THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

 As we say goodbye to 2021, we beckon a new 2022 hopefully with the impending end of the pandemic. I take this opportunity to wish my graduated students Damien, Leonard, Sun, Isaac, JingYi, Kuan Lei, Angela, Omar, Lana, Matthew and Luke, Yu Xiang and Yu Xuan,You Rui and Kexuan all the best in their future and thanks again for the time you have given to chess.  Now on board I welcome  Avery,Armaan, Marius, Theodore, Lucas, Fred, Timothy and Zachary on your chess journey!  COVID has dealth a big blow to the Over the Board chess competition scene and no longer will we get to see huge numbers for our competitions. However, the Youtube has sproud more Chess content than ever with reputable GMs giving free chess content and all it takes is for someone to filter the gold from the weed. I am currently doing that in aid of my current students, encouraging them towards self-learning the basics which I find are more than adequately covered by the selected videos. That will leav...

Many former chess-playing friends of mine are reaching retiring stages of their careers. Some have also pondered whether they would be made redundant in time to come as the brutal attrition at the workplace continues at a punishing pace. I have known at least 2 who have made chess-training their 2nd career option. One is Winston Williams, a former player for ACS and ex Singapore Police Inspector now residing in UK. The other is Marcus Chan, whom I had worked with for 2 years at the CTEP in Malaysia and now a FIDE-rated player. Marcus had switched careers quite early on the contrary but I am sure he has made serious consideration on this matter. When I decided to become a trainer back in 2003, I had realised that my days in IT were numbered owing to the quick advances in technology which I would have trouble keeping up with. Moreover, my passion in teaching chess started way back in the 80s since my student days in RI which convinced me that I had the knack for this trade. Since then I ...

First written back in 2008.. Thought I'd take this time to document one of my teaching joys, strangely, to my friends in Malaysia! It was a near 8 years but thoroughly worth mentioning.  One day in 1996 Mr Peter Long called me to ask if I would be interested to train a group of juniors from Chess Association of Selangor for 4 days in Penang, as he was busy and could not do it. It was a tough time for me at work, as my company was going through a split and I had to manage the IT separation task for my department. But somehow the lure of teaching chess was too hard to resist, so I agreed.   I met up with Tse Pin and Jason, the coordinators for the CTEP (Chess Training for Excellence Program) in Penang in December with Mr Lee (Samantha Lee's dad) who was the chaperon. The trainees were Lim Yee Weng, Matthew Khor,Yow Keat Tong and Ng Ee Vern. They were selected for finishing tops in the CAS junior tournament in 1996 and were selected for the program to be conducted at Sandy B...

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 ...

What makes a good chess trainer? Please click on link here

 Another phase of my chess life is coming to an end - time to move on to other areas where energy is better spent in training myself to get better and in turn help others get better. Soon after the pending AGM this year I intend to change some life goals that were set a decade ago. The coming years shall mark the start of a new chapter - living for myself as opposed to worrying about others. The chess scene in Singapore may have been hampered by the virus, but things are looking up with vaccination numbers rising and the gradual opening ahead. There lies the emphasis in spending good time in training - gathering new thoughts, sharpening degenerating skills and motivating my students to looking forward to the future just ahead.  Hence my teaching assignments will gradually be reduced, as I shall work with the ones that deserve my time and not worry too much about making the monthly income cap. In the continuum of balancing wealth vs the time we have left on this rapidly deterio...

This is by far the most challenging competition the Singapore Chess Federation has undertaken. Managing approximately 500 players in the Primary Section online, with Zoom cameras and playing on Chess.com. The daunting task of communicating with 30% new players who know next to nothing about chess tournaments and how they are run falls on the shoulders of a very small team. If the COVID-19 situation persists, there is little chance we can see the return of over-the-board chess events taking place for the next 6 to 12 months.  Kudos therefore to the SCF team of volunteers that kept the games going and solving technical issues to newbie parents and players alike. BOYS UNDER 09 This is the hottest category in my opinion as it is heavily contested - 83 players from 23 Singapore Schools as the event is not open to non MOE schools. The maturity of the player counts in learning how not to be impulsive and conserving one's stamina in front of the computer screen. Long hours concentrating on...