the next tournament around. However, some things will not change eg age-group prizes, starting list etc.Unless we close entries 1 week in advance to do it, which will of course inconvenience some. So we can't please everyone.

WHY NO STARTING LIST?? AMONG OTHER THINGS

2011-06-02T14:30:00.001+08:00

I've gotten some feedback from Thomson CC, where the number of participants has reached 100 and some last-minute entries are expected today.

The staff were puzzled by some of the questions asked by the parents of participants, some of which I shall attempt to answer here.

A: Why is there no starting list for this competition?

Well, first of all, this is not an event organised by the SCF. When entries are collected by the SCF, they will create the list of participants and update it whenever they can. Thomson CC is the organiser of the Thomson Cup Tournament and therefore the staff at the CC are not trained to create such a list. Moreover, we set the closing date to 2 June giving maximum flexibility to players with very busy schedules to make up their minds to play. Based on our experience, the vast majority of players send in their entries within 5 days of the closing date. So I am afraid it will not be practicable to provide a starting list, as even if we had done so, it will take some administrative effort to send it to the SCF to publish it on their website when they can.

B. Why aren't there age-group categories?

This question I've answered in my earlier posts, but I repeat it here. Thomson Cup International is a tournament based on strength of the player, not age. Hence players are grouped by RATING rather than age-group. We want to dispel as much as possible that age plays a part in the strength of the player. To do well in a tournament, one should play well. Honestly, I do not see the rationale of awarding age-group prizes when there are no merits to their performance. Giving a prize to one who scores 3 pts simply because of small number of players in his/her age-group does not teach the child the right values in competition. One must win by his/her good performance. In any case, there are dozens of tournaments awarding age-group prizes so Thomson should cater to those who want to know how good, not how young, they are.

C. Why must the tournament be held over 2 days?

This is mainly due to the time control of 1 hour per player. To play 4 games a day is indeed taxing and I do apologise to the players for the ordeal. Until we are able to secure the hall for 3 days instead of 2, we will certainly spread it over 3 days. But there will always be those who cannot spare 3 days to play a tournament, so where do we draw the line??

THOMSON CHESS CLUB CLOSED JUNE 3 FRIDAY

2011-05-31T11:48:00.002+08:00

As we are preparing the hall for the annual THOMSON CUP INTERNATIONAL Chess tournament, the session for June 3 Friday will be closed and resumes on June 10.

HOW MUCH DO STUDENTS RETAIN?

2011-05-18T10:59:00.000+08:00

Obviously this applies to those taking chess lessons.

I am always curious as to how much students do remember or understand the lesson that was just taught to them. Very often, examples were shown and explained. However, once the lesson is over, how does the trainer ensure that the lesson just taught was understood?

I usually use the 3 methods to find out:

a. Make them play as soon as possible

b. Give homework and tests

c. Review the same lesson next week for the 1st 15 minutes

There is a constant struggle for the trainer to decide whether to introduce new material or to review older lessons to ensure that the student does understand what has been covered.

Some parents may not be exactly happy that their child has been taught the same lessons over and over and wonder why. Generally, the problem is that if students do not attempt to use the knowledge taught and do nothing until the next lesson, what was taught is forgotten and the trainer has to start again from a clean slate. Of course, this is unproductive so I urge parents to try to allocate some time for their children to play and do the homework assigned. At least 5 games a week of 15 minutes will do a lot in helping the student retain the knowledge so that it can be used in their games.

I have just started with a new student and was appalled when he told me that his previous trainer did not give notes. Naturally I asked if he could remember what he was told. The result? Bits and pieces of moves which he could not associate, especially when he claimed that he could not checkmate the King with 2 Bishops because I placed the King on a "wrong" square (apparently he could only do it on the square where his trainer placed the King).

This way of rote learning does no one any good - we cannot be expecting anyone to learn without any notes to remind the student after the trainer has ended the lesson. This is not a chess issue, its a pedagogical one. That is why I am always suspicious how much chess trainers are aware in terms of pedagogy rather than their chess knowledge. To me, if the student cannot fathom the explanations of the trainer and is taught to ask questions, every chess lesson ends up being a monologue and ....blank goes the mind until the next lesson??

Parents, do ask the right questions to your child if he/she truly understands what is taught. You are paying for it and you have every right.

CHESS CLUBS IN SCHOOLS: THE WAY TO GO?

2011-05-06T14:00:00.000+08:00

From the comments made in my previous post, I would like to draw your attention to this article :

http://www.chesskids.com/piagpolg.pdf

Please pay close attention to his last paragraph, especially his views on chess clubs run by teachers or those with no knowledge of the child's cognitive development.

It is not a pretty scenario.

Which explains the rationale behind my earlier post : we need chess clubs where young and adults can interact, enjoy the game and learn about its beauty and history. The school chess clubs do not do such a good job at that. There are lots of retiring chessplayers, primarily those born in the 50's who are approaching 55 years of age and will soon retire. Their passion, knowledge and experience should be tapped by the organising body to help revive these chess clubs in community clubs of remniscent of River Valley, Buona Vista, Kuo Chuan, Siglap and even better, develop new ones in townships like Sengkang, Choa Chu Kang and Jurong West. Mustering these retirees will be a long drawn effort but I am sure it is critical now to start this process, or in Richard James' words, " we may soon be a land without chess".

IF YOU MUST PLAY THE SPANISH

2011-05-03T12:28:00.000+08:00

Then please do yourself a favour and read this:

I believe this will cut down at least a few good years of sweat and toil and zoom in on the essentials. You can then consult the individual books on the different variations. Possibly the one below will help greatly

There's no need to re-invent the wheel :-)

LETTER TO SCD EDITOR, AUGUST 1986

2011-05-01T19:38:00.004+08:00

Having lost my copy of the Singapore Chess Digest August 1986 ( 25 years ago) which this article of mine was published, I took a trip to the Library to retrieve it and reproduce it unabridged:

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Dear Sir,

Chess clubs are created solely for players and enthusiasts to interact and exchange ideas regarding the game. It is often the hive of chess activity in strong chess—playing nations like the USA, Britain and West Germany, where friendly matches and club leagues are most popular.

However, chess clubs today seem to have lost their grip on the chess scene in Singapore. Poor attendances, little activity between clubs and, judging from the number of clubs that have been formed then closed after some months of hunger pangs, the direction of chess is vague and uncertain. Just what does a chess club serve to do for the interested player?

Well, it is certain that all clubs want to provide competitions for players, be it friendly matches or tournaments. The Queenstown and Cairnhill tournaments are regular crowd-pullers among chess players with their history and prestige. But if we examine these ‘open’ tournaments closely, we will find that they have dominated chess activity so completely that this leaves the player little chance to practice without having to compete. Tournaments should not form the mainstay of chess for a developing nation; rather, what is really needed is the gradual build—up of a broad base of players and the education of these players to appreciate the game. Chess cannot succeed as a spectator sport because you need to be knowledgeable to appreciate its beauty, as it is in the case of art. Perhaps this should be the direction that the Singapore Chess Federation should consider in its plans to popularise the to promote the game through chess clubs.

Simultaneous displays, lectures and friendly matches between all club members can attract enthusiasts to enjoy the game more effectively than organising a major ‘open’ tournament. After all, such tournaments are only meant for average players and a great opportunity for the top players to make some pocket money. Due to the adoption of the ‘open’ tournament in recent years, the average player rarely wins anything and this can turn him away from chess as it offers no returns for the time spent in learning about the game. What is worse is that it breeds mercenaries who will only play if there is a prize. Many of these mercenaries are sadly plentiful within the ranks of the juniors, which explains the high attrition rate of chess players after the age of 20. Only a handful of our past junior champions are still playing; can’t anyone just enjoy the game for the game’s sake? Perhaps the competitive element of the game has taken its toll on local players with the lowering of standards in the play of our juniors. The reason is simple: there is no impetus for them to improve as they were not taught to enjoy and love the game. The emphasis is on winning and if you don’t win, you will feel that you are just wasting time.

Forgive me if I sound too blunt in my views, but I urge the Federation to review its aims and objectives for chess in the ‘80s. Are we content to simply produce ‘professionals’ who come out of concealment to try their luck and then disappear with the prize after winning, or do we need more chess lovers who never get tired of exploring the vast possibilities that chess abounds with? If there are any remnants of talent left to be savoured and corrected before they turn foul, then may I suggest that we start educating our school children now that chess is a tool for creation and recreation and not like tennis or golf. Money is NOT the only reward

Signed : One concerned chessplayer

The reason why I signed off anonymously was due to the fact that I am not yet a subscriber of the magazine, so I was not sure if it would be proper to sign myself. The editor Mr Alexius Chang nonetheless thought it interesting of some of the points made and decided to publish this.

So tell me, has anything changed since this article was published ??

POSITIONAL CHESS FOR KIDS

2011-04-29T11:46:00.000+08:00

When examining games of junior players, I see that many do not know what to do when the position in front of them is without any captures or threats to make. They are then left to think of a move, often one that takes a piece backwards into their own territory. Can anyone blame them?

Indeed, it is hardest to teach a junior player strategy when their grasp of tactics is still not strong. To bridge this gap, it is not pertinent to introduce the materials from Nimzowitsch's MY SYSTEM. I would consider using a simpler book, Bruce Pandolfini's WEAPONS OF CHESS.

What I like about this book is that Mr Pandolfini outlines the basic elements of positional chess like the open file, passed pawns, pawn structure weaknesses etc in simple language for the child to understand, then gives explanations on how to play with these elements. He has also given fairly good advice on how one should think when quiet positions with no tactics is reached. Most P3-4 students should have no problems understanding the material in this book. I am sure it will help their chess greatly.

Often I see notes on positional chess concepts introduced with examples cut out from grandmaster games played over the last 10 years. This is not useful at all for a child who has yet to understand the complex thinking behind the players today. It will be far better to introduce the positional elements with games played by the old masters of the 1900-1930's, as many of these games show clear-cut moves on how to implement the methods of using the elements. Playing over the old classics is like a step-by-step lesson on how to make the elements work without the opponent's interference. There is a lot that can be learned from the old games, but sadly today's children have not had access to the books like

Where Chernev (not a master) explains the fine points of chess strategy to budding players. I learnt a lot from reading these 2 books which spurred my chess strength to new heights before tackling harder books like

If trainers take examples from these books instead of the present games, I am sure that students will get to grasp the positional concepts better.

