The tide is slowly shifting
After a dissapointing Tata Steel, lightning strikes and a Titled Tuesday victory is at arms length.
After a very tiring month in Wijk Aan Zee, I have returned home. While hotels can be quite luxorious, they become claustrophobic very quickly. And the best perk of being home is that I can make smoothies and reliably order Chipotle everyday. Such little things boost productivity and mood more than one might expect. As I reflect on a dissapointing result, I’ve come to search for the explanation. I slowly began to realize that in the past 3 years, I have spent 5 months at home, the rest in hotels and Airbnbs. Such extensive travel is extremely tiring and will eventually take it’s toll. Many of my mistakes and eventual losses were due to extreme fatigue and fatal losses in complex positions that demanded precise calculation. I don’t have a lot of time to rest as the Chessable Masters begins today. The first day is a qualifier stage, followed by a series of knockouts. I am looking forward to the Champions Chess Tour and hope to prove myslef against the best players in the world. Shortly after the Chessable masters ends on February 7th, I will compete in the Djerba Masters from February 17th-25th. It is a 8 player round robin on a small island in Tunisia. I look forward to the opportunity to regain some classical rating that I lost in Wijk. I’m not sure where I’ll play from March to May, but I hope to receive invitations to strong events in America and abroad. I will be starting a new series on my Youtube channel: Day 1: Journey to World Chess Champion. While many people might not believe that I can become World Champion, as this is a lofty goal for anyone. The pursuit of the impossible is what makes life interesting. I will be documenting my journey, training routine, travels, and everything that might be interesting for the audience. Ideally, this will be a daily series. While I’m playing tournaments, I will continue doing recaps like I’ve done in Wijk. Let me know your thoughts and suggestions for the series in the comments.
After 75 years on the planet, a suggestion I have adopted from my mentor, enjoy the journey instead of the destination. Having been to most countries in the world in my profession, I look back & have fond memories. This is what gives my purpose to life. You are still young & you will achieve your goal in the meantime live each tournament & take any losses as something to learn from.
Let imagine for a moment that you've decided that you have decided to pick up endurance sports. Because this is what you're trying to accomplish. Bursts of speed can be flashy but they're not often helpful in a marathon except at the end.
The stretches, the learning to create a maintainable pace, your food, meditation, all sorts of things become important as you try to go that distance. But first you want to assess where you are and if you're looking to become elite, work both on your weak points, so that your ability floor rises, and on your strengths. Such that when it's time to shine you really can do that.
A person can also think of the Russian Wrestling school where often they work on having a solid technique, rather than trying to train at 100% intensity all the time so that they've got longevity. Your post indicates that you've worked really hard to be able to compete at the top but haven't spent the time to ensure that you've given yourself favorable conditions.
This might be a good time to open up some materials on endurance events, and see what advice you can apply there, as well as arranging the time so that you can absorb lessons in between events, and reset your mind. Even if you are the best player today, you need to make sure that you can be the best player 2 years from now when it's time for the candidates.