I’ve been meaning to write a blog post on my upcoming tournament (Continental Chess Championships in Virginia) but I keep not doing it. Do you know why??? It’s because I am obsessed with studying chess every free milisecond that I can. There is so so much I have to do. I’ve only been back for a little over 2.5 months, and the more I study, the more I realize I have to study and learn. I’m definitely going to be a lot more flexible in the opening this time around, and I can only imagine how much better things in that regard will be when I’ve been studying for an entire year. I’ve also ordered all 11 of the main Dvoretsky books, and am studying them hardcore. I wish I had time to spend more time on them, because at the rate I’m going it’ll take 1-2 years before I finish them all, but at the moment they are the main/only focus of my non-opening study, and I try to make sure to do a decent amount of that every day.

I was very very lucky in my first tournament. My result could have easily been a lot worse than it was, but my opponents choked in a few key situations. I should be a little bit better at chess for this tournament, but obviously my result could be either very good, normal, or horrible.

In any case I’m going to try to do all the same stuff that I did last time…work really hard, sleep well, eat well, etc etc.  I’d love to write more but gotta study now Will write a tourney recap after it’s over and of course will have videos up on every single game from the tournament, win/lose or draw, at chessvideos.tv.

So of course now that I’m playing chess everyone is harassing me about GM norms all the time, telling me to go get them, asking me if I’m going to try and etc etc. Well of course I’m going to try because for economic reasons. By having the GM title next to your name, you save a lot of money in entry fees, make money in conditions/fees, and get paid more for various tasks, and also command more respect in general. Despite all of these benefits though, I’m going to be sure not to let it influence my play or decisions at all. I’m simply going to attempt to play in a decent number of events where if I happen to do well, I’ll get a GM norm. And anyone who constantly harasses me about them, please stop, thanks! Just like you shouldn’t be norm/rating obsessed yourself, you shouldn’t be when it comes to other people as well, as it simply propagates the obsession that all of our young players have with ratings/norms etc, that often leads to a bit of stagnation and aiming for goals that are lower than their talent abilities.

One thing I’d like to do is create a new title system for myself, because if I do someday get the GM title, obviously I know that there would be a lot further to go. So here is my new title system, that I think the entire world should use, because we are at the point that the title “GM” doesn’t tell you anything anymore, when there are often 300-400 rating point gaps between the highest and lowest rated GM’s.

So…here it is below, and it assumes that everyone is a GM already, and the number in parenthesis is how many people are at that level, followed by what their minimum world rank would be:

2500 or less = Weak Grandmaster (not sure)

2500-2550 =  Normal Grandmaster (#540 – top 905)

2550-2600 = Solid Grandmaster (#178 – top 365)

2600-2650 = Strong Grandmaster (#88 – top 187)

2650-2700 = Very Strong Grandmaster (#57 – top 99)

2700-2750 = Super Grandmaster (#31 – top 42)

2750-2800 = Elite Grandmaster (#8 – top 11)

2800+ = World Championship Level Grandmaster (#3 – top 3 in World)

Now of course I know that the above makes it seem like I am obsessed with this stuff, but I promise you I’m not. First I think there needs to be more precise classification of top players, and secondly I want to make sure there is a very clear goal to achieve if I ever fulfill one of my goals. I will not pay extreme attention to it, but it’ll just happen to be this measuring stick that’s floating out there, so that after a tournament is over I can see where I stand.

So if by any chance I do one day earn the GM title, I will simply go for the next level of GM on my list, and that will be my very clear goal. By this I mean that I will attempt to get my playing strength to that level (not my actual rating!!). Once you play at a certain level, your rating automatically floats around that level anyway. I will be required to maintain it for 30 rated games in order to classify myself as that level of GM, so that it wasn’t just some fluke accident hot streak. But enough about that, maybe I should try to win my first chess game in six years before I get carried away talking about different levels of Grandmaster, because right now I still have enormous holes/weaknesses all over the place, and will be lucky if I can beat any of the big genius 12-13 year old’s that are all over the place these days. I start tomorrow, and I’m totally not ready yet, but that makes it a bit more fun. It’s more like a practice tournament so that when I do feel completely prepared in maybe 4-8 months or so, I’ll remember what it’s like to move a chess piece.

My return to the competitive chess world begins in about two weeks, at the Manhattan Open. For the first time in maybe my entire life, I’m actually excited to play in a chess tournament. I’ve rediscovered a love for the game that never existed in my youth. Here are my goals for my chess career, and as long as I fulfill these, nothing else matters:

1. Do everything possible to outwork your opponents, both at home and at the board.

There is nothing worse in chess than being called “talented” once you are past the age of 16-18. I can name a bunch of “talented” players, and the one thing these players have in common is that they all failed to live up to their potential. Saying “such and such is really talented” is basically saying “if only they weren’t a lazy sack of shit, they would probably be really good at chess”. Needless to say I got called talented at times…no more insults please. From now on I want to be known as the untalented guy who just studies all the time and that’s the only reason why I’m any good.