THOMSON CHESS CLUB CLOSED TILL MAY 13

2011-04-26T21:23:00.000+08:00

Please note that the Thomson Chess Club practices on Fridays will be suspended from this Friday and next. We shall resume on May 13.

We are ready to receive entries for the Thomson Cup International now so do sign up early as we will cut off at 150 participants.

TCA JUNIOR OPEN A SUCCESS

2011-04-23T11:55:00.001+08:00

TCA stands for Uncle Tay Cheong Ann, our oldest living chessplayer in Serangoon Gardens, is organised by the Serangoon Gardens Country Club in his honour. About 240 players competed in the Pre-School, Primary and Open Sections, with the bulk vying for trophies ranging from the Primary 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 categories.

L participated with his sister HL. Though he had no problems with those ranked 20th and below, the crux came in facing the tops Inexperience and knowledge took its toll and caused the 2 losses, leaving him with 5 pts but still he got 10th place in the P5-6 category and in the winner's circle. His 21st placing out of 182 players is most commendable.

Sister HL started well, finished 4/7 in 52nd place beating some boys along the way but the long day drained her of a good finish. Losing the last game caused her a place in the winner's circle but I'm extremely proud of her regardless. She's grown to accept losses and no longer breaks down each time a 0 is handed to her. That speaks of growth in her maturity and to me, it merits more than just a trophy. Both children played well and took their result in good stride, promising to do better at the next event. I'm sure that with better time management, they will be able to spend a little more time practicing ( L's in the gifted program which means time is really scarce).

The Serangoon Gardens Country Club staff and organisers should be applauded for their meticulous attention to detail in ensuring top playing conditions for the players and comfort for the parents and accompanying persons. Pairings are beamed in the holding area so players need not clambour to get their seats. Food was provided in ample quantities for the players and they even get ice-cream after the last round! A magic show entertained the young uns whilst results were tabulated. I could not stay on for the full results but I believe the SCF crew taking care of the pairings would upload the results in due time.

Kudos to Ansband, Catherine and all the F and B staff for making it a total success!

ENTRY FORM FOR THOMSON CUP

2011-04-21T10:10:00.001+08:00

Please submit only page 2 of the document below.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18282504/5th%20Thomson%20Chess%20%202011.pdf

Some explanation. If you are not a Chess Club member and would like to join, you (or your parent) will need to have a valid PassionCard. Chess Club membership is then $10 for those aged 12 and under, $18 all others. You are only eligible to pay $15 as a Chess Club member after your membership is complete. For those who do not own a Passioncard, it would be easier to join the tournament and pay $30 as it would be more economical.

I shall be distributing some forms at the TCA Junior Chess Tournament at Serangoon Gardens tomorrow. We are ready to receive entries from Monday April 28. Do sign up early as we have a limit of 150 entries.

GAMBITS

2011-04-15T00:16:00.002+08:00

There are generally 2 main schools of thought when it comes to choosing openings.

The mainstream school believes that you should start to learn the main lines of theory, accumulate the experience gained over tournament games and then emerge with a better understanding of the game.

The other school's main emphasis is on practicality - to be able to enjoy chess without spending too much time. Hence the main idea is to adopt off-beat gambit lines, learn them well and work on the element of surprise.

In my opinion, both schools have their points and merits. For an interested student of the game wanting to grow into a player of international standing, the mainstream school should be the way to go - however, it does amount to spending lots of time in gatherting the information about the history of the opening line, studying the key ideas from playing over the key games on which theory has evolved, then checking through the current state of theory. In addition, there's also the need to look at deviants of the opening and to be conversant in refuting them as well. Such an approach can only be recommended if you truly make chess your one and only hobby outside of your main activity. No TV, no XBOX, computer games etc. Chess becomes your main entertainment

For students with lesser interest and ambitions, I honestly cannot recommend this approach for reasons of practicality. Our students are often swamped with loads of schoolwork, tests, projects and what not - there's simply not enough time to handle the huge demands of school as well as the chessboard. One needs to work smart in this case. The nice bit about chess is that there's really many ways to skin a cat. Hence the subject of gambits.

Gambit play is often recommended for young players because it introduces the concept of tempo and initiative at an early age. No one can afford to waste any time when playing a gambit because the advantage of time in development is transient and disappears rapidly when your opponent catches up with you in piece development. Then there is the necessity of having good tactical vision in order to make the gambits come alive. Learning tactical ideas coupled with good opening development habits makes learning and playing gambits fun and rewarding as opposed to memorising tomes of information without much understanding.

Please note that I am not advocating the use of gambits in winning miniature games through the traps ingrained in them. Resorting to "tricks" is not the right way to learn chess. However, we cannot deny that these traps are the result of punishing your opponent's indulgant moves in the position. So understanding how the traps are sprung is a necessary step in learning the opening, but it should not be over-emphasised as an end in itself.

A main component of junior chess improvement is the ability to generate threats at every move coupled with precise calculation of the opponent's possibilities to the threats. Playing gambits requires the correct execution of the sequence of threats in order to achieve the right conditions for the attack against the opponent's king or else the attack quickly fizzles. For students 10 years or younger this would work out fine. As the child grows, mainstream openings can then be introduced as he would by then realise that for all gambits, the secret to answering them is not to keep the pawn plus, but to return it at the right time to realise and advantage.He will then be at the right point of his chess development to appreciate the intricacies of the Ruy Lopez, the Sicilian and Queens Gambits or Slav defences which are the staple openings in any World Championship match.

OUTING AT QUEENSTOWN AGE-GROUP

2011-04-10T21:10:00.002+08:00

7 students took part in the just concluded Queenstown Age-Group with varying results. There were 2 prize winners, Nicholas Low who was 5th in the U10 and Matthew Sim who was 4th. The Primary Section was won by Ashvin Sivakumar while Ting JinYao won the Secondary Section.

WIth my prize-winning students

Both got 4/7 pts. Dan Peng lost his last game to finish at 4/7, which is already great improvement considering that he did only 2.5pts at the National Schools Individual in March.

I was pleasantly surprised when my first-time participant student T had Gregory Loh on the ropes on her first major chess game! She was totally winning but stalemated. T showed great composure, taking her time and diligently followed my instructions in recording her moves and looking at threats. She certainly has the temperament for chess if she pursues it with more fervour.

For those who did not achieve the desired 4pts, they would need to examine the games to reflect on the typical mistakes which can be summarised as:

a. Unfamiliarity with the opening tabiya

b. Not being able to spot opponents' threats

c. Giving up when there's still fight left

d. Switching openings mid-way through the tournament

I believe many of these factors are related to their psyche of over-estimating the powers of the opponent and under-estimating their own. Therefore I will have to work on their confidence level when I next see them. Inadequate preparation may have been the chief contributor to the above factors. Then again, there's many things to work on and not really enough time to handle every issue. Some things will have to wait and patience is called for.

It has been a fruitful day for most of them, for the most part they are now better aware of what it takes to be at the top. Passion and enthusiasm will top the list, followed by discipline and hard-work.

THOMSON CUP INTERNATIONAL JUNE 4-5 DETAILS

2011-04-09T10:02:00.000+08:00

5^TH THOMSON CUP

INTERNATIONAL

CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2011

1. The tournament is organized by the Thomson CCMC and the games shall be played according to the FIDE Laws of Chess for Rapid Chess (G/60).

2. ELIGIBILITY : This tournament is open to members of the public. Players may enroll in one of the 2 sections, GOLD (Rating >= 1600) or SILVER (Rating between 0 and 1599) upon payment of entry fee. Players can choose to play in the section above their rating category but not in categories below.

3. VENUE : Thomson Community Club Hall, 194 Upper Thomson Road Singapore 574339

4. PAIRING : Swiss System of 7 Rounds, time control 1 hour each side to finish.

5. SCHEDULE: 4^th June Saturday 11 am to 6.30 pm (3 rounds). Please report by 10.30am. Walkover time for Round 1 is 1 hour. 5^th June Sunday 9.00 am to 6.30pm (4 rounds). Round times and lunch break will be announced on the day. Lunch is provided 5^th June.

Prize Giving Ceremony :5^th June Sunday 7.00 pm.

6. PRIZES : Gold 1^st Prize $300, Silver 1^st Prize $150. All other prizes shall be announced at the start of Round 1. A minimum of 10 prizes per section is expected. All winners shall receive 1 prize only and tie breaks will resolve the placing of each prize winner.

7. ENTRY FEE : $15 for members of Thomson CC Chess Club, $30 for all others.

8. CLOSING DATE: There will be a limit of 150 first-paid entries received.All entries are to be submitted with entry fee and reach Thomson CC by , June 2nd Thursday 10pm. All cheque payments are to be crossed and made payable to “ Thomson CCMC”. DO NOT SEND CASH.

9. TIE BREAK : The System of Tie Break shall be announced before the start of the Tournament. The Tournament Director’s decision on matters on the tournament shall be FINAL.

The Organising Committee reserves the right to accept or reject any entry without assigning a reason. Rejected entries shall be fully refunded.

For drivers, free parking is available Sunday at Shunfu Blk 309-314 at the back of the CC. Enter via Shunfu Road along Marymount Road.

THOMSON CUP INTERNATIONAL NOW JUNE 4-5

2011-04-09T09:27:00.000+08:00

In view of the looming Singapore 2011 General Election date which has yet to be announced, our organisers have decided that it would be best to move the tournament to 4-5 June to avoid any rescheduling should it be necessary.

The entry forms shall be posted soon.

MORE ON BOARD VISION

2011-04-06T14:31:00.000+08:00

I noticed several readers are keen on the topic of Board Orientation, or Examination by some authors. To examine the roles of each piece in play is indeed something that's so important in determining one's decision that it is not much mentioned in chessbooks. So far, only Dan Heisman's Everyone's Second Chess Book has delved into this topic.

The other source of board vision drills that I would advocate is Michael De La Maza's Concentric Square exercise. Start by placing a Black King on a centre square say d5 Then place a piece that is the target on d4. Move the piece anti-clockwise, ie e4-e5-e6-d6-c6-c5-c4. It will complete 1 full square. For each move of the piece (say a Rook), use a White piece (say Queen) and place it on a square such that it can attack both the Black King and the piece without being captured. Work out all the possible squares before moving the Black piece to the next square.

The main purpose is to associate the mind with the various attack patterns of each White piece against the King and another unprotected piece. This in turn trains the eye to identify threats such as pins, forks and skewers which form the main weapons in a junior's chess game.

