Love your chess but don’t get carried away.
TODAY marks the third day of the Kuala Lumpur Open chess tournament. It is one of the country’s bigger chess tournaments this year.
There’s an unprecedented number of foreign players in the event, and there’s also a record number of titled players. Compared with last year’s tournament, this year’s KL Open is definitely richer in quality.
With the increased chances for grandmaster norms and international master norms in this tournament, will our local players be able to rise to the occasion?
Unfortunately, there are not enough local players registered for this event.
Among those playing in the tournament, only a handful has a realistic chance of scoring a title norm.
Nevertheless, our local players should strive hard to try and attain these norms – or at the very least, gain experience from playing against the foreign players. After all, this tournament is organised specifically with these objectives in mind.
But please don’t get me wrong. The games are tough enough without me putting any additional pressure on the local players to perform.
In a chess tournament, there is always the competition. The competitive effort to be better than the next guy. Maybe there are a few draws here and there but by and large, someone has to win a game and someone has to lose.
And it gets tougher as the tournament progresses because players tire and you get to meet opponents closer to your own standards.
You are no longer overwhelmed by people whose chess strengths are better than yours. At the same time, there are also no more weaker players for you to bully. As a tournament progresses, you meet opponents of relatively the same standard as you and that’s where the going gets tough.
Nevertheless at the end of the day, you must remember that it is only a game and not a matter of life and death. So enjoy your game.
Once a round is over, forget about the results and look forward to preparing for the next game. Euphoria is temporary and so is disappointment. So why should a player suffer needlessly through a tournament?
If you love playing chess, it is not an ordeal when you lose a game. But if you fear losing a game or even your rating points, then taking part in competitions is not for you. Set your expectations right and you’ll start enjoying life over the chessboard.
Don’t play chess like there is a sword of Damocles hanging over you. Winning or losing is part of the game.
Coming back to the KL Open, the fourth and the fifth rounds are being held today: the fourth round starts at 9am, while the fifth round begins at 4pm. The venue is the Grand Olympic Hotel in Jalan Hang Jebat, Kuala Lumpur.
Tomorrow, there’ll only be one game (the sixth round) in the morning.
In the afternoon, get ready to rumble with that articulate British grandmaster, Nigel Short, who will be in town briefly for a simultaneous exhibition before scooting off to Bangkok for a tournament there.
The participants of this event will also have the chance to sit down with Short for a meal after the games are over.
There’ll be two more rounds on Sunday and one on Monday morning to round off the KL Open.