" on the sands of hesitation, lays the bones of countless million who at the dawn of victory, sat down waited and in waiting died: don't hesitate to do the right thing at the right time" - evangeline wilkes.
Nothing guarantees a successful journey like vision with precision. My talent has an unbreakable link with my mission on earth. My talent is my strength. Playing within the ambit of my ability enable me give my best to my country and the world ,which in return take care of my bills .to deviate from this area of strength ,is to expose my weakness and fall prey to low self esteem . individuals who study and work outside their God-given talent can not deliver their potential maximally. To attain success in life,we must all leave our comfort zone ,but stay in our strength zone . ( ,Maxwell,2007)
What keeps chess alive and fresh after the centuries of analysis is that it is the resistant to all the attempts to find a formula to play it perfectly. In fact ,it refuses even to be bound by hard and fast strategical laws - there are endless exceptions and paradoxes in chess. Thus any idea can be good or bad according to the circumstances of a specific game .
The mental development of the chess player is a gradual struggle from a state of chaos to a clear conception of the game.the period required for such development largely depends upon the predominant special gifts the learner may possess,but in the main the question of methods predominates.two strong chess players can have very different strategies in the same position and they might be equally effective-leaving aside those positions in which a single forced winning line is available.each player has its own style ,his own way of solving problems and making decision .a key to developing successful strategies is to be aware of your own strengths and weakness ,to know what you do well.
The highest chess title ever achieved by an individual in Nigeria is the title of international master (IM) which of course is not the highest title in FIDE ,the title : grand master is , although there are now discrepancy between a grandmaster and super grandmaster .the former with an average elo rating points of 2500 while the later an average elo rating points of 2700.
My name is Abimbola Osunfuyi a.k.a Tigran spinoza ,the Nigerian chess players know me as the young GM which posit in my own fantasy world that i'm the only undisputed chess grandmaster in Nigeria according to NCF not FIDE . My country, Nigeria is often referred to as the " Giant of Africa " due to its large population and economy with approximately 174 million inhabitants, it is the most populous country in Africa. In 2014 , Nigeria's economy became the largest in Africa ,with a GDP of over $500 billion ,and surpassed south Africa as the world's 21st largest economy . out of all the games in the world i chose chess Instead of a Nintendo gameboy game console,i guess it was rather sagacious of me because i have come to realize that chess is life. As humans we tend to avoid complex tasks but as an abstract thinker and a chess player , we find solace in complexity of this game called chess .according to FIDE world ranking ,Nigeria is ranked 91 with an average elo rating of 2244 with 5 IM'S ,3 active and a total of 24 titled players.
Almost every active chess player at one time wants to become a grandmaster in other to feel accomplished to have attained the highest title in his/her chess career. Some players wants to become a grandmaster in a year .others ,more ambitious in few months. that's human nature for you,people want to get on the top of pyramid as quickly as possible by looking for the shortest route . however "Rome wasn't built in a day" .
I recognize the fact that Nigeria is a developing third world country where social amenities are not readily available and we have to hustle and struggle to make ends meet. Most of us have many other duties, thoughts and concerns. Most of us do not have the time to study chess hours everyday or participate in major tournaments probably if we did it would be a detriment to our school, work,career,family ,life E.T.C to become an expert in any competitive domain ,it takes at least 10 years but fortunately the world is evolving and we are in the technology age and information is been disseminated geometrically .notwithstanding we must understand and be familiar with some important factors in other to become a chess grandmaster.
1. TALENT DISCOVERY
One of the major yardstick to becoming a grandmaster is having a chess talent.possesing a natural chess talent will make you have more aptitude than others ,what might be difficult on the chess board appears easy to you .Jose Raul Capablanca is a vivid example. In every person there is a form of cue ,pointing to the direction that can procure success for him /her .people have equal value,but not equal talent/gifts .some people seem to be blessed with a multitude of talents. Most of us have fewer abilities but we all have something we can do well. discovery is impossible without conviction.conviction leads to conception. It will stimulate passion for discovery.passion which is a form of driven force , which drives one towards his innate power .your passion for chess is an indication that you have talent to function in such area, passion is the first step to achievement .loving what you do is the key that opens the door for achievement .when yo don't like what you're doing ,the only way you can achieve anything of significance is to really want it .passion provides that. you must be convinced that you are endowed with potential.this is what propels you into discovery adventure. In 2004 i was among the finbarrian's school selected based on trial and error method to contest in the Femi Badejo U-10 chess tournament though i was an underdog i went ahead to win with an impressive score of 7/7 round result defeating the long term defending champion .then i discovered myself and had the conviction i was meant to be a chess player. It was my passion and talent discovery that empowered me to make my mark,my passion made me strive for excellence.
