Fencing and Chess and zen ......

I viewed an interesting video on the psychology of success in the sport (art?) of fencing utilising lessons form chess and zen courtesy of Chesscafe. The video is below. I think it is worth the 6 minutes of your lief to watch it.

A few quick points:
1) The usual misconception of chess is displayed here although there are some good insights.
2) I found it more interesting how zen thinking could be of assistance in chess especially in time trouble and playing blitz or Armageddon games.
[Added: After reading about what happened to GM Alexander Motylev at the World Cup Rd 1, zen thinking is soooo required. See TWIC's Mark Crowther's report here.

But once the opening started he was afflicted by indecision and that's just so fatal in blitz chess.

Mark concluded:

Somehow in these games you need to get a good rhythm and when you don't get that force yourself to make moves and perhaps even work out a short term schedule if you start to waste time. Motylev was great once he started playing blitz chess, but it was just way too late to make time control (from 17 seconds left he did really well for a while!). With black just good enough is surely the way to go. This isn't chess, it is blitz chess.

I think what is required is zen chess!!!]
3) What the Olympic silver medallist, Jason Rogers, has to say about his changes in approach fencing over time is interesting.
4) what was said about intuition in fencing, I think, could also be applied to chess and the warning about overcalculation is apt.
Lastly, I wish we have sports psychologists who can volunteer their time to assist chess juniors in the psychological preparation.

In any event, watch and let me know what you think.

US Chess School 2011

I have previously blogged on the US Chess School run by IM Greg Shahade with private sponsorship for the best 12 junior players in the US. The 15th edition (July) session was held in the Carolinas and FM Mike Klein has written an extensive report on the five days here (Chess Life Online). I suggest you read the report in full (beneficial for both parents and juniros). In addition to IM Shahade the main coach was GM Gregory Kaidanov. Excerpts on GM Kaidanov:

The grandmaster opened the camp with a critique disguised as a challenge. After polling the students on how much each studied (responses ranged from two to seven hours per week, with three hours the mode), he replied, “I hope that the numbers you gave are very modest. You are at such an age that even if you do nothing you’re going to get better. However, each one of you can become a GM at the end of high school. There is no question that it will require a huge commitment.

“To become a GM is something that will set you for life. Not in terms of a chess career, but in terms of success in life. [Colleges will see] you know how to organize your time and that you know how to study. To become a GM before high school (graduation) is more important than school itself. I’m not saying to drop out!”

Kaidanov placed emphasis throughout the entire camp on how to study, and how to figure out what to study. He advised students to laboriously analyze their own games and identify common weaknesses, making sure not to generalize. Kaidanov pointed out that many weaker players isolate the wrong reasons that they are losing games.

GM Kaidanov then focused ont he games of former world champion GM Anatoly Karpov:

“There is more positional chess than tactical,” Kaidanov said. “I know the world is unfair.” While everyone at the camp surely had heard of and occasional used prophylactic moves, Kaidanov wanted to make this the top priority. He cautioned never to improve your own position until you stifle your opponent’s play.

Kaidanov summed up Karpov’s entire career succinctly. One – What can my opponent do? Two – If my opponent can do nothing, how can I improve my position? “It usually takes forever but [Karpov] doesn’t mind,” Kaidanov said. [......] Channeling Karpov again, “OK, I have to do tactics, (sigh) if there is no other way.”

While the games of Tal and Nezhmetdinov may seem more alluring, Kaidanov said Karpov’s methods become more exciting the more they are understood.

Read the report to see what GM Kaidanov said abotu repeating moves as a legitimate game tactic: "He called repeating once a “tool, not a trick.”."

His reading list for advanced students?

In addition to the Mark Dvoretsky tomes, he especially liked “Imagination in Chess” by Paata Gaprindashvili, “Endgame Strategy” by Mikhail Shereshevsky, “John Nunn’s Chess Puzzle Book” by John Nunn and “Think Like a Grandmaster” by Alexander Kotov. Greg Shahade could not lavish enough praise on “Mastering Chess Strategy” by Johan Hellston.

On Day Three:

Later in the day Kaidanov played “solitaire chess” with his students, where the goal is to guess the next move. He said it is one of his favorite ways to study. “I love to do solitaire chess so much that I don’t like to look at games any other way,” he said. Unlike most teachers, Kaidanov usually does not scan through the moves before playing solitaire chess. He prefers to be on the same unsure footing of the others in the room.

Perhaps reacting to three solid days of Karpovian incrementalism, campers selected a Morozevich game from the recently concluded Russian Championship. The bold play of the dashing Morozevich flummoxed student and teacher alike. Kaidanov reacted with boyish delight at every mouse-click reveal of the super-GM’s moves.

On day Four the focus was on defensive chess:

Both trainers insisted on dogged determination in the face of a worse position.

On the importance of chess engines and database:

He also discussed the hugely important need for students to take advantage of database and engines. Kaidanov said he thinks Firebird, Houdini and Stockfish are just as good as Rybka. In what was the only proprietary part of camp, he gave the campers seldom-used “secret” techniques for maximizing the functions of chess software. Kaidanov arrived at camp with two laptops and had many more he left behind in Kentucky. “I have five computers at my house and they are constantly complaining that they don’t have enough work to do,” he said. “Please send me your positions!”

And the last moralising tale:

The final day, Kaidanov opened camp with a cautionary tale: the story of a former student whose talent was squandered in his formative years. Much later in life, during a brief return to chess, the student came to realize his ceiling was much lower than it could have been.

GM Wesley So speaks ......

From Will Stewart's ongoing series of interviews with GMs, here comes an interview with a familiar name and closer to home, namely Pinoy prodigy and talent, GM Wesley So. Excerpts:

When did you begin making legitimate progress in your game and How?

The first local chess coach I had helped me choose the right openings for me and enhanced them. But when I got my FM title (I was 12 then) working with him wasn’t essential anymore and I started to work on my own. I got my IM title a year later. During those times, I tried to improve my openings and analyse my games. And it is also essential to practice and play regularly to improve.

Can you recall a specific turning point? (a game, event, working with a chess coach, etc..)

2006 was important for me because I qualified for the Olympic team. I was only 12 then. I experienced working with IM’s and GM’s and how they play and see chess. My rating jumped from 2216 to 2450 in that year.

What are your top book recommendations for beginner to intermediate players? (<2000)

“My System” by Nimzowitsch is a good book. And also some books of Dvoretsky. Opening books are also useful for starting players. It gives them ideas about each opening. It is also very good to incorporate your repertoire with computer analysis.

What are your top book recommendations for advanced players? (2200+)

I think the same as above. Opening books, “My System”, etc. In my opinion it is quite difficult to study the endgame through books or computers. Because during the game tiredness will take its toll and each player cannot remember a lot of things they had studied. Experience through playing long games is essential to improve in the endings.

How did you become a Grandmaster? (What tournaments, did you have a chess trainer, etc..)

It is important to have a certain amount of experience playing GM’s (strong ones preferably), IM’s, etc. And to study and practice regularly. I got my GM title around 1 and a half years of trying to get it. It isn’t that easy because there is pressure when you are close to getting the norm. Sometimes its better not to think about it and just enjoy playing. And I did not have a trainer to become a GM.

What was your exact study regimen when you were working towards GM? (What exactly did you study, what study materials do you recommend, how much were you working with a chess trainer to prepare, etc..)

For me all I did was play and practice regularly. And it is also essential to prepare before an event (look at competitor’s games, prepare new openings, etc) to expect a good result. Around the time I became a GM I was going to high school, so I could only study 2-4 hours a day.

What is your study routine now? (how is it different?)

I analyse much deeper now than before. And the computer is getting stronger every year, so it means opponents are stronger and preparation is easier. These days I study between 2-6 hours a day.

Nature or Nurture: Do you think top chess players are born with a natural ability/gift or do they become so talented through hard work and the right environment?

It’s more of the latter in my opinion. These days,hard work (before and especially DURING the game) is essential in chess and not only chess, but in life if you want to succeed in something.

And his favourite player ...... of course it is Magnus Carlsen with whom he did some training sessions (at Magnus' request).

