After 43 standard games of chess in just less than the span of two months, I must say - I'm feeling exceptionally tired. But as fate would have it, the season ended on an exceptionally good note for me. I placed in the top 5 of both of the last two tournaments which I played in; and gained a net total of 64 rating points, which would bring me to an all time rating high of 1998 (coincidentally also my birth year). This was an extremely pleasant surprise after playing poorly and losing rating points in all of the preceding tournaments. To anyone reading this - this is proof that hard work pays off! Earlier in February of this year - I was training systematically, everyday, for at least 4 hours, on all aspects of Chess. So when I played in my first standard tournament (The Assumption Open) of the year, I was quite upset with my poor performance, bungling winning positions, accepting a draw in a good position. Also in the following two tournaments my level of play was horrendous, In three games I was completely winning but instead scored 0.5 out of 3 of those games! But then I realized what was holding me back - my ego. I was under the pressure to perform well, no surprise considering I'd trained systematically the past few months. So during the small break before my last two tournaments, I read a part of Dan Heisman's excellent book: A Guide to Chess Improvement: The Best of Novice Nook, and came across a jewel of advice (I am paraphrasing here) - improvement comes mostly through the elimination of weaknesses rather than the acquisition of new knowledge. So I had a revelation: what were my weaknesses? Thus, you will find just a few blog posts earlier, a list of my weaknesses :). So during my last two tournaments, I played whilst being aware of my weaknesses and catching them out when they began to creep into my play. But most importantly, I played without the constraints of my ego, having experienced so many ego crushing losses - you could say I had developed a resistance to the ego virus :). Safe to say, the results speak for themselves. Although one must always keep in mind that no matter how good you are, there is always room for improvement. One must beware of the ego, and I must say - I could feel it after my recent string of successes. I felt good, I had forgotten what winning felt like, and in my last remaining games I played with a newfound confidence. This confidence is good, but one must beware when it begins to trick you, when you begin to make sub-par moves with the aura of a super GM. As a pearl for the future, I must remind myself that I am always a student, always learning. It will only get harder, but that's the beauty of the journey. I am currently on a high, but there will be lows, oh I know there'll be lows - but one must keep in mind that in those lows we must remain strong and persevere to come out stronger, wiser, and as better chess players :).
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