Certainly, this may seem boring and tedious but then, isn't shooting free-throws at a basketball hoop and taking penalty shots? The secret is to hone the mind into identifying the threats (be it yours or your opponent's). To work out the full set of Concentric Square exercises, there are 4 attacking pieces (R,B,Q,N) and 3 shifting pieces (R,B,Q). That works out to 9 combinations and 1 for the Knight (which undoubtedly makes the same pattern be it the Black R,B or Q. By diligently doing the 10 exercises which can take about 1 hr, this is akin to practicing scales on the piano or violin or any other music instrument. Mastery and familiarity of the lines of attack will certainly raise the awareness of threats and improve the sight of the board for the chess player. For future details, its best to look for De La Maza's book "Rapid Chess Improvement" or look for his pioneer article "400 pts in 400 days" on the Net.

THOMSON CC CHESS CLUB 2011 SENIOR MEMBERS

2011-03-28T12:15:00.000+08:00

THOMSON CC CHESS CLUB JUNIOR MEMBERS 2011

2011-03-28T11:59:00.001+08:00

FOOLS RUSHING IN?!

2011-03-26T11:38:00.000+08:00

Lately there has been talk about theoretical openings and its importance in determining results. One needs to "profile" an opponent to bring out the right "weapons" to win. Strangely, I believe Fong Yit Ho's profiling of Yeoh Li Tian was well done in capitalising on Black's need to win. Many similar examples in World Championship encounters have used this tactic, eg Lasker - Capablanca 1914, Karpov-Kasparov 24th game 1985 and Kasparov-Karpov Seville 1987. "To win by detaching oneself from winning" is a supreme psychological tactic adapted from Lee Zhong Chang's Thick Black theory. You may wish to read about it from Chu Ching-Ning's book " Thick Face, Black Heart".

I'm not sure about the author's familiarity of the various tools available today, but perhaps he ought to know of 2: ChessBase and Fritz. One is a database that contains games played in history (up till the latest month), the other a computer engine that shows reasonable moves branching from a position.

Every player who takes the trouble to spend hours and hours perfecting his chess should not do without these 2 programs as they can give a realistic forecast of what's to come when preparing for an opponent. However, this is not all that is. If that were true, all top-level GMs would have churned out wins at every opportunity. Such is the wonder and vastness of the game - not everything is predictable.Generally technical knowledge in the other phases of the game (especially endgames) is even more critical as mistakes tend to happen later in the game and good technique is required to bring home the point. No point in losing a game when you're up a Queen for Bishop+Knight right??

As to the GMs recommendation for adopting a complex opening such as the Ruy Lopez as a must-know for every aspiring player, we need to qualify this statement. GMs eat,sleep and breathe chess so they will have the need to spend every living hour understanding the myriad of variations and its possible positions that can lead to a distinct advantage. An opening such as the Ruy Lopez has about 80 years of history in recorded master games, with it its log of good and bad plans that follow every single variation. Learning the Ruy Lopez by studying the latest lines played today simply does the opening injustice. Many of the plans used today are evolved painstakingly from the past, with contributions by every World Champion and top players in their generation.

So before you decide to embark on this route, I would like to recommend a good book that will explain the evolution of this opening and how one should tackle its study.

Though Mark Dvoretsky does not have a high opinion of Alexey Suetin, nonetheless this man has attempted to scholastically categorise the vastness of chess strategical themes and its relation to the opening, middlegame and endgame. In this book, he gives a good approach to anyone who wishes to study the Ruy Lopez systemically by studying good historical games played by the World Champions, some of which have fashioned useful plans and ideas named after them. I urge you to find this book and read it.

The Ruy is heralded as the King of e4 openings, simply because it offers many faceted approaches to competitive play. One can choose to play tactically against it (the Marshall, Schliemann, Open,Riga variations) or positionally (the Steinitz, Zaitsev, Breyer,Berlin,Cozio, Cordel,Bird) and similarly White too has weapons at his disposal to play tactically ( 5 d4) or initiate positionally (the Worrall, d3 systems, the Exchange variations etc). As Black often dictates what variation to play after 3 Bb5 or 3..a6 4 Ba4, plans in such variations can run to as long as move 25 nowadays so if you do not possess a good memory, mastering this opening may prove futile. Sidestepping with the Exchange does not give White an endgame edge, due to discoveries in this century with 5..Qd6 which renders much of Fischer's analysis in his "My 60 memorable games" irrelevant.

Is it true that this is the only path to mastering chess openings?? I would rather think not. As many of us struggle with the constraints of time, family, commitments, are there not other means that we can play chess without adopting the Grandmaster's approach to learning openings? Simply because, we are not Grandmasters who can afford the time. So unless you are ready to relinquish all your other commitments in the effort of being a Grandmaster and nothing else, this path is not for you.

Generally, for non-GM aspirants, I would rather be content to adopt GM Portisch's advice : " Your task in the opening is to reach a reasonably playable middlegame"

PLAYING WELL MATTERS

2011-03-21T21:38:00.003+08:00

As Siegbert Tarrasch used to say, " It is not enough just to be a good player. One must also play well". Therefore it does not suffice that if one enters the national elite, one is automatically a good player. It is also important to apply oneself into executing the processes that make up a good move or plan.

Perhaps parents should often ask what is the road ahead for a child that is interested in chess - should they equip him with the trainers to help him in his game, sign the child up for as many tournaments as possible in the hopes of improving his/her play, hoping to clinch the 4 points required to enter the National Junior Squad??

What is not clear perhaps is the heavy investment in terms of 5 hours a week or 20 hours a month, notwithstanding the hours spent in tournaments? Yet there is often the lament that there's simply not enough time for tuition, assignments and what not? What about the fees of approximately $300 a quarter or $1200 a year? That is the basic package. If the child goes for regional tournaments, the expenses are equivalent to an overseas field trip. All this just for DSA into a good school?

I hold the view that generally chess-interested students have the intellect that grows when they grow with the game. Any serious student of the game will do the necessary research into the various aspects of the game, spending time into learning and memorising the opening weapons that will steer the player into advantagous positions. Then pick selected tournaments to shine. This discipline of preparing and performing for tournament results will ultimately be a major part on his study routine (which he/she will then understand) which should make him/her a better student. Surely this is a much more meaningful benefit of encouraging a child to take up chess?

Similarly coaches in my opinion should inculcate good thinking skills to their students. It would not be sufficient to expect the child to pick up good thinking habits simply by playing game after game with them. Much has to be explained apart from reiterating the facts. It has come to my attention that some school CCA Chess sessions are nothing more than just sparring sessions with students. I doubt very much of the efficacy of this approach. Coaches should expound knowledge and demonstrate the knowledge well with good examples and tests to ensure comprehension. Without which, no training scheme, however illustrious, can achieve results.

TCA Junior Open April 22 Good Friday

2011-03-21T15:56:00.000+08:00

HOW DID THE STUDENTS FARE?

2011-03-20T22:53:00.002+08:00

As the SCF April Rating list is out, I took the pains to compute the performance of my students and here they are. The variance is computed from their last rating in Jan'11. If you compute it from their Jul'10 rating, the variance is even greater.

Generally, the students who were with me for more than 2 years had good gradual increases in rating. Kristine was an exception - her ratings were slipping when I took her on in November last year but she's climbed back to the 1400 level.

As the above students were not involved in the National Junior Squad program since June last year, none of their ratings were increased artificially (evidently when the ratings are rounded to 1200, 1300 or 1400 upon joining).

CONGRATS, KRISTINE!

2011-03-20T08:20:00.000+08:00

Finally we have a winner! Kristine Quek has defeated her long-time rival Rachel Soh to clinch the Girls' Under 12 title at the playoffs on Saturday.

Preparation was a little tough, but we got down to patching White's answer to the French (which seems to me a little insipid) and leave the rest of the openings intact.

Congrats Kristine!

QUEENSTOWN AGE GROUP APRIL 10 SUNDAY

2011-03-19T09:16:00.002+08:00

I suggest you go to the CC to sign up and pay there. No late entries shall be entertained. Neither can you register online. Closing date is 27 March 2011.

AND NOW FOR THE RESULTS

2011-03-16T20:17:00.002+08:00

A pandemonium day at the 63rd National Schools Individuals at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel (much akin to the scene similar to a disaster area minus the disaster). Let's look at the results rather than talk about what can be done better shall we?

Category      Name              Points     Position

GU9 Lee Hui Ling    5.0 3rd
GU11      Lau Hui Miin        5.0         5th
GU12    Kristine Quek 6.0 Playoff for 1st
BU09      Nicholas Low        4.5         22nd
BU10    Hugo Tan    4.5 29th

BU11      Lee Shi Hao         5.0         12th

BU12    Adrian Yeo    5.5 7th
BU12      Samuel Yip          4.5         18th
BU13    Nicholas Teo    4.0 18th
BU14      Sitoh Yinghao Elliot4.0         13th
BU14    Oliver Cheok    4.0 14th
Open      Nicholas Lee        4.0         29th
Open    Asaph Ho    4.0 37th

The ones highlighted are in the medal list. Overall, a very good performance from most of my students. Well done! For those who did not score at least 4 points, the time will come so long as you bear in mind the lessons and apply them in your games. Consistently. Playing 1 game every day.

TO MY STUDENTS

2011-03-09T22:34:00.000+08:00

To those who are taking part in the coming National Schools' individuals, here's my advice:

1 Review all opening lines that you have been taught.

2. Sleep early on 15th Tuesday night

3 Record your games

4 Think about your opponent's last move: Is it a threat?

5 Look for checks, captures, threats (yours when it is your move, your opponents' when they are thinking)

6 Keep it simple

7 Concentrate very hard between moves 12-30

8 Do not exchange pieces/pawns without any reason

9 Do not be 10 minutes behind your opponent on the clock

10 FIGHT TO THE LAST - DO NOT GIVE UP!

ANAND'S QUOTE

2011-03-04T19:21:00.000+08:00

I came across 2 interesting posts which dealt with the issue of being a GM. One shows the statistics confirming that the age one becomes a GM is getting increasingly younger, at 12 years 7 months achieved by Kariajkin. Another disputes Anand's quote that if you are not a GM by 14, you should forget about it.

An interesting observation - only 2 of the 10 GMs mentioned are from non-communist countries. The 2 (Bacrot and Fischer) incidentally have enormous innate talent and do not fret about their daily livelihood during their pursuit of the GM title.