2. Don’t worry about winning or losing:

In order for me to be happy playing chess, it’s very important to seperate myself from the result. The only things that matter are that I put my all into a chess game, and that I’ve studied properly before the game has begun. As long as I do that, everything else is meaningless. If I hang a piece….so what? I’m obviously going to make huge blunders sometimes, no one can avoid that, it’s going to happen, and to get upset or down on yourself when it happens is pointless. Also I just want to enjoy moving the pieces around….sitting around being obsessed with winning and losing makes chess a lot less enjoyable. Despite that I’ll try to win every game, it just won’t be a problem if I don’t win. This kind of attitude is very hard to keep in a results-oriented world such as chess, and being around other people that are so results obsessed, but I’ll find a way to ignore all the annoying people.

Also since I’m going to be doing a decent amount of teaching, both with private students (the number of whom will be extremely limited, so if you want me as a coach you better hurry), and US Chess School Camps, my losing games are going to be extremely important. I am going to enjoy and get excited to show off all of my losses, as they are almost certainly better learning opportunities for both myself, and the people I’m showing the games to.

3. Make no excuses to avoid playing chess:

When I was younger I was basically a disgrace. So often I would just not feel like playing in the middle of a tournament, and do stupid stuff like offer draws on move 7, or just play extremely quickly so I could go hang out with my friends. One time I played a game ensuring that I used no more than 30 minutes for the entire game so that I could watch a playoff football game. There are a few guarantees as a chessplayer. You are going to be exhausted sometimes before/during a game. You are going to not feel like playing before/during a game for various reasons. And you are going to get sick during a tournament sometimes. These are all guaranteed to occur on occasion, and it’s important to me that I take these moments as opportunities to be strong, instead of opportunities to make excuses when I lose. Sure it will likely cause me to play at less than 100% capacity, but I’m going to take pride in doing everything possible to play my best, regardless of how I feel.

4. Avoid all pointless social interaction at chess tournaments:

Hanging out with other people and having conversations with people during a serious chess tournament is tiring and exhausting. If you read this blog and try to make small talk with me when I’m in the middle of competing in a chess tournament and you barely know me, don’t be surprised if I’m very short with you. I don’t want to talk to anyone, I don’t want to share a meal with anyone. I want to play chess, I want to go take my computer and analyze the game as soon as it’s over and then I want to relax before the next game. I don’t want to waste a second of energy doing anything that isn’t related to the tournament.I spent way too much time being nice and being social at chess tournaments when I was young. No more, talk to me when the tournament is over.

5. Take pride in pointless games:

My big goal is to play some tournament, suck bigtime, losing a bunch of games..maybe one or two to much weaker players, and then be paired with someone 300 points lower rated than me in the last round. Then I want to sit there, and get excited to play a good game, and work my ass off in that final round. No withdrawing, no being embarrassed that I’m sucking….I’m going to play one game of chess as hard as I can.

So these are some of my goals. I didn’t even mention anything about not taking draws, because that’s too obvious to even write about. I have the advantage of being able to look back at my former career, and hopefully avoid all of the pitfalls that made me perform less than my best, and also made me not enjoy the act of playing in chess tournaments. I don’t know how I played so many slow chess games without enjoying a single one. I enjoyed them after the fact after I beat a strong player, but during play, all I could think about was doing everything possible to win, and fearing how unpleasant it would feel to lose. It wasn’t fun, I didn’t enjoy the process…I only enjoyed the winning. For someone like me, who has lived such a comfortable life the past eight years, there’s obviously no chance that I’m going back to an environment like that. I’m ready, prepared and excited to lose to you. Just as long as I put every ounce of my soul into the game before you crush me.

Also becoming a GM is not really a goal. It’s more of a necessity because there are all these convenient perks to becoming a GM. I will play in GM norm tournaments on a regular basis so that I’ll end up becoming a GM by accident. I’m not going to focus on it other than that though. What I really want to do is just enjoy playing chess. Right now I’m enjoying studying chess to a degree that I never knew was possible. I want to get to 2500 FIDE. Then I want to see if I can get to 2550. Then let’s see if I can get to 2600 FIDE. (admittedly that will be very tough….but 2550 I believe I can accomplish). And even if I never gain a single rating point, I want to have fun playing. Fortunately I know that I’m pretty good and probably I’ll have a few successes here and there

Anyway see you all in two weeks. I’m going to write a post tournament report for USCFOnline, so check it out.