The new World Junior Chess Champions are crowned ...... and postmortem for Australians

I know I am supposed to blog on Australian juniors but I could not resist the dramatic and thrilling news of the final round of the 2011 World Juniors at Chennai, India. In the Open section, GM Robert Hovhannisyan from Armenia seemingly was assured of the title as he headed into the final round. He was half a point ahead of GM Dariusz Swiercz from Poland. But he could only draw whilst Dariusz won his final round game and with a better tiebreak score, Dariusz emerged as the 2011 World Junior Champion. Congrats to him and his family in Poland and in Australia. That is the reason I was excited as Dariusz has visited Australia before and played chess in Australia (see my previous blogs here). I understand we were very close to getting Dariusz to play in the Doeberl Cup and SIO this year but negotiations broke down. But I do feel for GM Hovhannisyan, to have come so close and yet missed! And he was leading the tournament for a long while! In this picture in the Chessdom's report (here) you can see that he is not very happy. (I am having problems uploading photos. Have not been able to figure out why ...... sigh!) Also check out Whychess' report here.

Amazingly, a similar occurrence took place in the World Junior Girls Championships. Here two girls, WGMs Olga Girya and Deysi Cori were having a huge battle. Olga was half a point ahead of Cori going into the last round after leading the tournament for a long while yet again. Amazingly, Deysi won her game and tragically, Olga lost to Indian top player, WGM Rout Padmini. This meant Deysi emerged the clear winner. (I have also previously blogged on Deysi Cori here and use the search function.)

Now how did Australian juniors fare? WIM Emma Guo did not have a good tournament. She started at rank 41 and finished at 55th position (5.5/13) with a rating performance of only 1911 (she is Elo 2029). Savithri Narenthran began at 68th rank and placed 67th (4/13), playing to her strength at performance of 1755 (she was rated Elo 1693). According to GM Ian Rogers in his Sun Herald column, Savithri was doing well, let down only by her technical endgame proficiency.

Of the three ex-juniors who participated in the Open, FM Junta Ikeda achieved the best result with 7/13, a performance rating of 2347 but that was only a performance close to his rating of Elo 2349. FM Moulthun Ly performed worse than his ratings at 2272 (Elo 2369) whilst Fedja Zulfic performed at 1971 (Elo 2098).

I do hope that someone somewhere (much better qualified than me) will conduct a postmortem analysis of the Australian performance, not to find fault but to seek some concrete answers. I am going to put my foot in my mouth and go out on a limb and say that Australians need to wise up in these international Open events. They will face a lot of under-rated players who are extremely tactical in their play. These overseas players play differently as has been attested by none other than GM David Smerdon. Australians need to learn the skill of being able to "put them away" and gain that crucial point. You need to "Carlsen" your opponents. In these tournaments, every single draw is half a point lost, not half a point won! I know these are tough words but that is my considered opinion. In addition to actual chess, Australians need to have the mental and psychological toughness to grind out the win, game after game. Stamina, resilience, focus, and inner drive are required. Ultimately, you must have the belief in yourself. That is of course if you are there to play and win! Of course, if you are there to play and have fun, that is a different matter altogether. And before I get flamed, I am in no way suggesting that our representatives were not in Chennai to play and win.

Comments welcomed.

GMs speaks ......

From the US, comes a series of interviews (Q&A) with strong chess players on the topic, How to be a Grandmaster. The series is at the blog of US National Chess Master (a national title ~2200-2300) William Stewart***.

So far he has interviewed GM Estratios Grivas (video interview here posted August 2011), GM Serjey Karjakin (interview here posted August 2011), GM Evgeny Postny (interview here), and GM Adam Tukhaev (interview here).

Some excerpts (but please visit the blog for the full interviews):
[Karjakin]
How did you become a GM?

I worked a lot with many different chess coaches, with father, alone with computer. It was result of big work and young chess players have to understand that with out big work it is impossible to became GM.

How does preparation and study vary among players of different levels?

Professional chess players mostly work on the openings, but at the beginning young chess players have to study endgame, and middlegame as well.