Personally, I believe that Anand is being pragmatic about his view. He feels that if one does have the talent to make it, then, with modern technological tools like databases and engines, there is really no major obstacle to attaining the title if one works at it by inferring on his researches of the game and executing them right over the board.

What does it mean when one has gone over the desired age of 14? Two things come to mind.

Talent is not sufficient for GMship

Not having the other prerequisites (time, peace of mind, health, discipline) plus distractions (be it work or relationships etc).

Insufficient talent is something not easy to accept for many. Everyone wants to try, but to face reality that one doesn't have what it takes is really a humbling experience. A simple test - endgames. Somehow the talented ones never seem to have problems identifying a win in the endgame. When you hear of slip-ups in someone's game, especially in the endgame, it is a sign that the player has failed to comprehend or appreciate simple inter-workings of the pieces.

Those who have the talent sadly usually have the curse of laziness about them - they take their talent for granted and assume everything will fall in place. Not so today. There is much more that can be learnt from the science of chess if one invests time and effort in absorbing the knowledge from the games analysed and dissected from opening till the end of the game. But knowing it is just one part of it. One has to have the nerves, the iron determination not to err in time trouble, have the intuition and (luck sometimes) to simply sense the right move to play at the critical moment. Hours can be spent, but it simply does not yield the same results for everyone. Hence talent without hard work equates to nothing.

I will say that Anand's quote should be taken seriously if the conditions for excelling in chess do not exist in our country - primarily where individual pursuit does not clash with daily living issues and problems. Children are generally spared from life's tribulations so it is fair to say that as one enters adulthood, the odds to GMship can be insurmountable. In that view, it would be wiser not to ascend the path than to be forced to turn back.

SIMPLE BOOK OF TACTICS

2011-03-02T11:56:00.001+08:00

I recommend this book for beginners and young children who have just mastered the moves of the pieces. This book condenses much of what's required in the field of tactics. Tactics often decide the game in games played by children under the age of 12. It's not important to worry about chess imbalances as yet - one should learn to play tactically and develop their skills in this area before venturing elsewhere.

SETTING PRIORITIES

2011-02-24T10:31:00.002+08:00

How can we teach that to our budding chess-players? With role models I guess. That's why there are the senior sections in each tournament where the games are often the last to finish. The lower tables of the junior section are often the first to finish.

There should be someone t to explain the purpose of playing in a tournament. Tournaments are definitely not social in nature. Every competitor strives to win. However, some will take it lightly while others see it as the game of their life. Chess players should treat tournaments somewhere in between - be serious but then its not the end of the world. A loss merely means something's gone wrong and it is important to address it to fix the problem.

Yet I often see children playing with portable game-stations, game cards or playing on their parents' mobile phones in between games. Isn't this wrong? If they wish to play chess in a friendly or cordial environment, then they should do that in chess clubs, or play online without having to compete. If there are lessons to be learnt, it should be learnt there and then after the game - the player should reflect on what happened. However, the game is usually not recorded and the player forgets what had happened. So it is theoretical possible to lose the same game in exactly the same way AGAIN. I have seen it happen and often wondered if it's not a waste of everyone's time to be there for the tournament if we keep repeating our mistakes??

So parents should help set priorities straight for their children. Go to a tournament by all means to learn, to experiment, to understand what needs to be done for the next. Don't go to a tournament to snack or socialise to a point where the result doesn't matter. There are better ways to do that like going for a picnic in the parks or beach. Trivialising the competition isn't going to help them later in life when everything important seems like a comedic movie to them - to enjoy and forget.

ROLE MODELS

2011-02-23T11:31:00.002+08:00

After reading a post from a fellow chess-organiser on why we do not have the hunger for success in chess, I started looking back at my earlier post on HUNGER FOR SUCCESS.

There seems to be a void of role models in our local scene. Today's chess-players will probably not heard of Terence Wong, or Alphonsus Chia, or Lim Seng Hoo, Wong Meng Kong, Tan Lian Ann or Leslie Leow - how these local born players have reached international status in their chess careers which may span from the 60's -80's.

Terence Wong finished SECOND behind David Goodman in the 1975 edition of the World Cadets (now World Youth Championship). Alphonsus was in the World Cadets in 1976 in the company of Kasparov and Short and finished 9th (Kasparov was 5th). Tan Lian Ann was in the Candidates Tournament at Petropolis in 1973 and had some good games with Geller, Smyslov, then again at the 1976 Interzonal. Leslie Leow was also a formidable opponent in his hey-days, winning the National Championship and claiming some GM scalps from the early days of Siegen 1970 till the Olympiads in 1988. Lim Seng Hoo shared the chess honours in the 80's, often overcoming the region's top players before becoming an IM He was deffinitely GM material but chose to retire.The final Asian Junior Champion from our shores was of course our GM Wong Meng Kong who won the title in 1979 in Tehran and was awarded the IM title then. At the ladies end, Ms Liew Oi Wah entered the Interzonals in 1981 but chose to take her O levels that year.

There are of course many others who've graced the international stage which I can name spanning 2 generations - Dr Goh Cheng Hong, Teo Kok Siong, Chan Peng Kong, Quek Suan Fuan, Dennis Tan, Tan Chee Keon, Choong Liong Onn, Tan Lian Seng, Giam Choo Kwee, Tay Watson, Mok Kwong Weng, Pang Kwok Leong, Wong Meng Leong, Chia Chee Seng, Koh Kum Hong, Lim Chye Seng, down to Alvin Ong, Soh Kok Hong, Ian Wong, Hsu Li Yang, Low Pe Yeow, Lee Wang Sheng, Ong Chong Ghee,Wong Foong Yin, Mark Tan, Malcolm Tan, Terry Toh, Mark Lim, Dr Jeremy Lim, Lim Hoon Cheng, Lau Keng Boon, Gregory Choong, Mark Chan,Tan Tzer En... the list goes on.

It is indeed a pity that SCF does not tap on these distinguished persons to showcase to the parents that we once had WORLD-BEATERS - that's right, players who once took on the international stage and are capable on holding our own against the top. These players ought to be invited back to major school competitions and inspire our youth of what it is to reclaim international glory. Without a clear view of the sky which is the limit, it is little wonder that I often hear of self-defeating comments made by players that they cannot overcome their obstacles.

Let me end with a quote from the past-FIDE president Mr F Campomanes : " And sport must have heroes. Without heroes, what will beginners look up to? They like to see somebody going up. All these things add up as inspiration for the young man. You need heroes in any sport to attract to it. But heroes are not and should never be exempt from discipline. They should set the highest example..."

YET ANOTHER PAYFUL YEAR

2011-02-23T10:24:00.000+08:00

The Singapore Sports Council (SSC) has outlined its funding for 2011 yesterday and it seems that chess is once again out of the limelight, or I'd say, gone right into the shadows. $67m dispensed into the other sports, with dancesport,petanque and sepak takraw getting meagre mention but Chess?

So once again we in the chess-playing community have to fend for ourselves for another year of high entry fees, high participation fees in any SCF initiated projection (from Junior Squad to overseas competitions) as long as the snub from the authorities persist. Although the SCF acting Treasurer has replied to me that steps are taken to make SCF a charity (in line with SSC's guidelines to ensure good governance and accountability with raised funds), we have yet to hear of the SCF's initatives for presentation to SSC for multi-year funding., as well as the dialog with the MOE on the status of chess in schools. Should there be any SCF official reading this post, I'd appreciate some information.

I am just wondering for how long is this situation going to last with no sponsors forthcoming. In view of rising living costs, paying more than $40 for tournament participation is going to pinch, even bruise.

Probably cheaper to enroll in a chess club where $40 gets you an annual membership or minimally 120 hours of over-the-board chess a year. Never mind the trophies...

HONG BAO RAPID AFTERTHOUGHTS

2011-02-21T11:23:00.000+08:00

I got to see my students for a brief moment between Rounds 4 to 5 yesterday at the Scouts Association. Though playing conditions were a little claustrophobic, the sequence of events was orderly. Most of the students fared reasonably well, some less so. O had 5.5 pts while Q had 5 points, which is very good in view of the field. The other unrated female student got 4/7 which is commendable given her usual timid self. SH lost to someone who later withdrew, thus affecting his tie-break of 4 pts which set him back. He lost the other to the tournament winner and drew 2 games against 1400+ players. So really, his performance is deemed more than satisfactory.

Of course there will be some who'd had a bad day, hence its best to let them reflect on their performance a little while first.Overall, only 1 of the 8 students scored less than 3.5 which is in a way a consolation.

With more exposure in future tournaments, I expect to see their results improve, with a little more consistent practice online of course.

SOME FEEDBACK PLEASE

2011-02-16T09:18:00.000+08:00

The 63rd National Schools Individual Championship shall be convened at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel at Kim Seng Road. Entry fee for each student with school endorsement is $60. This to me is rather exorbitant. How many schools I wonder would have the budget to send students to the competitions if they have 10 or more ? I have noticed that the entry fees have crept up over the years, from $25 to $40 and now $60. Students without school endorsement now pay $100.

Granted that it is a hotel venue, but again I ask the SCF is it pertinent to host a school competition in a hotel and passing the buck to the schools or to parents (if the schools can't pay)? Let's see if this fee structure is sustainable.

For those reading this who are involved in other sports competitions at the school level, I'd appreciate your feedback for this post. Are national school competitions in other sports costing as much for each student? We need to have some perspective on this - otherwise, I cannot see how chess can be promoted widely should the tournament fees rise continually.

THOMSON CHESS CLUB

2011-02-16T09:05:00.003+08:00

Where does one get to play a human opponent face to face on Fridays ?

Fret not, Thomson CC Chess Club opens its doors on the 3rd floor activity room next to the elevator. The Chess Club starts 7.30pm and ends 10.00pm. Members are advised to sms 97985479 to check if the club is open for that day as we depend on volunteers to open the premises each week.

To join, annual membership for children 12 and under is $10 and $12 for all others. You will need to be a Passion Card Member to join the chess club, which is $10 for children 12 and under or over 60. For those aged in between, its $12. PassionCard membership is valid for 5 years.

Chess sets are available, players with chess clocks are advised to bring one.

Address : 194 Upper Thomson Road (Opp Long House Eating House)

NEVER MIND

2011-02-15T12:23:00.001+08:00

At the behest of a chess-parent, I respond with this article on how new chess parents should be involved with a child who's just started on chess.

