THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

Someone sent me an interesting article by Adam Khoo about our kids: "Unfortunately, I have found that more and more young Singaporeans lack this hunger for success. Instead, they like to complain, blame circumstances and wait for others to push them. Some hold on to the attitude that the world owes them a living. I shake my head when I see local kids nowadays complain that they don't have the latest handphones, branded clothes and games. While I acknowledge that the kids of today are much smarter and well informed than I was at their age (my 4 year old daughter can use my Macbook computer and my iphone), I find that they lack the resilience and tenacity they need to survive in the new economy. Some kids nowadays tend to give up easily once they find that things get tough and demand instant gratification. When they have to work first to get rewards later, many tend to lack the patience to follow through." It appears that our next generation may have lost the hunger ac...

What does a world-famous trainer like Mark Dvoretsky have to say about the choice of openings for a chess player? ‘Your choice of openings should be made primarily in accordance with your own tastes and style of play. This rule may sound obvious, but all the same it is quite easily broken,even by strong players’ Now if a player is usually afraid of giving away pawns or pieces, or is scared of complications, is it then possible that this player will be able to confront positions laden with tactics and be comfortable in them? In his book Opening Preparation, Dvoretsky recounts how he once gave advice to a quiet sober-minded player whose openings were that of fashionable and sharp variations like the King's Indian and Sicilian. In other words, the choice of opening depended not on his own taste but that of the coach. He advised the player to switch to quieter openings by playing 1 d4 instead and that player's results were better as he was better adjusted to the positions that ar...

Here's what I found at the SCF website lately: "The Singapore Chess Federation announces its National Junior & Youth training game Programme 2010, which shall promote best opening play as White and best defense/counterattack as Black. The “Open Sicilian”, starting with 1.e4! c5! 2.Nf3!, followed by 3.d4! cxd4! is regularly played by leading International Grand Masters, who consider it as practically the best modern way to play for a win by both White (with 1.e4!) and by Black (with 1… c5!). Then again, White’s best practical options remain with the “Open Sicilian”. 1.e4, followed by 1…c5, further followed by the Open Sicilian, ensure asymmetrical and dynamic positions at the very start of the game. On their way to the top, World Chess Champions benefited – mostly from these. In an effort to nurture and promote Singapore Chess Lions into Roaring Lions , starting at the Developmental level of our Training Pipeline, trainees shall intensively practice, by their own choosin...