2. HARD WORK
" Talent is not enough ; it is talent developed into skill that turns gold" - j.maxwell
Hard work plays a huge role ,regardless of whether a player is naturally gifted or not. The eleventh world champion Bobby Fischer once said " there are many great players with potentials to be best in the world but they lack will power" .will power is an operational definition which can be substituted with hard work in this construct. Talent and hard work are dichotomical concept in such a way that gifted people are perceived as complacent and lazy while non-gifted people work harder to make up for it. But in reality talent is never enough ,you have to work hard to progress precociously.
To be a chess grandmaster.you have to gather it gradually through hours of play and study,you cannot inject yourself with chess experience, such things only happen in movies not reality. Book study is not a prerequisite to becoming strong - you need to amass experience. Experience has proven that grandmaster's are often those who has chess knowledge and played more than a thousand chess games.chess experience consists not just any knowledge ,but knowledge effectively and persistently applied .you can only reach as high as grandmaster strength based almost entirely on playing experience.
If you take chess seriously then you are generally working hardest when you play. The brain is at its most intense ,which may explain why ideas seen in books are not remembered as well as ideas in play.if you insist on not getting a good balance between study and play ,then its best to err on the side of playing too much! Nobody ever got good without playing. 2 hours per week is usually enough for a busy person to make sensible progress in chess if he follows a routine order of study and training. Dedicating 6 hours per week is a great time schedule for study by someone striving to achieve great results relatively quickly. Clear,deep thought and insight into positions only come to relatively strong players with a wealth of experience and a store of patterns and ideas in their head,which is known as pattern recognition.
There are some methods which are more efficient than others ,however. Studying the games and thoughts of top players may help you learn some tricks that facilitated their success ,the term "prepared line" popularly known in Nigeria chess scene. Someone who wants to become a grandmaster must dedicate many hours every day for study and constantly participate in strong tournaments. During the night they usually dream chess positions and opening variants.they must have a fantastic memory and nerves of steel.they also need a partner for study and training of at least the same level.the hobby becomes a passion and the training becomes a way of living .but there is no easy way .if you want to be a chess grandmaster ,you'll just have to do the hard work . in October 2014, i featured in the Second Lagos international chess classic,the strongest so far in my chess career ,i was unrated and the youngest in the the rated section. I played 2 FM'S ,2 CM'S ,2 IM'S and finished with 4/7 which was above average and in the short run i become rated with an elo rating of 2190 ,the 14th active and youngest in Nigeria ,i guess my hard work paid off .if you desire to improve and develop ,then you must practice. It allows you to break your own records and outstrip what you did yesterday.done correctly ,practice keeps making you better than you were yesterday.if you do not practice ,you shortchange your potential.
3. MOTIVATION
" Positive thinking must be followed by positive doing"
To do all this hard work,one has to be motivated .persistent and long term motivation is needed, not just a desire to win trophies,money or glory. Typically ,all achievers are greatly concerned about their creative performance ,often to the exclusion of other ,more normal life goals. Earl nightingale once said " our attitude towards life ,determines life's attitude towards us ". Your attitude to chess and life endeavour in general must be positive. Your perspective about life determines what it will deliver to you. Attainment in life is a function of positive attitude.
If you are able to tap into your hope and become more positive in your thinking ,that is a great start. But it's not enough.positive thinking must be followed by positive doing .if you want to succeed as a grandmaster ,then start by winning small tournaments .nothing motivates like success. If you are able to win small tournaments, it motivates you,it raises your morale and after winning several tournaments you begin to sense that bigger victories are nearly within your grasp. Driven by this strong and persistent desire to excel, you tend to seek and destroy any potential obstacles to your progress.
Magnus Carlsen is the number 1 ranked player in the world and reigning world chess champion in classical ,rapid and blitz .according to Carlsen, the main motivation factor in his chess career was by playing chess,having fun and learning more about the game even when there are errors." The fact that there are so many things to learn is motivation enough for me. In each case now, i think its fun to play. It is not always fun to prepare and stuff like that.but its always fun to play," says Carlsen.
If you want to be a chess grandmaster ,you are advised to get tough and ruthless about your chess shortcomings,you have to be cold like a machine with no emotional attachment according to Levon Aronian. Careful analysis of your games reveals weakness and characteristics mistakes- discrepancies between chessboard reality and the players internal model of it . less motivated chess player hush up and ignore such defect, preferring to alter the facts to fit their model rather than altering the model to fit the facts. The very way you describe your errors can also be crucial.explaining them away in term of chance ( he was lucky) or external cause ( it was noisy ,and my opponent was coughing) is not likely to help you improve and become a grandmaster. You have to accept responsibility and describe your errors in terms of choice ( i played the wrong move).this is the approach that leads to the best results.