Playing chess involves many components of logic and knowlegdge, so I would not encourage younger children to start with the full 32 pieces laid out at the start.

A better way is to start with only the pawns on the 2nd and 7th rows. The objective is to show how pawns move and promote. The side that promotes first wins. Try playing this with the children to get them to understand how pawns move and can capture. They will grow up learning to push their pawns carefully.

After considerable hours are spent, perhaps introduce the Kings into the starting position of pawns alone. Then after some time, add the pair of Bishops. Then the Rooks. Then the Knights. Finally the Queen.

A gradual introduction of the pieces would gradually expose the new player into the powers of each piece through play. The child can start as early as 3 or 4 with this approach, gradually easing into the 32 piece starting position by 7.

Now for the new tournament kiddos. As parents, what counts is the ability to pacifiy their children when he/she loses. The last thing any parent should say to their child after a loss is : "NEVER MIND". How many times do we hear this at tournaments? Sure, its the right thing to do after a sobbing child clamours for relief after a traumatised episode in which his/her King is checkmated. However, this is where the greatest damage is usually done.

Saying NEVER MIND after a loss is in fact condoning failure without the need to reflect or be accountable for the loss. The child is pacified and goes on playing another game , takes no steps to correct his/her play. Rather, it would be best to invoke the investigative and inquisitive young mind to ponder how he/she lost that game. Many would have no clue. So its good to have someone patiently explaining the game to the player the seeds of defeat and advising them to try not the same mistakes. But of course they will. So its a constant battle to remind them until the message sinks in.

Hence, preparing a child mentally to face competition is just as important as equipping them with the knowledge to play the game. Otherwise, the benefits of chess may not be fully understood by the players and parents themselves. Spending hours at a chess tournament can be daunting, even more so if nothing is gained out of the activity. I believe that some quality growing up and bonding time can be spent between parent and child and this makes it all the more worthwhile for the parent-child relatonship in their formative years.

STATE OF CHESS IN SCHOOLS

2011-02-10T11:52:00.000+08:00

After performing a search on the MOE's School Information Service on the schools offering Chess as a CCA, my findings are:

Primary Schools - 36 out of 182
Secondary Schools - 23 out of 153
Tertiary Institutions - 9 out of 12

What seems worrysome is that for a useful board game such as chess, the representation rate at primary and secondary level is max 20%. Surely this is cause for alarm. Although looking at the number of participation schools from the 2010 National Individuals, which stands at 145 and having 1280 participants, there could have been schools which have no official Chess CCA but have students signing up individually. There are also several institutions outside the MOE school system competing as well.

Someone raised the point about why Chess is not looked upon as a sport but a Club and Society activity? Has this distinction impacted the popularity of chess in schools? Should chess-players be penalised to take up another CCA just to fulfil the requirements for CCA points to be awarded? I welcome your ideas and comments.

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?

2011-02-09T11:46:00.000+08:00

We have had a healthy exchange about how to involve parents into the current chess activities. Having followed the junior chess scene for most of the last 30 years, there has been a healthy growth of players taking up chess and the players are getting younger.

However, what worries me is the high attrition rate of players from the local chess scene. I am sure we have had many who followed the game since the Fischer-Spassky era of 1972 ( I did when I was 9). Many are in their 50s - 70s today and what's alarming is that they have not been seen at the tournaments. This crop of players are in their time relatively good to give any junior a good sparring , therefore they are critical to raising the level of chess-playing in my opinion. However, not many will have the time to spend a full day at tournaments given the demands of work and family, hence perhaps a few hours at a chess club a week may be helpful. Thus there lies the need to promote chess club activity in order to revive their interest in playing and interact with our youth.

Where are the boys and girls that used to play as students in the 80's-90's? Many are parents now, but I don't see many of their children playing ironically. If we estimate an average about 500 school-children in a cohort who have played chess from their P1 till O level (10 years), over 50 years (starting from 1960) that will work out to about 25000 people in the school system. How many of them are still actively playing today? It would be a crying shame if chess would end up being similar to music-theory learning where most kids go through the pain of learning and drop it out of their lives when the exams (or competitions in the case of chess ) cease.

In my teens, I owed my improvement and chess values to veteran mentors who taught me not to fear them, or rush my moves when winning and be humble even when they had to resign,. They would even share their thoughts with me in analysing our game without even asking. We will need these enthusiasts if we are to establish a true chess culture here. Sadly, many see the fast time controls adopted in tournaments today as a bane to their comeback. They find no relief playing online as most games on the Internet are either blitzes at 5 min or less. So where do you really go to play a game that will last 1 hr or more these days, without having to compete?

Hence the thrust of m,y 1984 article is to get everyone to look at the problem of the void in terms of sparring partners for our junior players. This void has grown over the last 25 years as I can recall, with the rapid decrease of SCF adult memberships and their participation rate in tournaments spanned over the 2 decades. I'd say that if we do not take steps to rectify the situation, in the long term, we may not be able to sustain even the children's interest in the game too (as they will ultimately fall out right after their A levels or even sooner).

I find that if chess is truly to be representative as a sport, its stature in society cannot be measured mainly by just junior chess-playing activity. Representation in numbers should span across all ages, from the young to the aged, from schools to the cross-section of society.

A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING

2011-02-05T17:15:00.002+08:00

In my early years of involvement with chess, I have worked most of the time with junior students direct - being their mentor, guardian sometimes. It is of course good once in a while to meet their parents, as their support for their child is ultimate key to success. I used to remind myself that not every parent is like mine, intent to stopping their child's interest in chess , believing that they should be spending their time and energies on school books rather than chess books.

Today, the scene is quite the opposite - more non chess-playing parents are keen to see their children take up this fabulous (in their opinion) game. It makes the child concentrate, think about what they want to do before doing it, focus and it helps in their mathematical faculties too. A radical change of opinion in just about 25 years.Parents today are keen to be involved in their kids' activities and would want to show their care and concern.

So though I see parental support as a good thing, parental involvement is another. My chief grouse lies in that many parents get involved in chess not for the benefit of everyone, but for their children first of all.

We had an incident about rugby players and their parents getting caught in fist-fights after some provocation. Reports about students getting their parents involved in their disciplinary sanctions. Yes, this is the ugly side of over-protective parents wanting to ensure that their kids are, not in any way wronged or disadvantaged (on their own terms) in any activity they enroll in.

I am aware that tapping on parents' for their support does have a down-side, i.e when objectivity goes out the window when their child is involved in the matter. A simple case: I had to explain to a parent whose child had a bye in round 1. Due to the peculiarity of his name, he was somehow floated down and in a tournament with odd number of players, the program set him up with a bye. Apparently this trend was repeated and the parent was obviously upset when it happened yet again. Can I change the pairing so that he can play? Why must he be the victim? Can't somebody take the bye instead?!

Another common contentious issue is about age-group prizes: There was a complaint from a parent some years ago, who wondered why his son finished top of his age-group but was given the 5th overall prize and not the age-group prize? Why should this be, he asked? To this parent, 5th overall means 5th out of X contenders but winning the age-group means a 1st somehow. He's relegated in stature to receive his intended prize, can't the organisers see that?!...the list goes on.

Hence, I think its best that we encourage the kids to come to our chess club events, but parents perhaps allow their kids the freedom to play and leave the organisation of the chess activities to the hands of the experts. However, in the area of chess promotion and sponsorship, it will be useful to consult the parents' expertise and networking to open doors and get the right people to listen to ideas on hosting good promotional events. That in my view will be the best way to get the parent's involvement , in seeing that the events are well-funded and properly organised not just for their kids, but for all.

HAS ANYTHING CHANGED SINCE 1984?

2011-02-03T12:26:00.000+08:00

1984 was George Orwell's peer into the future world when he wrote it in 1948 - a dark world with rigid control devoid of human freedom of expression. "Big Brother is watching you" pretty much underlines the theme.

Yet in 1984 I wrote anonymously to a chess publication Singapore Chess Digest about the chess club scene. Our club scene was much better back in the 70's till 1982 but went downhill since. I was stating my point that we in Singapore did not do enough to promote a chess culture amongst our chess players, in the promotion of chess clubs and non-competitive chess activity then. I wrote that we should encourage more to take part in chess playing by attending chess sessions at the clubs, without having to compete only in tournaments. It will be much more cordial, relaxed and most importantly socially healthy for chess-players to interact, discuss and further their interest in chess. The club scene would have been further developed into a league that can attract sponsors if it was significant. Generally countries with a healthy club scene will do much better in increasing the number of chess enthusiasts, thereby expanding the number in the masses who can understand and appreciate and love chess. Should the Federation not be pursuing this direction, I ended by asking?

The editor thanked me for airing my views, albeit he was not in favour of publishing anonymous letters but I made an interesting point. The reason was that I was not a subscriber of the magazine as yet then

Look at the success today of the 4NCL in England and the Bundesliga in Germany. They have spun off into providing the impetus for the European Team Championship. In the US the US Amateur Team Championship has also taken off.

So what has changed in Singapore chess club scene since 1984? Hardly. We are still promoting chess tournaments as the main activity, with a little sweetener thrown in by offering age-group prizes to entice innocent parents into believing that their children can ,deservedly or otherwise, win trophies. Our pool of chess mercenaries will still emerge whenever a large prize pool is offered in any event. Let's face it - who's really interested in a competition without a decent prize fund? Our active chess clubs have dwindled over the years to a mere handful. The National InterClubs used to have over 40-50 teams total back in the 80's. Today? It can't even be held last year. I am seeking my annual chess holiday in the Merdeka Team Tournament which may not take place this year.You may wish to ask me what has happened to the Singapore Intellectual Games Centre at Bishan , our version of the DATCC, where SCF has a club-house and office? Isn't that supposed to be open daily for members who wish to play? It's now a big class-room folks. Think of all the donors that have raised the funds to make it our National Chess Centre...surely this is not what they've envisiaged the place to be?

So rather than lament at 27 years of stagnation, I am determined to make Thomson Chess Club as lively as I can this year. I hope to inspire clubs like the Serangoon, Cairnhill, Toa Payoh West and hopefully others to revive the interest of playing chess over the board as opposed to playing online. There are many I believe who borrow chess books from the libraries and it is this target group we should reach out to recruit as members for the clubs. So where are the volunteer organisers who would give up their weekends and weekday to run chess activities ?? We used to have more than a dozen. Today they are down to less than 5. I would not count on parents of young chess-players to do this, it has to come from the chess-lovers with a passion for chess. Without the nursery to spur the future growth of these organisers, I fear we are slowly slipping our beloved game of chess into oblivion - I feel the Sports Council seems to think it already has.

SPONSORSHIPS

2011-02-02T12:03:00.000+08:00

Sponsors are crucial to any activity promotion - without which much cannot be achieved.

However, sponsorships come in many kinds - those don't expect any returns, or those who require mileage in return for their gesture.

In today's world, one should not expect too many of the former but more of the latter. Look at the Grand Prixs, the World Cup etc. Big bucks for a name to displayed to millions.

Sadly, in chess sponsorship relies mainly on enthusiasts in high places with a genuine love for the game to part with their wealth. All over the world, these people are few to come by - eg Jacob van Oostrom, Mr Rentaro (who used to sponsor Linares), Bessel Kok who was formerly of SWIFT who did the World Cup series in the late 80's, Mr Cuchi of the New York Open fame etc. Yet how many people do remember the sponsors after the events are over?

We are often crying out that our scene suffers from the lack of sponsors. Yet sometimes we do not see the picture from their end. Sponsors I believe would much prefer if their names are carried on products long after the event is gone, so that everyone remembers them continually.

Moving ahead in the New Year, I am also tasked to look for a new sponsor for my Thomson Cup International who has been running for the past 4 years. This year, we want to make it a grand 5th anniversary so much canvassing work will be in progress. As a Community Club event rather than a national level event, we hope to try raise the awareness of chess on youths in our community at Thomson and hopefully the neighbourliness of the corporations around the area will be generous.

My strategy ? Start small - perhaps with a sponsorship for small clip-boards which the logo of the sponsor can be added at the back. Then proper table cloths to be made with the logo that can be hung from the side of the tables. These will make the sponsor's name visible, to enhance their image.

Next, attempt to beam the top games on stage with the sponsor's logo next to the beamed chessboards.

Finally, you will need to make the event attractive enough to warrant the press's attention - with media coverage confirmed, the sponsors will surely be more receptive knowing full well that they will get needed publicity for their efforts.

Much of what was said has been executed and has worked with the Karpov and Kasparov visit last year. It is not impossible to get the press's attention if you dream big. Let's do that - dream big. Have a Internet version of the Singapore - Malaysia match on New Year's Eve...or have Anand/Hou Yifan give a simul to the top government officials via the Internet. Only such projects will excite the attention of the masses and create interest for sponsors to come forth.

SPOKEN FROM A GM

2011-01-31T11:45:00.005+08:00

Thought I'd just highlight the importance of technical knowledge in chess training, as expounded by GM Grivas in his training lecture to his German students reported here.

Of the 6 segments he mentioned in his course agenda for the day, 1/6 is devoted to psychological factors about understanding yourself, your diet and how it affects your well-being in playing. The other 5/6 is strictly devoted to learning the game.First on this list - Building a Repertoire; Chess Literature. I I am sure that the FIDE Senior Trainer takes this seriously to put it on top of the list of topics

Openings today determine the course of the game and working with chess literature towards improving our understanding of the game cannot be over-emphasised enough. I had a strong hunch he will dwell on this subject on personal characteristics and how they affect the choice of an opening, working with the classic games to understand the development of a particular opening etc. We can only await the next part of the training to be posted on ChessBase.

For the benefit of readers who are also following FGM, I have highlighted the above message to him to make him see the light of how technical knowledge critical to a master-hopeful. His response?

He deleted my comment.

So much for being open, so much for being objective. I guess you've read enough of the other blogs to know who's the bigot here

TWO ENDS OF THE SPECTRUM

2011-01-31T10:55:00.000+08:00

On one end I have students who cannot find the time to play, yet at the other end I have to rein in some of their enthusiasm. Quite an interesting job being a chess trainer, right?

Dealing with inactivity is tough - much depends I believe on not just the interest of the student, but the number of activities he/she has. I had just lost a student because he just had too much homework to have any other spare time to rest, let alone play. Recent studies about children aged 4-10 suggest that they are not getting enough sleep (recommended 11 hrs a day for younger kids and minimum 10 for those 8-10). Will this development take its toll on the child's development? I bet it does. Flooding a child's time of a day with tuition, homework etc simply does not give him the necessary time to reflect, ponder and internalise what has been taught. Hence it is through regular, purposeful playing that the assimilation of chess knowledge takes place. Spending hours dishing out chess moves without a clear thought process in my opinion does more harm than good.

For over-enthusiastic players, I would recommend that they work hard on acquiring the thought process of analysis and evaluation by going over master games, learning how decisions are taken and why. This process helps greatly in the understanding of the game and would trump over x hours of playing. I am a firm believer of having some ideas in your head when playing rather than using the trial-and-error method of learning. It is little wonder that many including Botvinnik advocated spending only time for 60 games a year and spend the rest of time preparing. I must quantify that this applies mainly to a professional chess master. For children, a good run of 6 tournaments a year, with ample preparation in between, should suffice. It is not practice that will make perfect, but the correct application of knowledge well ingested that will yield results. Otherwise, we end up perfecting our bad habits which will take a longer time to unlearn!

TIME

2011-01-27T10:32:00.002+08:00

There are many cases I have encountered in Singapore when I am hired to give chess lessons weekly but the students see no improvement. Though I have strongly recommended that the student plays 1 game a day or if possible, 4 games a week (15 mins per side). Months passed, but progress is slow. Why is this so?

Ironically, many of the parents whose children are learning chess do not play chess themselves. Hence, they are not aware of what it would take for one to progress. That's practice. Without constant practice, whatever is learnt will soon be forgotten. So far, most of the students that have dropped out of my radar have not been playing regularly and their interest waned in due course.

So I hereby urge parents, before they sign their kids for chess, to first examine the child's timetable: Does the child have time for practice? Can this be enforced? If not, it would be a waste of time and resources to expect any form of progress or understanding. The same goes for learning a language like Chinese. Extra hours are required to get the child to speak, write because of the lack of the environment for it. Chess is no different, its a language too, although the demands are rather small. Unless we can't even find 30 minutes a day for our kids ( because of Learning Lab, CCA, tuition, speech and drama, music lessons etc)? Something has to give. I shudder to give homework sometimes out of compassionate grounds, for I would hestitate to add to the student's academic homework which may just break the camel's back.

I seriously wonder if parents have actually lived through their kids's life for a day and experience for themselves how strenuous it would be, let alone do it for weeks on end? Then perhaps they will think twice about signing their children for more classes.

PAST REVISITED

2011-01-24T11:37:00.000+08:00

Here's a nice photo from the old boys gathering for the Kasparov dinner held last year

There were others who did not join in the photo, however, our turnout was still much better than the ACS side (ha ha!)

Perhaps its time to rekindle the "friendly" rivalry between the 2 chess school super-powers? Maybe a 30 board annual face-off?! ORA - ACS OBA Challenge ?? Itching for some action :-)

CAN ANYONE BE A GM?

2011-01-24T10:47:00.001+08:00

This can also apply to professions whereby you are conferred a title not just by your own efforts, but also by the intervention of others who will test you. In the realm of sport, table tennis, tennis, badminton players and boxers come to mind. Not so golfers and bowlers, as they would need to conquer the pressures imposed by their competitiors to perform. Their competitors would not have any physical part in how they swing the club or deliver the ball.

If one takes a outsider viewpoint of the business of grooming a GM, clinically it is possible. Just equipt the candidate with the knowledge, send him to as many competitions to learn the tricks of the trade, preferably losing enough to learn what not to do, and VOILA! You get an International Grand Master. Is that it?

Those who have tried, (not me of course) and failed would have had their own understanding of their failure. However, I would not say that they should be in any way criticised for not helping others achieve the same aim. Being a GM is entirely a personal endearvour, so it is rather a matter of choice whether one chooses to share the skills / knowledge attained in the process. Ideally, that would be nice, but then again, it should not be demanded.

No one in this world owes us anything. We arrive in this world with nothing. Progressively we get fuelled with ideas, hopes and dreams as we exist through the passage of time. One cannot discount the fact that there is this important factor called TALENT. Talent for being good at some activity say chess does not automatically equate one to be at the best of the game. Some may be talented in reaching the heights of FM or IMship, but the highest of chess honours are only open to a selected few of extraordinary talent.

One such believer of this notion is Tibor Karolyi, who has had some part in training the super-talents of Peter Leko and Judit Polgar. Even he has often lamented that he started to learn the fundamentals of chess too late in his development, which cost him dearly in his playing career. He could not understand why some bits of knowledge were just second nature to another super-talent, yet seemed unfathomable to him. If you had read his book on Judit Polgar, he will explain it all.

So there is a difference between a talent in chess and a super-talent, who should have the means to conquer the heights of the chess Everest. Do we see such talents having doubts about themselves? NO! the chief difference is that THEY KNOW HOW GOOD THEY ARE.

The computer chess age we now live in further accelerates the growth potential of these super-talents such that they can easily prove themselves and be at the GM level in say 3-5 years from the time they start work seriously. Hence GM talent must be spotted very young, nurtured further to learn the rudiments of it and in their teens, these super-talents will emerge amongst the top at the World Junior level.

Hence, if we are not in this group of super-talents and want to buck the trend, it is not impossible but the odds of failing are high. Whoever embarks on this perilous journey should certain be prepared to face disappointment and be prepared to walk away after facing the true reality. Otherwise disillusions will surely develop.

Becoming a GM is simply not for everyone, much as one would like to assume or believe.

AFTERTHOUGHTS

2011-01-24T10:18:00.000+08:00

Overall, it was a successful tournament for me as a coach - several of my students finished in the prize winners' list, some deservedly, some not. Thought I'd like to highlight the deserving ones here:

What I like about this boy was the focus and concentration he puts in every of his games. He had tough positions against the top boards, lost mainly due to his inability to handle the clock situation (most of his games finished near the 2 min mark). However, he hardly lets slip a winning game, which I'd say is commendable. If I were to describe him in one word - Phlegmatic. With more tournament exposure and diligence at his game, he should be a reckoning force in the U12s very soon.

N had a rather good tournament, though his moves are often one-move triggers befitting at his age,. His dogged determination showed once again. Though a whole Rook down in one of his games, he managed to checkmate his opponent with a lone Bishop in a rather peculiar position. Credit must go to him for spotting the mate. He also showed good tactical vision, managed to play double attacks recovering his sacrificed material (I saw him execute one and for a moment my heart was in my mouth). It's really a wonder if children were to apply themselves wholeheartedly at chess without distractions that you'd see such growth.