Nature or Nurture: Do you think top chess players are born with a natural ability/gift or do they become so talented through hard work and the right environment?

I think that top chess players are both talented and hard-worker. It is impossible to become top, with out this 2 things.

[Postny]
When did you begin playing chess tournaments and how did you do?

I started playing in official tournaments at age 8, and with fine success, because I already had enough knowledge, playing training games with my father and other players since age 5.

Can you recall a specific turning point? (a game, event, working with a chess coach, etc..)

There were some games, memorable and highly important, as well as chess coaches that helped me on my way, but I wouldn’t be so dramatic to recall a turning point. This is because the key to success is hard work on my own.

What are your top book recommendations for beginner to intermediate players? (Below 2000)

“My system” by Nimzowitsch is a must study book for players of every level. “My Great Predecessors” by Kasparov.

What are your top book recommendations for advanced players? (2200+)

In addition to above mentioned, “Endgame Manual” by Dvoretzky is very much recommended.

What was your exact study regimen when you were working towards GM? (What exactly did you study, what study materials do you recommend, how much were you working with a chess trainer to prepare, etc..)

I studied openings, checking the actual games by leading players, and then analysing them, improving my tactical skills by solving studies and exercises, as well as improving my knowledge in endgames, using old books (at that time the great Dvoretzky’s books about endgames hadn’t appear yet). I was working mainly on my own but also with a chess coach – it was about 80% working on my own, and 20% with my chess coach.

What is your study routine now? (how is it different?)

The only difference is that now it’s 100% working on my own.

Nature or Nurture: Do you think top chess players are born with a natural ability/gift or do they become so talented through hard work and the right environment?

It’s a combination of all the factors. The natural talent is important, but the key to success is hard work.

[Tukhaev]
When did you begin making legitimate progress in your game and How?
In the first years of learning, like from 5 to 10, I just couldn’t get enough of chess. I read many books – superficially, of course, but it was useful I guess. I loved the most reading “My System” by Nimzowitsch, and also Morphy’s games collection. For one thing, it was like taking in the chess culture, but also learning some typical positions and principles. But in my opinion, the most important thing that led to the progress was solving different combinations, problems, and studies provided by my chess coach. We also worked on endings and openings. As a result, at age 10 I won the Ukrainian championship U-10. Later I began to show some successful performances at the local events. But I think the progress substantially slowed down, as I as spending less time on chess, partly because of studies, and mainly because of my character – success makes me too happy and lazy. Then at 16, I began intensive work (well, at least it was intensive for me – 6-8 hours a day, I guess) trying to improve my chess. Mainly it was solving studies and studying theory. I also started to play more often, around 100 games a year. And of course analysing my games and trying to understand the weak sides was important. Next year (2005) I became an IM, and in 2007 – GM.

Can you recall a specific turning point?
I’m not sure about any turning points… But probably at the age of 16 I somehow realized that my progress depends on how intense my work is, so I began to practice seriously.

What are your top book recommendations for beginner to intermediate players?
Well, “My System” by Nimzowitsch is a classic. It gives a good overview of chess strategy. Some books with lots of exercises to solve are necessary. Of course, one needs to pick books with such examples that are challenging but at the same time not too tough. To mention one, Laszlo Polgar – “Chess: 5334 Problems, Combinations & Games” could be useful. I also think that biographical and tournament books are good to stimulate interest and motivate a player. I loved Bronstein’s “Zurich International Chess Tournament, 1953” – another classic.

What are your top book recommendations for advanced players?
For solving exercises I can mention John Nunn’s “Chess Puzzle Book”, Volokitin & Grabinsky – “Perfect Your Chess”, Kasparian – “Domination in 2545 Endgame Studies”, or just Combination, Studies, and Endgame sections of the Chess Informant. Kasparov’s “My Great Predecessors” and “Revolution in the 70′s” is a fine overview of how the game developed. Dvoretsky’s “Endgame Manual” is excellent, just as Shereshevsky’s “Endgame Strategy”. Oh, almost forgot my favourite – Rowson’s “Chess for Zebras”. It’s instructive, mind-expanding, and perfectly written.

