The road to National Master

I started playing chess at the age of 7 and my first rating was 245. I remember when I broke 1000, three and a half years later, it felt like an amazing achievement.  Unlike many of the young elite players, my path to national master was not a quick one. A lot of talented young players quit chess when they get to High School, or when they get stuck at a certain rating. I noticed this trend from a young age, so I made a point to stick with it- regardless of what may be going on in other aspects of my life. For all of you looking for the answer to "How do I get to National Master?", this is the simplest answer I can give: If you are consistently passionate about chess, you will improve.

There are many chess lessons that go beyond the board, and that is what I will focus on in this piece.

How to deal with losses

I remember a point in time when I lost it felt like the world was ending. I can remember countless times when I cried over tough losses when I was a kid. Being upset about losses can be helpful, but chess players (myself included) often take this to the extreme. This is not healthy for chess improvement, nor it is healthy for your life outside of chess. At some point, I came to this realization: What is the point of playing chess if the pain of the losses outweigh the joy of the victories? Make sure to always enjoy your wins, and if you are in a slump, focus on figuring out what you have been doing wrong and fixing it, not just the fact that your ELO has gone down. In late 2016, I was up to 2168 USCF, and by March 2017, I had gone down to 2077. Most of the games that I lost were because of blunders, so I purchased an ICC account and began doing studies (very difficult chess puzzles) to improve my calculation. I also recognized that these blunders were somewhat due to me being overconfident, and I made a point to take all of my opponents more seriously. Sure enough, 7 months later, I made it to 2200.  There will certainly be another slump in my chess career, and I will use this to improve, not sulk.

Learn from others

When I was 1700, I always thought my moves were correct. If somebody questioned my move in analysis, I would give my rationale and defend the move forever. It is very common for chess players to demonstrate this sort of ego, but I can guarantee you that this does not positively correlate to ELO. Be open to the fact that it is possible for a move which you thought about for thirty minutes to be absolutely incorrect. If another player makes a suggestion for a different move, analyze this move as if the position were new to your eyes, not with the intent of defending the way that you played the position. Additionally, I always take advantage of an opportunity to show my games to stronger players, and I listen to their suggestions with eagerness. This open-minded attitude is one which has led to me making master.

Simple Chess

The biggest difference between me and a 2000 rated player is that I very rarely (knowingly) make weaknesses for my opponent to take advantage of, and I actively seek out such opportunities to make these weaknesses for my opponent. A solidified piece on the third rank is almost always winning, and a solidified piece on the fourth rank is pretty darn close to winning. Isolated or doubled pawns are typically not "dynamic", usually they are just weak. Play on the side that your pawns point, and try not to move pawns on the other side. Queen trades are not boring, they are a useful simplification tool under the right circumstances. Follow these general guidelines, instead of always looking to swindle your opponent. Of course, when a tactical position presents itself, I take advantage of it, but this is almost always after 30 moves of putting my pieces on good squares and making weaknesses in my opponents pawn structure. Finally, try not to get into time trouble. In the words of FM Giannatos, "When someone gets into time trouble, they are not very good. So I don't get into time trouble". Of course this is easier said than done, but take your time only in critical positions. People often ask "how do I know when it is a critical position?". For me, such a position exists when I have to choose between whether or not to make a capture, or when I am in an intensely calculation based position. Otherwise, save yourself the pain of blundering away a winning position, and try your best to play quickly.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to posting again about some of my games!

NM Mark Biernacki