There were others who require more self-reflection in their play, mainly due to the attitude they displayed at the game. Some had good positions, started becoming complacent and gave the position away. Others didn't work at their calculations hard enough when they were beginning to feel that things were not going quite their way. We shall review these at their lessons.

THOMSON CC CHESS CLUB 2011 REPORT

2011-01-24T09:55:00.009+08:00

Well, that's the scene from yesterday's tournament at Thomson CC. Though entries were slow, eventually we've got 23 Junior Section entries and 18 Senior Section players which is not too bad. The tournament started promptly with no zero start rule imposed, which was a relief to many. 10am would be a good time to get things going, as the majority were able to get to the venue on-time. Lunch in the form of coupons for consuming at the Target Cafe (food is good there), plus10 prizes each section. The top 5 get trophies and a book from my collection.

The results for the top 10 finishers are:

SENIOR  SECTION                                                                 JUNIOR SECTION

1  Jarred Neubronner    6.0 pts   Nathan Mar      7.0 pts

2  Jimmy Ng             5.5 pts   Adrian Yeo      6.0 pts

3  Hu Yang              5.0 pts   Heng Zheng Kai  5.0 pts 

4  Tan Poh Heng         4.5 pts   Lee Shi Hao     5.0 pts 

5  Melvin Ang           4.5 pts   Heng Si Kai     4.5 pts 

6  Gabriel Pang         4.0 pts   Nicholas Low    4.5 pts

7  Limono Handjojo      3.5 pts   Puah Yi Hao     4.0 pts

8  Francis Guok         3.5 pts   Samuel Yip      4.0 pts 

9  Xavier Chua          3.5 pts   Mitchell Han    4.0 pts

10 Neilson Lee 3.5 pts Issac Tay 4.0 pts

For the full results, here

We thank all participants for taking part and my special thanks to Kenny, Chris, Brandon plus the staff at Thomson CC, lastly Thomson CCMC without which this tournament would not have been possible. So sorry for taking up the Sunday PickleBall space !

WHY STUDY CHESS CLASSICS?

2011-01-12T23:02:00.001+08:00

I read with interest a recent interview conducted with a budding national level player and his answer when asked what chess books moulded his play.

His reply was that he did not read much chess literature, counting more on a chess server for practice and ChessBase with a decent engine for analysis. I guess this would be the trend for many younger players who based their chess learning with the advent of the Computer Learning age. However, I am more inclined with the conclusions drawn from reading Robin Smith's Modern Chess Analysis. Much as computer-generated analysis can be a powerful tool, using automated analysis without checking can lead to very misleading conclusions. That is because computers cannot understand concepts like creating a fortress where the weaker side may be able to obtain a draw. As computers generally evaluate the position in terms of material, it may still produce analysis to support the stronger side but nothing decisive to overturn the conclusion. Programs can and do make mistakes. Another realm of computer weakness is in evaluating positions in which it would suggest trading into a lost king and pawn ending. It may also give inconclusive judgement on positions where there is a material imbalance, eg Exchange Sacrifices.

Hence I would strongly advocate that chess erudition be complete with some study of classic chess literature. I have covered the main books in my earlier post. Now I shall give the reasons.

The classics cover the evolution of chess thought from the sacrificial nuances started by the Romantic Italian School, with the main emphasis on gambit play, fast development to create possible sacrifices to drive the King into the open. It peaked with the style of Paul Morphy, however reason in chess was reinstated with the theories of Wilhelm Steinitz. The positional elements were finally introduced, made even simpler to understand by the analysis of the games of Siegbert Tarrasch. Much of what is known about 1 e4 e5 games, especially in the Steinitz variation of the Spanish was covered in his annotations in his landmark classic "Dreihundret Schachpartien" (or 300 Chess Games in English). Of course, I would not take his comments on the openings seriously as much has been discovered since he wrote it about 1896,. In spite of that, he has given many good illustrations in his games on how to exploit positional advantages, which are often used in many modern-day middlegame books.

Nimzowitsch, Tarrasch's arch-rival, made his summary of positional chess concepts in his 2 books My System and Chess Praxis. Though I did not like the pompous presentation of the facts by the author, we have 2 up-to-date versions of this classic, one by Hays Publishing and the other by Quality Chess. Much of the pomposity is trimmed and the examples are given more diagrams.

The biggest benefit in studying these classic theoretical books and game collections comes from renowned Soviet trainer Shereshevsky. He remarked that it would be much easier to see a middlegame plan executed in its entirety in a game played by the old masters, as their opponents were often much weaker and allowed their plans to succeed. We can therefore learn much more from studying such games. Today's games, however, would not be so easy to fathom as each plan meets with a counter-plan and when time-trouble occurs the logical thread of the game is disrupted and the game becomes unclear.Hence, I should think that any young player would do himself /herself a favour by reading these books.

THOMSON CC CHESS CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 23 JAN SUNDAY

2011-01-09T12:26:00.002+08:00

Thomson Club Championship details are in the 2 forms below

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18282504/CLub_1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/18282504/Club_2.jpg

We have 2 sections, the Seniors (no age limit) and Juniors (12 years and below). Players join as members of our Club by paying the entry fee,which means you play the tournament for free! You are then welcome to our activities on Friday nights from 730pm.

BOARD ORIENTATION

2011-01-06T11:05:00.002+08:00

I find that this aspect of chess is not adequately covered in most chess literature. Much of the books today convey ideas on the ideal execution of plans and concepts, while telling the reader to be aware of traps and resources concealed in the position.

Being aware of the situation is only inherent in the chess-player's mind after he has played many games and analysed the identical positions to note how the pieces can interact favourably or unfavourably. To the beginner and post-beginner, their games are often marred by oversights rather than missed opportunities. Some of the major ones:

a. Missing a significant check
b. Moving a piece from defending a critical piece or square, resulting in loss of the piece or square. Losing control of squares often seems to be taken too lightly I find in younger players. But they have not had the knowledge yet of the consequences, this will correct in due course when the knowledge is imparted.

Yet we often hear of coaches' screaming at their charges to THINK, THINK, THINK. What is this THINK? If this is not spelt out, then I do not think it is wise to put children through an ordeal of 90 minutes when they have absolutely no clue what to think.

Is this WHAT TO THINK taught to them in the first place?

I label the first WHAT TO THINK : Board Orientation. Sorry but I've yet to learn how to put diagrams onto the page, but if you are to go through a child's just concluded game, you'll find that he does not have much knowledge of what's in front of him/her, ie what are his pieces doing, what squares can they safely go to. Half the time, the child waits for a move before his/her thinking cap activates. While the opponent is musing away, he/she gets bored waiting and starts looking at the games of others. When the clock is pressed, the player then switches back to his/her position, only to study it one more time, recollecting the pieces of knowledge of where his pieces can go to etc. Sometimes the recollection is not complete and he/she misses a detail that can be fatal, eg not seeing that the back-rank is unprotected due to his latest Rook move and BANG! comes the checkmate. The hapless parent would then rush to the victim and often the first words were " NEVER MIND, try harder next game".

When such a problem exists, coaches in my opinion, should set the tone right by asking the student to check his understanding of the pieces in the position. Were they aware of the role of each piece? Did they try to ask what their pieces are doing? Did they ask what is the latest move of their opponent is for? If the child did not do these, then it is the responsibility of the coach to drill in the routine during lesson or homework time.

Perhaps parents can also help but asking their hired coaches if this is being done? I am sure lots of unnecessary lost points and tears can be averted.

THOUGHTS ON SINGAPORE vs MALAYSIA

2011-01-03T12:19:00.003+08:00

This year we see the Tigers triumph over the Lions at the annual Singapore vs Malaysia match. The games were well-fought, both teams should be commended for their tenacity and dogged determination.

I was there as usual on both days, catching up with my friends Greg Lau, Michael Yeap whom I had not met since the Merdeka in August. Both are MCF officials now and we exchanged several views on how to take the sport further in our countries. Though both teams are competing for the covet Tan Kim Yeow trophy, the spirit of friendship and camaraderie pervaded so we did not get any major disputes.

Malaysia started the match on a loss in the Rd 1 Classical time control, drew level in Rd 2. The turning point came in Rd 3 when they commanded a 10 pt lead in the Rapid round. This raised the hopes of the Malaysians who for the first level reckoned they have a clear shot at beating Singapore. Some nerve-wracking moments in Rd 2 ensued, with several cliff-hanging games and the tension was mainly on the last few games in the Ladies. When the smoke cleared amidst the musings and calculations, it became clear that the visitors had won and applause and cheers filled the hall - a long-awaited one I'm sure.

While the victory cheers of MALAYSIA BOLEH rung in everyone's ears, it was heart rending to see the reactions of the vanguished. Some were non-chalant, some silently disappointed, but there was no comforting words or gestures to even pat them for their efforts over the last 2 days. The Malaysians were treated to a meal but sadly the Singaporeans trooped out of the hall amid stolid silence and disappointment.

This is surely not what the match is all about? This is a annual meeting of friends and comrades in chess, regardless of the result. Our ties in chess go way back, over 30 years or more, so this spirit of togetherness in chess should prevail. A fitting end to this should be a good get-together meal with both teams, to share thoughts and ideas that bond , build partnerships and mend strained differences that may have occurred in our dealings with other. This is the legacy which should be passed on to the next generation of chess players so that the right tone is set for future matches and other collaborative activities involving the 2 chess federations.

Even a simple send-off by our Federation officials at the railway station will have gone a long way in fostering good relations with our neighbours. In the respect, I hate to say but we have not been good hosts. Time to reflect on this - as Singapore, we need to do better.

BACK TO VICTORIA SCHOOL

2011-01-03T11:39:00.004+08:00

2011 marks my return to coaching the Victoria School team, back from 2004-7 days when the U16 managed to come in top 6 positions. Some of the older boys were playing for the JCs but they came back for a reunion photograph.

My best result was with the 2005 U-16 team (seen battling ACS I below):

Here we faced the Champions ACS(I), with none other than Jason Goh (now IM) on first board, the Lee brothers Wei Loong and Wei Cheng. Meeting the challenge was Heng Jun Kai (Sec 2!), Obey Wibinov from Indonesia, Ng Qing Yang and Roy Lau. This memorable encounter ended in a 4-0 whitewash for the VS boys, but what was shocking was not the result, but that at the first 20 moves, all boards were better for the VS boys! Jason had trouble defending the White side of a Benko Gambit, but experience told and Jun Kai fianlly succumbed. After he lost, the rest of the team lost steam and morale and started going under 1 by 1.

