Why I started this Blog? (My story)

July 17, 2016

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 (13^th 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 2^nd 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