How did you become a GM? (What tournaments, did you have a chess coach, etc..)
Since age 15 I worked on chess myself. I think when one reaches the level of, say 2400+, there’s no need for a trainer. I mean, having a good chess coach is fine, but one can do well without it. [......]

What was your exact study regimen while working towards GM?
I worked towards GM since from age 16 to 19, finally getting the 3rd norm in 2007. It was six hours a day on average, I suppose. Mainly I was working on openings, though I tend to think I was doing it in a wrong way since I used to get in worse positions anyway! The other crucial part of the preparation was solving different exercises, like studies (my favourite) and combinations. I also played a lot of tournaments. For example, I played six GM tournaments before finally scoring all three GM norms. The best part was the post-mortem analysis with stronger players, it helped a lot. So, from my experience, the openings are not so important to reach the level of GM. It is much more important to improve one’s game skills, like tactics, and feeling of harmony – or positional chess, if you like. And that can be achieved by everyday, persistent practice in solving different studies, problems etc.

How is your study routine different now?
[......] But generally, if we take the routine I followed before making good performances in the last two years, it consisted of three elements: openings, solving studies, and physical preparation. Average six or seven hours a day, five or six days a week. All this work should begin at least two months before a tournament, I think. Generally, I tend to focus on the opening stage now.

Nature or Nurture: Do you think top chess players are born with a natural ability/gift or do they become so talented through hard work and the right environment?

It’s 50-50, in my opinion. Some people work less extensively than others, and show better results. I believe there is such a thing, maybe such character traits that distinguish best players from others. And probably there’s a period in childhood when it’s necessary to immerse in chess in order to achieve top results later. But if we’re talking about reaching the GM level, hard work can cover all limitations. So it’s crucial to be determined to improve.

From the answers given above, it is evident yet again how important for success are hard work, self-motivation, and a balanced training regime focused, at the beginning and intermediate stages, on the endgame and middlegame, and later in the advanced stage on openings. See some of my previous blogs for examples of these.

It is heartening to note that GM Tukhaev considers achieving the GM title by hard work as a distinct possibility.





*** Caveat: The blog is a commercial blog advertising online chess coaching etc. No endorsement by this blog is to be implied.

How to be a Millionaire...... Chess-Style!

It has been reported that GM Magnus Carlsen's business vehicle, Magnuschess, has reported earnings of >USD1.5 million for 2010, which was almost a 100% increase over 2009 (~USD650,000). See here. The pre-tax result was >USD900,000 which meant >USD690,000 was spent on wages for Magnus as well as fees for GM Garry Kasparov's services as coach. Now you know how much Garry charges if you ever wondered about engaging Garry as coach.

IM Jeremy Silman Speaks .....

In a review of a book on positional chess using the games of GM Ulf Andersson (Grandmaster Chess Strategy — What Amateurs Can Learn from Ulf Andersson) by two chess players, FM Jurgen Kaufeld and IM Guido Kern, IM Jeremy Silman said the following:

A word about the many misguided fellows who think they know what they are talking about but don’t have a clue (yet they want to share their ignorance with anyone who will listen): Many of these people rave insanely about how players under 2000 should only study tactics and nothing else. This is simply wrong on many levels. The first problem is that if you don’t have any positional skills you won’t be able to enjoy (or understand) master games that feature anything other than basic sacrifices. The second problem is that chess strength is based on being well rounded – you need a bit of everything if you want success, and if you just focus on one thing you’ll find that you quickly reach a limit and never progress from there. The third problem is that tactical success is largely based on setting up a positionally sound game where tactics occur naturally. If you just play random moves and hope for a lucky knockout punch, you’ll find you’re going nowhere fast.

Personally, I feel that tactics, tactics, and more tactics are indeed what players under 1200 need. But once you master basic tactical themes it will be time to expand your horizons and absorb other kinds of lessons too (and, of course, you should continue to hone your tactical skills long after you go beyond 1200, but not to the detriment of all other chess areas). In my view, GRANDMASTER CHESS STRATEGY is a fun way for players 1400 to 2200 to push aside their lizard (attacking) brain and absorb some positional niceties.