I had to give them a pep-talk to rally themselves and pull together for the last game against Maris Stella. Only a 4-0 will do to get them into 3rd position. We did well, leading 3-0 but unfortunately Obey lost on time in an unclear position. So they finished 5th - the best ever result in the decade for the U16 team.

After checking the performance of the current team (in 2009 they finished 6th in the U16 and 15th in the U14, but 11th in the U16and U14 in 2010), I have my work cut out this year then. I am looking forward to it.

THOMSON CC CHESS CLUB 2011

2011-01-02T12:42:00.001+08:00

Another new year beckons. We intend to have a good program of tournaments and league games spread throughout the months for all our members, young and young at heart.

CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP

The Thomson CC Club Championship would tentatively be held at Thomson CC Hall , 194 Upper Thomson Road on Sunday 23 January 10am. Entry forms shall be released on this blog and on the SCF Website upon approval. You join the club by paying for a full year membership and play the tournament for free! Prizes are awarded. Lunch provided too.

THOMSON CUP INTERNATIONAL

The 5th THOMSON CUP International shall be tentatively be held on 28-29 May, traditionally the last weekend of May. Format remains at 1 hr per side, 7 rounds Swiss.

WEEKLY ENDGAME LEAGUE JANUARY - APRIL

We shall be starting our Junior Endgame League where they get to replay famous endgames of the masters, specially chosen such that the position is only slightly superior for the winning side. Those taking the inferior side shall score 1.5 pts if they win and 0.5 pts if they lose. The stronger side scores 1 pt for a win and 0 pt for a loss. Each player gets to play the same endgame twice, as White and Black.

The time control for each game is 25 minutes a side. This takes place every Friday evening during our session and starts 8pm, ending about 940pm. What better way to learn about the endgame but to recreate the winning plans of the masters and improve your endgame strength?

SATISFACTION

2010-12-16T11:55:00.001+08:00

Sometimes I wonder to myself what would be the most satisfying moment for a chess trainer? Is it the huge amounts of money that he can get from dishing out lessons, or rather, just the joy of the students' faces when they have achieved their goals?

So far, 2010 has been a good year for me. Most of the students that were with me for more than a year have achieved mostly 50-60 rating point increases. The ones that joined me this year, some for just 5 months or less, have also performed well.

I would rather not mention their names (mainly to protect the innocent) but display their photos.

S has been with me for more than 2 years now, he has seen steady improvement from the days of scoring 3 to 3.5 pts out of 7 back in 2008. His latest SCF rating stands 1358 as compared to 1008 when he started. 350 pts in 2 years. He has just scored 5.5/7 and finished 6th place out of 120 registered players at the recent Toa Payoh West CC Primary School section.

The chief factor that propels him is his diligence. He has played over hundreds of online chess games, made many mistakes and learnt from them. Well, not always, but he did correct many of his bad habits he had prior to studying with me.

I had N recently for the last 3 months. Though he is only 8, he displays great determination to succeed and has the competitive instinct. His last result at the Cairnhill Under 8 tournament? 6/6! He won it and now he's really hungry for more.Though he scored 4/7 in the Toa Payoh West Primary School section, last Sunday ,in all fairness, there were games he had to play with U12 or U10 boys. That's really quite an achievement.

SH (no photo) was a son of a long-time chess junior friend of mine who recently switched to private coaching. He has managed to score 5/7 at the Major Rapid section in the Cairnhill tournament. I was really amazed as he only averaged 3.5-4 pts for every tournament result previously. After a drastic change of opening repertoire, he plays now with confidence, though not completely tuned into the thought process I showed him as yet. But I'm sure that in time, he will be ok as he already possesses a good endgame foundation taught to him by his father.

These are 3 of my most-improved students for this year and I want to commend them here for their good effort. Well done boys!

The Art of Chess Thinking

2010-12-11T13:14:00.000+08:00

Apart from the books that I have recommended, there's some works that the aspiring chess-player should at least read, once, in his career:

This is the pioneering work by GM Alexander Kotov that explores the idea of how one should conduct his game in terms of thinking. Though a little dated in approach perhaps, one should at least attempt to start thinking systematically first before branching out into other methods. The Tree of Analysis indeed gives one a structure to organise a player's thoughts. So I highly recommend this book as a starting treatise before venturing to other books.

It is indeed puzzling to see some marvel about joint analysis of positions as a possible training method. Kotov has explained that he embarked on this discipline, filling his notebooks with variations he calculated (without moving the pieces of course) over complex positions derived from actual games. It is propelled him from a finalist in the Russian Championships to GM. So honestly, deep analysis of games is not a new thing.

However, techniques in choosing a move have been discovered and here Andy Soltis gives a comprehensive summary of methods currently used. He points out to the shortcomings of the Kotov method, but honestly, this applies mainly to games of higher level say from FM to GM level. For club players, they should still attempt to apply the Kotov system first.

This is also an interesting book, however I would recommend this to players who have already been playing in international competitions to consider working on it. It is rather complex and not that easy to understand.

Dvoretsky's manuals are of course among the very best there is in terms of sharpening one's analysis of positions but then again, I believe one can learn a lot more by deeply analysising one's own games first before attempting to do games played by others.

TOURNAMENTS IN EARLY DECEMBER

2010-11-22T09:12:00.000+08:00

MALPROPISMS

2010-11-09T12:15:00.003+08:00

It is indeed hard for a non-chess player to write about chess if he does not speak the lingo of chess-players. Little wonder then that all of us chess-players will tend to misconstrue his intentions.

Analysing why an outcome has occurred after the event, piecing the pieces of evidence that led to the outcome is called post-mortem analysis, not technical evaluation. All good chess players do that at the end of each game for it is rare that both players would arrive at the same conclusions at every juncture after each move, maybe except for the 1st few moves of the opening where it is accepted conventional wisdom. Aided by a reasonable thought process, it is mainly the evaluation of the position after analysis to determine if the move or idea is playable. Through analysis, one learns a great deal about his/her strengths and weaknesses, particularly in the area of chess study and character shortcomings which need to be addressed.

Any amount of analysis will reveal, for the loser, errors in the following:

a. Strategic errors - Misjudging a position due to the over-estimation of one's positional factors over that of the opponent. Or it could be trading down to a lost endgame without knowing. Or choosing to delay the decisive blow hoping for more gains, which turn out to be illusory.

b. Tactical errors - Simply missing a tactic that loses material, or failing to calculate the position to quiescence (ie no more checks, captures or threats present in the position)

c. Off the board errors - Nerves, panic in the face of time-trouble thereby leading to b. Other character flaws such as lack of guts or over-estimating the opponent's strength may also attribute.

If one reads Mark Dvoretsky's writings at the Chess Instructor 2009, you will then realise that purposeful chess training can fix most of the errors outlined above. If someone is weak at calculating, keep putting complex positions and analyse all variations each move. Over time, you have to get better as your mind subliminally learns from the various patterns and possibilities presented. For time trouble weaknesses, learn to find ways to delay the battle by perhaps exchanging to a slightly inferior endgame and take your chances. Many who have endgame phobia will shun this and rather play to lose in the middlegame, well, that's a choice.

My learned friend across the Causeway asked a very interesting question: " How does one think at the critical point of decision-making"? What is the critical point? How does one know if the position in front of him/her is critical?

Critical point in a position is dependent on a few factors : Amount of time left on the clock, status of the position (winning or losing), what phase of the game its in (opening, middlegame or endgame), the strengths and weaknesses of the player. All these factors will decide the course of action. As to how, I believe a study of Dvoretsky's books will yield some answers, esp Training for the Tournament Player and Technique for the Tournament Player are 2 that come to mind.Or if you prefer, solve the puzzles given by him at the Chess Cafe under the Instructor.

How about looking up Colin Crouch's Why We Lose At Chess? Or Jonathan Rowson's Seven Deadly Chess Sins?

There's a good review of the book at http://www.chessville.com/reviews/TheSevenDeadlyChessSins.htm

Both books will serve to uncover the weakness of the mind in a chess-player. Believe me, they will serve you better rather than Dr deBono. After all, who understands chess better than the players themselves?

WHAT IS TECHNICAL EVALUATION?

2010-11-07T12:51:00.000+08:00

I've just come across an interesting remark made by a supposedly non-competitive chess player in that you will need "need the tools of developed judgement, understanding and advanced thinking skills" to come up with possibilities to save yourself when you are in trouble in a game.

This is under the scope of Technical Evaluation. Highly interesting because I am still trying to fathom the author's intent in the previous statement, as he has often renounced the importance of having the technical knowledge but rather the need of maintaining the right emotional balance to solve problems on the chessboard. What I find issue here is that much of the emotional stress that is generated is often in the player not having found the solution to his problem at hand in the first place. This can be address through good preparation in the realm of analysis of the players own games by discovering his faults and actively correcting them.

After following the TV series "House", I've come to realise that the gruff and eccentric Doctor is purely a man with a good logical deductic set of thinking skills to arrive at his diagnosis. In the panel of doctors with him, most of them will have the knowledge he has but what distinguishes is his cool, calculating ability to remove the possibilities one by one till he zeroes in on the cause of the problem. He will investigate even domestic living patterns of the patient to sieve out behaviours which may cause an ailment. So the detective in the Doctor often solves the mystery rather than just having tons of medical knowledge. But then, its still the knowledge required to eliminate the right possibilites.

Developed judgement comes in chess through the huge amount of analysis of games where the object is to find the correct solution to any problem in the position at hand. What matters is the thinking process of selecting the right set of moves played and responses by the opponent to arrive at a plausible outcome. The thing that separates the amateur from the master in this regard is the EVALUATION of the final position when all tactical possibilities are exhausted. The master is able to use his vast databank of outcomes he has experienced from analysing similar positions to know what would be the outcome of his position after analysis is done. As to the ADVANCED THINKING SKILLS, it is nothing more than the derivation of moves based on a move-selection algorithm which all top-players will have developed. Perhaps the reader can refer to Charles Hertan's move selection process outlined in the chapter " The Hertan Hierarchy" in the book The Chess Instructor 2009, a book I have persuaded my learned friend across the Causeway to read but to no success. Perhaps I have better luck with you, dear enlightened readers, to try.