THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

 So we've come to the final session tonight! The past 4 sessions was productive in getting the content across to the enthusiastic participants, with good questions on the related topics. Of the 4 sessions, most had challenges in visualisation which was not covered in most chess literature. It is always easy to read about it, watch videos to show how its done but nothing like practicing it regularly to see progress in the games. This effort takes a long time to master but the dividends are worth it. The next challenge came in on Playing Online for Improvement. When reviewing the games of the participants, most preferred to spend time on shorter time controls  probably owing to lack of time. However, it is better to accumulate spare time to solving puzzles if there isn't enough time to play a minimal 10 5 or 5 3 game. Anything less than that would not work towards chess improvement. Lastly I urge my participants to try and play regularly over the board. Committing 2 hours a week...

 Finally, with 6 registered for the class, we started at 8 pm Nov 3.  It was a good mix, with retirees, 3 enthusiasts and 1 student. We started on the topic of visualisation. Few spared time training for this aspect of chess but little do they know of the potential benefits in improving visualisation of the pieces on the board, especially when they perform 3-6 ply calculations. Having the ability to keep track of the changes per ply can be a daunting task but yet so critical as one mistake can alter the choice of candidate moves. No we are not learning visualisation for the purpose of playing blindfold chess. It is mainly to allow us to see into the future the result of our calculations and evaluating the right picture. As each ply is added the visual clarity of the board and pieces becomes unclear. After 4 ply it is even a challenge to note which piece has cleared a path or expose another piece to attack or threat.  What then are the building blocks of good visualising h...

*Note : I am reposting the 2013 article because the display game software was no longer working. At the recent Serangoon Inter-Team competition where I partnered my students, I had the chance to cross swords with several of the juniors from the other teams. As I do not get the chance to play in tournaments often, there are few opportunities to meet them over the board. Here are some of my first impressions of their play  (I hope the parents reading about their children do not take it too personally). My first encounter was round 2, playing White against Steffi Lim. She's played in many competitions, generally quite calm, but tends to give up easily when things do not work out her way. One of the most important qualities in a chess-player is to be resilient and always being resourceful out even when things do not work out. Only this way can one improve and succeed. My next junior opponent is Carwyn Yeo, an aggressive young man who has got ambition on his eyes. He concentrates wel...

 Finally I managed to get 6 persons expressing their interest to join the class! Can we have 2 more?? Though you can join in later and receive the content, wouldn't it be better to receive it real-time?

 I played a strong player last Wednesday at Asia Square. He was a young man who I perceived to be someone picking up the game over the last couple of years. When a friend of mine came by to visit the meetup, I arranged for them to play a 5 + 3 game and soon a Ruy Lopez Berlin was on the board. The game was close, both sides did not try to breach each other's defences until Black decided that White wasn't going to try. He then went to open the a-file and got into White's camp eventually creating problems which White could not solve and lost on time. He asked if I would mind playing a longer time control game say 15 + 10, as he expressed that time management was his weakness primarily  as he could not sense the critical moments in the game to think longer.  A Siclian this time. I essayed the Smith Morra Gambit, after which we were into 13 moves in the theory (which he didn't know much but managed to get it right).  Then he hung a pawn. Hmm. Then another commital move w...

This year's event was held at Overseas Family School, a venue that no one can complain about. With its huge and spacious Hall and ample space at the Canteen for accompanying persons, much of the logistics issues involving players' transport and food were taken care of.  Pictures courtesy of Mr Ng K Kwang Some statistics : There is an increase in the number of players over 2024, 184 more than 2024. The signficant numbers are attributed to the U8 category as well as the U20+Girls. No major increases in the other cohorts.  The tournament was smoothly completed near 5pm and the entire prize-giving went without hiccups to finish just before 6.10pm. A big round of thanks go to the organising group as well as the arbiters, many of which are volunteers from the tertiary institutions and some parent volunteers. Shout out of course go to OFS for the use of the Hall and facilities. Everyone had a good time and fought hard on their games.  Tao Nan School finished 2nd on the Primary O...