Why I started this Blog? (My story)
This is my first post. Ever! I think a good way to start is
to tell you how and why I decided to start writing a blog. I have 2 main
reasons. Number 1 is to help you improve as a chess player. I will tell you how
I got an IM norm and how you can too (Obviously if you are an IM or GM, I would
learn from you). Number 2 is to help people (more applicable to kids) learn
good values and lifelong character building lessons (e.g., you only fail when
you fall and don’t get back up) by sharing my experiences from chess. This is
something most Malaysian children find hard to experience in the classroom.
I am going to combine reason 1 and reason 2 with a story
now.
I found out I was selected to go to Olympiad in early
2012 (around Jan). I was in University in the UK during that time. This was the
‘Opportunity’. I started training (I will tell you how I trained) every day,
one session in the morning before 9 am class and another session at night
before bed. I did this every day, even while I was preparing for my exams in
June 2012. The only exception was the day before and on the day of an exam. Don’t
worry, I got a first class. After my exams, I went back to Malaysia in July and
I trained every day until Olympiad in August. This was the “Preparation”.
During the tournament, the stars aligned (“Luck”) and somehow I made my norm
with a 2500 performance. (Luck/Success=Preparation meets Opportunity). It was a
combination of hard work and a lot of sacrifices that made this possible. There
is no short cut
After the Olympiad, I stopped training. I could say I
focused on studies, had a girlfriend, etc but the truth is I was unmotivated
and lazy (no excuses). Fast forward 4 years, I have graduated, been working for
about a year, my chess has become stagnant. I lost 50 rating points in my last
2 tournaments. Recently, I read a book called PEAK by Anders Ericsson &
Robert Pool. It is basically a book about how expertise can be trained using deliberate
practice. One of the examples is the famous Polgar sisters which all chess
players know about. I thought about how I could apply the teachings from that
book to improve my 2012 Olympiad training method. I started this training with
a friend last week (13th July 2016). After work, I would go to his
house and train for 2-3 hours (sometimes more) then go home. We made a
commitment to train every day after work, no excuses like I don’t have the time.
I have made it my goal to go for my 2nd IM norm (one step at a time)
and this is the start of that journey. In Malaysia, I have been told that it is
hard to become IM after you start University or work. It is my hope that I can
take you on this journey with me and hopefully show and inspire those chess
lovers out there that it is possible even with their busy and hectic lives.
Please click on Interview with FM Lim Zhuo Ren
Please click on Interview with FM Lim Zhuo Ren
Amazing, thank you for you insides
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