GM Ray Robson — Book Review

No, it is not a book review by GM Ray Robson, the junior who broke Bobby Fisher's long-standing record of the youngest US junior ever to become a GM. It is a review by well-respected chess player and coach, IM John Donaldson, of the book about the Robsons journey written by the father, Gary Robson. I have previously blogged about the book here but I have not read the book.

So here is a review to whet your appetite if you are that inclined (ie you are the chess parent of a super-talented junior chess player). Some excerpts form the book review:

Gary Robson writes movingly of the difficulties of finding the right person to help his son at the right time. This coach not only has to possess the necessary chess information and be ability to communicate it but also achieve the right rapport with young Ray.

Finding one coach is not enough. One of the more painful passages in CHESS CHILD deals with one of Ray’s first teacher, a Florida expert who has a been a good teacher and friend but who is unable to recognize that he has no more knowledge to offer. As Ray climbs up the ladder this need for stronger and stronger teachers doesn’t go away.
[......]
A reoccurring theme throughout CHESS CHILD is the sacrifices the Robson family (Gary, Yee-chen and Ray) make. There can’t be too many families in Florida that have spent several summers without air-conditioning! Giving a young talent a chance to thrive is not cheap. At one point the Robson’s are spending $25,000 a year out of pocket and they are not materially wealthy people.
[......]
Ray is a strong Grandmaster nearing 2600 FIDE as the book ends at the end of 2009. He has accomplished a great deal in chess, more than his parents could have ever expected, but what will the future hold? Ray clearly loves chess and has parents who realize that material success doesn’t mean everything, but few players below the elite (2750 on up) are able to support themselves by tournament winnings alone. Coaching, commenting and writing are all honorable ways to make ends meet but they take away from playing and many strong Grandmasters do them not out of pleasure but because they must. For many that is why they call earning a living “work” and leads to questions of why if one is going to “work” doesn’t it make sense to seek something that pays better. Still one does well to remember the words of the Canadian-American Grandmaster Peter Biyiasas who once said that a chess professional should never trade his freedom for a 9 to 5 job unless he doubled his pay!

One might think that Gary Robson would be bitter should his son choose to follow a different path than chess down the road. Think of all the sacrifices the family has made from sleeping on kind strangers’ couches, taking flights with multi-layovers to get the cheapest ticket to driving clunkers and more. But he wouldn’t be. He writes at the end of CHESS CHILD that it has all been worth it. The family has traveled all over the world from the Galapagos Islands to the far north of Norway from Brazilian beaches to bathing in thermal pools in Iceland and their son has been able follow his dream. That doesn’t sound bad.

PS. GM Ray Robson is currently playing in the 2011 World Junior in Chennai with 2.5/3.

GM Alexander Morozevich Speaks ......

He is young, good looking, considered to be one of the most creative chess players, formerly World No 2 chess player, achieved numerous tournament results (Wikipedia: "His first win in an international tournament was in 1994, when at the age of 17 he won the Lloyds Bank tournament in London with a 9½ out of 10 score"***) ...... and he is El Moro!

Recently he came out of as self-imposed exile from tournament chess after a string of disappointing chess results and won the Higher League of the Russian Championship (ie the Semi-Finals of the Russian Chess Championships) and then came second in the 2011 edition of Biel (World No 1 GM Magnus Carlsen took first).

See summary of video interview here and enjoy video below:



*** IM Colin Crouch's book, Attacking Technique, 1996 ICE/Batsford, devotes an entire chapter to Moro's games from the Lloyd's Bank Tournament as exemplars of fighting chess.

Dominic Lawson Speaks ......

Read this fascinating article/interview by/with Dominic Lawson who wrote a book about the World Championship Match between the World Champion GM Garry Kasparov and challenger GM Nigel Short, here. And also his recommended 5 books to read in chess.

Excerpts:

Do you have to be very clever to be good at it?

