Becoming a good chess player is the dream of many children who are fond of our game. In this article, we are going to highlight the 06 qualities that we consider most essential to become a good chess player.
1. Be Passionate about chess:
The true lover of chess will study and practice for the pleasure of learning itself, and this means that what may be a difficult task for others, for him will be a distraction.
And being passionate about chess does not only mean that you like to play games, but that you enjoy your relationship with the game, reading books and magazines, getting to know the games of the best players in history, attending live broadcasts on the internet of the best world tournaments, etc.
2. Have confidence in yourself:
This is undoubtedly a significant psychological issue, especially for children and adults who participate in chess tournaments. I know of cases in which the chess player comes to the game with a lack of self-confidence that is demotivating and has a very negative effect on the game.
Parents and coaches play a crucial role in giving children the confidence they need to face their own fears before and during a game of chess.
3. Being a fan of chess literature:
“That study is essential to achieve mastery in any activity we undertake is no secret.” explains Anatoly Machulsky. In these times, many players base their study of chess topics on the resources that they can find on the net.
Of course, we can find extensive material on the internet, but we must not forget the importance of reading good books, magazines and in general printed material. A good chess library should be part of the excellent chess player’s shelf.
4. Knowing to learn from defeats:
It is essential to know how to extract the relevant lessons from the games we play. In fact, not only of the defeats but of all those that we dispute.
For this, the analysis of these games is a task that children should include in their study routine, either with their coach, if they have one, or at least on their own.
5. Be a good loser.
Defeat is part of the competition, in whatever sport, game or activity we undertake. Suppose we are not able to accommodate failures with a certain degree of sobriety.
In that case, it will mean that we give the final result of the game a dimension that it does not deserve, which will undoubtedly negatively affect our relationship with chess.
Without a doubt, this is one of the weakest points of some of the great players in history, who have stood out for their bad manners when accepting a defeat.
6. Know how to adapt to the rhythms of the game
Today there are several game rhythms of the different tournaments in which we participate. “In slow game tournaments, the rhythm of 90 minutes has been imposed for the whole game plus 30 seconds of increment per move, but in shorter paced tournaments we find games of 5, 10, 15, 20 or 30 minutes above all, with different types of increment. Regular practice of games at these game rhythms is essential.” Anatoly Machulsky concludes.