MTN FESTAC CHESS TOURNAMENT 2014 was the last chess competition in Nigeria in the year 2014 and i was a contestant and i played in the masters category although i finished with 4.5/7 in total with 1 loss,3 draws, 3 wins and i was placed 6th position , 4 points has been my average and least game points i had in all my chess tournaments in 2014. The only game i lost in this tournament was to FREDRICK FABEYO in round 2 he was white and he played the London Sytem against my solid Kings Indian defence, three days before this match i played him at yabatech chess room and he played the same London System but he lost to me in crushing style and i won a brilliancy prize of coca cola drink from coach Abiodun Johnson for such a combination well executed but i guess i should have saved my combination for the raining days .at the Festac game he opted for c4 instead of the normal c3 we played at Yabatech and in my home preparation i saw the c4 variation in which Peter Svidler won as black against a Russian GM ,he played cxd4 ,i wont tell you the rest because i am still an active player but i did otherwise and played move 2 in substitute of move 1 and i lost .
FRED FABEYO VS ABIMBOLA OSUNFUYI Festac* 2014
FRED FABEYO VS ABIMBOLA OSUNFUYI. In the above position i played Rc8 instead of cxd4 followed by Rc8 ,d5 or b5 or a5 ,attacking at the flank with a view to counter punching in the centre ,these are just post postmortems , in the game my opponent played d5 and i knew i was in trouble and on the verge of losing the game because i know the implication of the positional concession of d5 ,in the long run I'll want to play e5 and of course that creates weakness on d6 and petrosian once said when playing the KID c5 and e5 do not mix ,if you play such you wont be blown away ,you would be squeezed to death which of course happened in the game. Notice that the different ways of describing the same reality , in terms of the 3 c's of chess. choice, chance or cause lead to the responsibility for the error falling in different place. You have to accept responsibility and describe your errors in terms of choice.
No one is expected to succeed without a postive thought and strong character below the surface to protect his talent and sustain him during difficult times. Motivation is the pedestal that determines what an individual potential would be like in the long run .if your motivation is the size of a pawn ,you can only sustain a queen.if your motivation is as powerful as the queen, you can checkmate the king.
4. FITNESS AND STAMINA
A fair degree of physical fitness is needed to maintain good concentration for the duration of a competitive chess game. Bobby Fischer puts it : your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does .' . Stamina is the strength and energy needed to exert oneself for extended perod of time ,its the mental exertion needed to perform a task or get through a difficult situation .improving your mental exertion is required to be a chess grandmaster and can be achieved by eating a healthy balanced diet, staying hydrated , get plenty of rest ,visualizing your goals and building your ability to focus .majority of Nigerians even if they are not currently fit enough ,at least have the potential to reach the necessary good condition. The current national champion CM KIGIGHA BOMO is a vivid example if you dont know Bomo then you are probably a scrabble player ,he is the most consistent chess player in Nigeria, in october 2014 he played the NBL national championship and Second Lagos international chess classic in the ambit of 10 days which is more demanding than the strain of a single game but still came out victorious.accolades to Bomo,in order to become great you have to respect your predecessor, the individuals that blazed the trail.
5. TEACHABILITY
Is it necessary to have a great teacher to become a great player or a grandmaster! No but it certainly can help.many a strong player has emerged from the Botvinik school or under the tutelage of renowned trainer. Having a teacher is strongly recommended because it makes learning process much more efficient such that ,by showing and teaching a specific technical information,method of study and training ,a lot of style and values are conveyed in less time frame although there are a number of players who became strong without a personal coach maybe by reading chess books or by playing experience but getting a trainer is strongly recommended.
Teachability is not so much about motivation and mental capacity as it is about attitude. It is the desire to listen ,learn and apply .it is the hunger to discover and grow. Many a chess player in Nigeria are difficult to teach due to pride ,which is the number one hindrance to teach-ability . chess tournaments in Nigeria ,its a status quo for players to analyze their games whether loss or win and draw especially in the masters section. So many times i have witnessed so called Nigeria masters analyzing games with wrong idea or evaluation and only to be corrected by an opens player by showing what the best move is.without considering the advise ,there is this scornful look at the individual and the most reflex comment is usually what does this fish know .a sign of pride which closed their minds to feedback in that context and accompanied by a feeling superiority. In other to become a grandmaster you must have a teachable spirit .some people want to be right even when they aren't. And as a result, chess is difficult for them.they never find the pathway of learning nor do they learn the lessons life offers to those with teachable spirit. you must recognize and admit your pride by embracing humility in your chess endeavors, Learning a new idea is not bad i guess. Teachability in its most fundamental form is a willingless to open our minds to new ideas.
