Physical Chess / Classical Chess

Physical Chess

As I might have mentioned in previous blog posts, chess was my first competitive passion, but not my only one. For the past 30-odd years, my primary focus has been "Physical Chess" - Fencing. I competed at every level except world championships and Olympics (local, regional, national, collegiate and a few World Cup circuit events).

However, as I grew older, I gradually remembered that playing chess in NYC parks - and competitive, Tournament Chess - were always ambitions of mine. I had purchased Lev Alburt's "Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player" solely based on the title. I aspired to be a tournament player! I had even dropped by Marshall once or twice to observe tournaments, but never was able to participate, Fencing (and later, family) was too much of a priority, taking all my free time - until last year, when I finally(!) started making an effort to realize my long-held aspiration: competitive chess.

Lessons from Fencing

Much like chess, New York City is a mecca of fencing. The Fencers Club ("FC") and New York Athletic Club ("NYAC") each house some of the oldest, strongest fencing programs in the United States. When I arrived in New York in the mid-90s, I quickly had a "reality check" as I found myself a minnow in the sea of sharks that was the NYAC epee program. Surrounded by National Champions and Olympians, I was happy to score more than 5 in a 15-touch bout - if I could get strip time at all! And clawing after me were much more talented 14-to-17 year olds, regularly humbling me. In fact, I even recall my then-coach calling over one of his 10 year old prodigies to demonstrate an action that I could not execute properly in an individual lesson (Yes, chess is not the first activity where I've found myself upstaged by a grade-schooler! It's nothing new to me at all.)

The first two years were extraordinarily frustrating. I had to learn to set aside my ambitions for glorious victories, accept that I was going to be losing in practice (a lot) and re-focus on improving elements of my game.

However, by graduation, I was an individual champion of the IFAs, an NCAA Northeast Regional champion, two time All-American, and nationally ranked within the top 50 in the country.

How did I do this? By forgetting about "winning" as a goal and shifting my mindset:

1) Setting Micro Goals for Every Tournament

I realized that I had to set goals for myself at every tournament. Note that "winning" was not one of them. Instead my goals for the tournament would be like:

• Always take a full minute of preparation (scouting) before attempting to score a touch.
• Don't get hit on any impulsive touches i.e. getting hit trying to flick at the hand or going for the foot.
• Retreat from the en garde line when the referee says "fence" (to avoid surprise attacks by my opponent).
• Establish a plan before each competition (warm up, food, recovery between rounds) - and stick to it.

Even if I didn't win the tournament, if I at least executed on these goals - the tournament was a success.

2) Grinding 1-Touch Leads

Another thing I realized: most of my bouts would not be blowout victories where I dominated from start to finish. Instead, I resigned myself to the idea that the path to victory was scoring a single touch early in the bout - and sitting on it. My opponent would have to do all the work to make a comeback.

This led to some completely boring - but satisfying - victories, where I scored a touch in the first minute, then retreated to my end zone and waited out my opponent until the clock was ticking down to zero. They invariably would grow anxious, leading desperate attacks and my ultimate victory by sizeable margin.

(Side note: sometimes this passivity would backfire as my opponent actual favored attacking! I would have to adjust accordingly).

3) Letting the Results Come on their Own

Finally, I stopped caring about the results, agonizing "why wasn't I doing better." When I looked at the final results list of a tournament, I reflected that I was probably where I was supposed to be. When the day finally came that out of a first round of the Epee d'Or, an elite Canadian circuit event, I was the undefeated #1 seed - it happened easily without fire on my part. Things just came together. (Of course, I ran into a 2-time US National Champion later in the tournament and finished 17th, but it was still a milestone!).

Likewise, when I later won the NCAA Northeast Region championship, it was a calm day of sticking to my plan and executing what I had practiced. Although several bouts were decided by a single touch, there was not huge emotional drama on my part in the final round as I went undefeated.

"Trust the System" is very, very real!

"Yes, yes inspiring story, but how does this apply to chess?"

Ok, so that was a lot of words about something completely unrelated to chess (aside from the Physical Chess metaphor). What is the point here? Well, I'm trying to explain my attitude - based on my experiences from fencing - that forms my chess goals for the immediate future.

In summation:

• Forget about "rating" - i.e. rating gained/lost from games or what my rating "should be." Of course, this is very common advice in chess instruction - but I can truly take it to heart because I already experienced it with fencing.
• Set micro-goals for each rated game. The outcome of the game (win or lose) does not actually matter. In the long-run, continuous improvement is what matters, and results (ratings) will eventually catch up. Again, I already had this experience with fencing.

My Current Micro-goals for Rated Games

So, what are my goals for rated games going forward?

1. Play mainlines and principled moves in the opening. No more "quirky" openings from gimmicky YouTube videos.
2. Don't recapture any piece without taking at least one minute to calculate - even simple pawn recaptures - unless it is completely forced / "only move."
3. Recognize key moments in the game where I need to make a decision that steers the course of the game. Circle those moves on the score sheet. Calculate!
4. Do the work of calculating potential tactics and checkmates. Don't just give up too early and play something passive.
5. Under no circumstances play Bxf7 as white unless it's from opening preparation or you've calculated (and completely proven) that it's a forced mate.
6. Immediately deal with batteries (i.e. doubled rooks or queen+bishop). Don't be dismissive of these potential threats! Take time seriously the moment you spot them. Calculate!
7. If needed, win with a single pawn. Much like grinding out 1-touch bouts in fencing, I've realized that very few (if any?) of my games are going to end with a "romantic" combination. The vast majority will instead turn on a single pawn advantage in the endgame. I have to keep that in mind and execute on it when the opportunity arises.

Lastly - perhaps something that goes without saying:

Try to learn at least *one thing* from every game.

When it comes to chess, it's not "Win or Learn" it's "Always Learn."

If, some day, I'm playing for a rating milestone, perhaps that attitude will change (perhaps not!). But the way I see it, that moment is years away. Now is not the time to obsess why my rating is 1100 instead of 1200 USCF.

Marshall Monday U1800 - Game 1 vs Limperis

Wait, wasn't this supposed to be a game recap blog? Ok, here is my annotated game from Monday night - followed by a similar "model" game based on my opening, played by a GM illustrating how things could have gone differently.

Evans Gambit Model Game: Antal vs. Abramciuc

In this game, Antal played 10. Bb5 with much better results.

Bonus Content: Zucker vs. Loiseau Vet 40 Men's Epee Final

From the April, 2023 North American Cup in St. Louis:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIjIfdvYfk