THOUGHTS OF A CHESS ADDICT

 We had a good interactive session Monday past.  For those who are still keen to attend the remaining 4 sessions ( please see previous post for topics), please email me jfan2003@gmail.com. I will get in touch with you to set it up.

 A short prospectus on the upcoming Zoom Class for Adult Improvers (saves me the effort of explaining to prospective students) Rather than present what many chess content creators have done on Youtube, I would focus on these 5 topics which are relatively left neglected in a chess player's journey towards self improvement. Having been a chess trainer for more than 20 years, my experience about chess improvement as a player hinges mainly on these 5 topics.  BOARD VISION Many do not see the importance of developing good board vision ie the ability to visualise movements on the chessboard OFF the chessboard. Kids in general can't tell where the squares are based on the coordinates and often rely on the printed edges - so it is hardly surprising that they often misplace their Kings and Queens should the pieces be set up on the "wrong" side. That means the White pieces are placed on the 7th and 8th rows instead of the 1st and 2nd. Second, they have difficulty knowing the co...

 Since the Tanglin Open in 2022, the notion of running a regular Chess Club during the renovation of my Thomson Chess Club beckoned me. There was a regular vacant spot on Friday nights at Tanglin CC from 6-10pm so I jumped at it.  The room can fit 14 players comfortably but can take up to 18 if more than half the players are kids. Here we practice mainly longer time controls starting from 15 mins + 10 secs to 1 hr + 30sec increments. All games played here are with increments. I do not advocate playing 0 increments in this Club because it is detrimental to chess improvement and thinking. With the constraints set, it is not possible for Tanglin Chess Club to accomodate post beginners - for that I am sure that there are other Clubs which have more room and can take in newbies to the game.  So the minimal that I ask for is for one who knows how to play and can record a chess game.  Friday nights are often rather quiet once the games start, everyone takes their game serio...

 Till date we have 5 interested participants for the class. Just 1 more to make the minimum, but hey, the more the merrier :-) Please feel free to drop me a email at jfan2003@gmail.com with the heading "Zoom Class for Adult Improvers" if you are keen to join. We are likely to start in May.

 1897 registered for the NSI this March 16-17 @ the OCBC Arena. A new venue, with good access by public transport. This sets another National record for the number of participants in a National Chess event. Good news, but perhaps a good reflection point. 2 students took part in the U10 category - Gabriel scored 5/9 and had a won position against Shaun Yeo before he blundered his Queen in time trouble. He also managed to draw against Leanne Tan (39th), both commendable achievements given that this is his first NSI. He is now fired up to do more for his game and I am happy that he has now adopted the habit of reviewing his games after play. This will go a long way towards improvement. Jarell just joined me not long ago - he was not familiar with the coordinates and had difficulty recording his games. Nonetheless he picked up 5.5 pts this year finishing 125th out of 467 players.  My ex students also fared well, one scoring 5 pts while the other was the U10 Champ.   For ...

 It's a new venue this year, so many are worried how to get to the OCBC Arena on time.  Here's some information from my recce trip this morning - hope it helps! By CAR Enter by Carpark C from the main road passing McDonalds on your left (if coming from Stadium Boulevard) till the roundabout circus. Turn left to Carpark C and park along C1-9. There is an escalator from C7 and a lift opposite the escalator. Once on ground level turn left towards the entrance of the OCBC Arena. Head towards Hall 1 DROPOFF You can drop the children off by entering the dropoff instead of turning towards Carpark C. This is near the Circle Line MRT Stadium exit (far left). Turn left and walk towards the Arena Hall 1 BY SCHOOL BUS Buses should proceed to the Coach Bay and alight the students. After getting off walk towards Berth 9 and left right to the Arena Hall 1 MRT Stadium MRT on Circle Line is closest to the OCBC Arena. Exit B is closest to the OCBC Arena. Those coming from the North East please ...

 So far I have only received 3 interested players. Waiting for more.  We may not be able to start January 20 - those who have written to me, please wait a little longer thanks. As the Chinese saying goes " 万事起头难 “ it will take a little more effort to promote my Zoom class. Nonetheless I will persevere. For those who are keen please go to my post  https://chessaddict63.blogspot.com/2025/12/zoom-group-class-for-kids-2026.html  for details. You may also Whatsapp at 97985479. 