Boyo paul kehinde is a renowned grassroot chess trainer in the Nigeria chess scene, the itsekiri born teacher ,has a B.SC Hons Mathematics ,Lagos state university but his passion for chess made him put his certificate on hold and with his selfless service to the game of chess ,he has successfully brought so many youngsters into limelight and young GM is a vivid example . Boyo Paul is a grassroot trainer and can be compared to the famous Botvinik under who's tutorage emerge great players and even national and world champions but cannot be compared chess wise and playing experience with the great Botvinik ,Boyo is one of those best teachers ,let down by a lack of competitive drive that never fulfill themselves as players although he has a FIDE rating of 1929 he is still an average player but a great coach and rare gem.
Even if you do know something well ,it wont do everything for you. Living to your potential requires you to keep learning and expanding yourself.
6. CONCENTRATION
" i think what seperates a superstar from the average ballplayer is that he concentrates just a little bit longer." Hank Aaron
Concentration can bring tremendous power.without it ,you will often feel drained and unable to accomplish much.certain chess positions involve a great deal of intricate thinking before they can be grasped. The brain can only do this if it is able to build up a powerful intensity ,which is why concentration is so vital. Garry kasparov ,the 13th world champion onced said " the ability to concentrate is the basis for everything else.... Few people realise that the ability to focus one's thoughts during the decisive moments of a game is just about the most important quality a chess player can possess". Good concentration and the ability to resist emotional forces are traits that are strongly linked to chess grandmasters.
Many nigerian chess players dont really understand what concentration is and usually think that because they decide to be focus on a game ,they are concentrating ,which is false. Concentration involves getting information by looking at some thing . if you want to be a chess grandmaster you must master the art of concentration and eliminate a plethora of small problems that affect a chess player's ability to play good chess,you cannot play good unless you are fully concentrating on the game by putting everything else out of your thought process except playing chess. Grandmasters dont seek distractions both internally and externally.
International Master Oladapo Adu
IM Dapo Adu ,one of the few Nigerian chess player i respect and give accolades ,one of which is because of his deep chess concentration.he is a golden icon in the Nigeria chess community ,he is an international master who has traveled several countries all over the world to compete in various championships. In 1994 ,IM Dapo participated in his first chess Olympiad in Moscow Russia. He then went on to participate in several other championships including the African team chess championship, world chess championship, all African games and the African individual chess championship. He has played several tournaments across the united states,winning maryland chess championship several times and was the 1995 Nigeria national champion . i guess he has mastered the art of concentration ,if you have played a tournament by his side then you would know what I'm talking about ....." You are not suppose to do that ,its wrong ,in the United states you don't talk while a game is in progress".
7. PREPARATION
" spectacular achievement comes from unspectacular preparation "
What happens when you don't prepare ? Things you hoped won't happen do happen - and they occur with greater frequency than the things you hoped would happen. The reason is simple : being unprepared puts you out of position.
Nowadays preparation has become a systematic process and how grandmaster make their game plans, in chess winning starts with planning before the game .in other to arrive at the board well-armed: grandmasters study the classics ,analyze their own games and knowing their style of play. The most important which is to get a playable postion that they understand better than their opponent.
Preparation positions players correctly, and its often the seoaration between winning and losing .preaparedness is the key to chess success and victory .preparation give you a superior adavantage over the unprepared or semi- prepared opponents.
Effective preparation gurantees success,the importance of which cannot be over emphasized .before you start pursuing the goal of becoming a grandmaster ,you must sit down to count the cost and the strategies to effectively achieved the title.
IM ODION AIKHOJE gave the rule of chess success which are -
1. It is possible to win by superior opening preparion.
2. You can win by being tenacious and resolute in the middle game.
3. Having a ' better ' position is no good unless you can successfuly convert advantage into a win
4. Proper time management can give a decisive advantage on the board .
5. Most importantly ,it is not possible to win every game of chess. There is no dishonor in accepting a draw.
The path to improvement is more fun than the result. Chess is a great hobby , your hobby is highly intellectual; it keeps your mind active and healthy. Chess is so complex,every step you make forward to understand it better,to discover its secrets, will bring more joy and reveal more of the game's beauty.
The race to be the first chess grandmaster in nigeria is still open to all and sundry but only a selected few can achieve such feat .many are called few are chosen.if you have put the above attributes into consideration then its only a matter of time. TENGA UN BUEN DIA............. ABIMBOLA OSUNFUYI
Very interesting write up, i have gained a lot from this making me more focused in my plan to improve my game to master level
I love this write up. Please keep it up Akinov-