On Good Day Columbus with Mehmet
July 7, 2025

In honor of Mehmet, I supported him during a TV interview.
https://myfox28columbus.com/news/local/chess-tournament-championship-mehmet-yilanli-international-national

An Interview with me by Kathy Lin from CCA
June 26, 2025

There is a description of how we got from the old CCL to CCL V.2, as well as my philosophy on chess playing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYSHSKP2eY

 

My reaction to Ladecky's graduation speech.

My main takeaway from Ledecky's speech was to focus on the process, not the goals. The goals that we achieve are just snapshots in time; it is the processes that we follow that get us there. It is a paradox, but the more we focus on the process and the less we focus on our goals, the more likely we are to reach our goals. When we reach our defined goal, we can often feel empty in a short time, as it turns out that our true love is the process, not the goal itself.

Why do you want your children to play chess and become professional chess players? If that is the case, I might be the first person at the door trying to stop your child from getting through. A professional chess player has a hard life with limited rewards. If you can become a professional chess player, you can be almost anything you want.

It is in the chess world that we develop the skills necessary to be successful in other endeavors. These include learning the relationship between hard work and success, improving self-discipline, developing the ability to learn from both success and failure, and enhancing memory, critical thinking, focus, concentration, emotional control, long-term planning, self-concept, and other key skills. In other words, the chess world is a microcosm of the broader world, where we can develop the skills to face adulthood within a safe and controlled environment.

While athletics can improve your physical abilities, chess develops your intellect. It's one of the few games that makes you smarter, tougher, and more self-aware — if you take it seriously.

We should focus on the process rather than the goals, as the goals are merely a natural outcome of the process.

 

My thoughts on a suggested progression path in CCL chess instruction that starts with me as the coach.

 

I have given much thought to the optimized progression path. There will always be variance, but this is how it currently appears to me:

1) My students work primarily with me until they get about 1300 strength.

2) Then they start splitting time between me and a higher-end coach.

3) Once the student finds consistent value in the higher-end coach, we move to a mentorship (if a good relationship exists between the coach and student).

 

I need to define what I will do as a chess mentor, a new CCL service. A chess mentor is a well-known role in some top programs. I will meet with the student approximately 1-4 times per year, and the focus will, at least in part, be on aspects of chess that do not involve the movement of pieces. My history in behavioral science will be helpful.

 

Above is a directional statement, and nothing is set in stone.

 

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This stream is a compilation of three posts I shared in the CCL WhatsApp Group, all of which relate to how to approach a chess game.

Here are some thoughts on focus: Recently, I noticed that many kids are trying too hard in tournament games. Do not overlook that competitive chess can significantly strain your body, even in young, active children. So, the idea that you should consistently perform at your hardest throughout a tournament game seems ludicrous. These systems (e.g., attention span) break down at different times and replenish through rest. We don't have much time to rest in a game, but allowing some time is beneficial. Focusing on something else is good when it is our opponent's turn to move. I often close my eyes and meditate, which is probably considered old-fashioned. Focus is a valuable asset in chess and can be developed.

Why does trying to win lower our chances of winning?

In chess, as in life, there are things we can control and those we cannot. Winning is not something we can control; many factors, such as our health, the play of our opponent, and luck, are beyond our control. We have control over many factors that increase our likelihood of winning, and by focusing on these, our chances of success improve. Examples of these include our study and practice habits, our nutrition, our sleep, and our appropriate focus at the board (to be discussed in a later talk). Trying to do something out of our control produces a great deal of stress. When examining the relationship between stress and performance, a standard bell curve is observed, where increasing stress levels initially improve performance until they eventually lower it. The nature of chess tournaments has already put most of us at the peak of this curve, and additional stress only lowers our performance. Professional chess players typically operate at a high energy level while reducing their stress levels, which, on the surface, seems like a conflicting goal. Winning happens when we let go of the need to win and instead focus on playing the game well.

Although with the best intentions, I have often seen well-meaning parents press their children to win, a technique that is only likely to produce more failure. I have never met a child who didn't want to win, although I have met many children who do not want to take the necessary steps to increase their chances of winning. The best is to shift from "I must win" to "I will perform at my best and let winning be a byproduct."

This document is the third and last installment on approaching a chess game. I posted these notes in Alan's Ramblings in the Community section of our website in case anyone wishes to refer to them later.

In sports, including chess, there is an ideal state of mind where we are fully absorbed in the game, and everything else seems to fade away. Time becomes obscure in this state of mind, and intuitive ideas come to us more easily. This mental state is often called a flow state or being 'in the zone.'

Professional chess players employ various techniques to optimize this flow state. Examining all of these techniques is beyond the scope of this small document. Instead, I will give my personal view on this subject.

When we reach this state, we become lost in our position, and the only thing on our minds is the position in front of us. All chess players have had this experience, but the challenge is maximizing its frequency. Our brain can only have one thought at a time; multitasking our thoughts is an illusion created by quickly changing from one thought to another. When we think about anything other than the task at hand, we are moving out of our zone; common problem thoughts include those related to our ratings, results, and the opinions of others. We can challenge the rationality of these thoughts. Still, perhaps the easiest approach is to recognize that they interfere with our performance and calmly try to refocus on the task at hand. I have often seen a player lose a game by a blunder. Instead of accepting their fallibility, they replay issues related to that failure during their next game, drawing their attention away from the position and often blundering again.

With this note, I will fade into the background, my preferred state of being.