It would be difficult to be strong at chess if you had a subnormal IQ, but you certainly don’t need an IQ of above average. I’m sure you could find very strong grandmasters with IQs around about the 100 mark, which is the average. [......]
What I have noticed in very strong players, though, is an extraordinary degree of concentration. You really do have to concentrate very hard for long periods. There is a very boring phrase for that, which is hard work. That’s often underestimated, while the idea of effortless genius is greatly overestimated. And if it is hard work – and it is – then you must get something really quite special out of it, to put yourself through it. You need to really hate losing. Someone once said, “Chess is a battle between your aversion to the pain of losing, and your aversion to the pain of thinking.” Because hard thinking is stressful and difficult. Quite often, the reason why, as we get older, we lose more games of chess – certainly in my case – is that you begin to get more pain from thinking than you do from losing. Also, if you’re a young person, you’re probably rejecting other ways of occupying your time, which most people would think are more pleasurable, whether it’s watching Teen Idol or playing football or having a drink. It has to really excite you, so motivation plays a huge part. That’s often described as natural ability, but it may actually be a description of something that is more like desire, a really huge desire.
[......]
That was one of the questions I wanted to ask you – why did the Soviets dominate chess to such an extent? Are you saying it was a result of government policy, basically?

[......] Also, at the individual level, if you were a bright, intelligent young Russian, it was a very good way for the authorities to deflect people who might otherwise be quite troublesome, because it was entirely apolitical. I suppose the Chinese today have a very similar attitude to chess – they like it very much. Lots of them, including Bronstein, Botvinnik and Tal, were Jewish. Jews were discriminated against in more conventional areas of expertise because there was a lot of antisemitism in Russia. Chess was somewhere where they could be tolerated. Here they were innocuous, they weren’t exploiting anyone, they weren’t gaining power or money. Also, without being flippant, what would you do for many, many hours in the evening, if you were in the Soviet Union in the 1950s? How, as a young person, would you actually amuse yourself? It would be perfectly sensible to spend five or six hours at the Moscow Central Chess Club, because what would be the alternative? Not a whole lot that was very interesting or exciting. And what would be interesting or exciting might also be rather dangerous.

To be or Not to be .......

That is to say, a chess professional. Many talented chess juniors are tempted but very few succumbed. Either they are strong in character to resist or family "guidance" says otherwise. Of course in Australia we have our very first two GMs living (and enjoying!) the life as a chess professional, namely GM Ian Rogers and GM Darryl Johansen. But none after. GM Zhao ZongYuan is busy in medical studies while continuing to play chess at a high level (albeit with a couple of recent setbacks (one in Adelaide) but a bounce back at the ANU Open). GM David Smerdon tells of the story of being offered coaching and training by a well-respected European professional chess coach when he was in his teens. He was sorely tempted but ultimately walked away and pursued a career in economics. (Read more from GM Smerdon on chess vs life here and here.)

Now Canadian GM Mark Bluvshtein has blogged about a similar decision-making process. I suppose Canada is closer in economic, social terms and conditions than China, India, Vietnam or the Philipines. So GM Bluvshtein's blog can provide a useful perspective. Read it here.

Excerpts:

So why leave the world of chess? A much harder questions would be: “why stay in it?” Before this year, it was clear to me that I did not want to be a professional chess player. This year was, in part, about not having regrets and getting my chess fix. A big part of my early life was spent playing chess and it just made sense to do it full time for a year before starting a career elsewhere.

The world of chess is not a thriving one for the chess professionals. The situation in certainly not getting any better. The top 20 in the world make a good living, with the top five making a very good living. It pays to be a chess professional in India, China and Cuba due to government support. Eastern European countries also offer different opportunities. But this is Canada, where career opportunities are endless. It never made sense to be a professional chess player.

While young, the life style could be exciting. If there is a family to support, excitement turns into a desire to make ends meet and see the family more. There is no stability.

PS. The grapevine indicates that GM Luke McShane (written in GM Smerdon's blog) the former great chess hope of England who left chess for a career at Goldman Sachs, who then left a glittering future as an investment banker to try the professional chess life, competing creditably at the 2010 London Chess Classic, has now returned to full time non-chess life. Hmmmm ...... wonder what's the story there?