  Another year has arrived! Should we repeat the mistakes of 2025? Or move forward? There are some thoughts that I wish to share with readers (particularly my students) reading this post. Let's focus on the following if we are to make significant steps in improving our game. STOP THE "NO TIME" EXCUSE   Here I like to quote from GM Grigoryan from ChessMood who said it best about us having no time to do chess work.   If you really want something, your brain becomes a magician. It finds time where no time exists. If you want to improve so badly… Or if you simply love this game with your whole heart… You will create time in places you once believed were impossible. You will steal minutes from sofa riding, Instagram scrolling, and Netflix wandering. You will start waking up earlier without even complaining. Your WANT will win over your CAN’T.       Indeed. We do not need to make changes in our schedule, just start small with pockets of tim...

 This year I had 4 students taking part in the 2025 NAG held at the same venue (Our Tampines Hub) but in December instead of end November.  In my opinion November may be a better time but I guess this is subjected to OTH's availability. Some top players were absent perhaps due to the schedule, but it does not take away the credit of the winners in the categories (which were changed to odd years from even years in 2024).  My students were placed in the lower of the age-category so they had uphill tasks when facing older opponents. So if they performed well, it is indeed a bonus.  U9 2 students competed in the U9 category. G scored 4.5/9 so he passed. Towards the last 4 rounds, he finally saw the light to review the notes in order to help his games. That made for his passing when he was scoring 1.5/4. E on the other hand could not get settle down in the tournament and had to settle for 3.5/9 scoring 1.5 from the last 4 games. From the scoresheets, he was not comfortabl...

 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 friend...

  After the National Age-Group Championships, I can see that interest is strong in the younger kids that took part. Many desire to have chess lessons. I was approached by quite a few parents whether I take in students for 1-1 lessons, but many may not be afford my rates. So I am now offering to do a 4 part simplified series of my “Zoom Class For Improvement” to those who wish to attend but are unable to afford 1-1 private lessons. However, parents need to know that there are of course compromises to this approach: a.       The topics cannot be tailored to suit each child. b.       The schedule has to be fixed so there is no way of adjusting it c.        Measuring progress is not in the scope of the lesson THE TOPICS 1                     Visualisation and Board Awareness 2    ...

 If all goes well, we may see another venue for chess enthusiasts to play over the board at Thomson CC come 2026. Watch this space!

 I often wonder why myself.   Is it for personal achievement? Fulfiling parents' expectations? Trying out for DSA? Or just to get better. Whatever the reasons, do treat the NAG differently from the weekly events that you may play in.   A lot of time is invested - for young players with accompanying persons, many sacrifices are made to babysit you at the venue. Your time is also invested in playing the game. NAG is not a FUN event and should not be regarded as one. It is a testament of how well you currently are plus a measure of you against the rest of the cohort ( meaning those of your age plus those 1 year older). Therefore I would take the NAG as seriously as a mini " exam ". 9 test papers. 9 examiners, ie your opponents who will not stop asking your questions till you end the test. The results at the end of 9 rounds will decide who passes and who fails. Nobody walks into an exam expecting to fail. Yet why do players not treat their preparation seriously??...

* * UPDATE : 4 HAVE SIGNED UP  ! For those who have missed the series, I am doing a re-run of the Zoom Class for Improvers to start in January 2026. We can start only if we get a minimum of 6 students for the sessions. $100 to be paid upfront before the start, with presentation slides AND the video of the full session given to each participant. A sample clip for the first session on Visualisation. Interested ? Please drop me an email at jfan2003@gmail.com with the header " Zoom Class for Improvers" and we can take it from there. To reiterate the topics that I am going to cover, they are:  Date Topic 05/1/2026 Board Awareness and Board Vision 12/1/2026 What to watch on Youtube? 19/1/2026 How to study Chess Books 26/1/2026 Playing online for improvement   03/2/2026 Selecting an Opening that suits you

 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...