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Since my four-year term as Secretary of the FIDE Trainers’ Commission ended in 2022, I have slowly returned to my first love, chess training, and here I’d like to share what I have seen to be the key challenges of chess trainers. Some of the challenges have always been there, and a few have appeared as a natural evolution of our society, and more specifically the evolution of parenting.
Perhaps the best way to begin this piece (which will almost certainly offend many, even if that is not the intention) is to quote what the legendary Indonesia GM Utut Adiantoin said:
It is the trainer, not the academy. And it is the player, not the trainer.
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GM Adianto developed this idea during his time as a top 50 player in the world. He continued playing past his 50th birthday at a close to 2600 level on the very few occasions when he had time — and without a computer or opening preparation!
Adianto said this to the main sponsor of chess in his country when he was considering acquiring a regional academy to take their Sekolah Cater Utut Adianto (SCUA), a talent development initiative operated by their third partner, Kristianus Liem.
When I started playing chess, there were few tournaments at home and the region, air travel was a luxury, not working and going to school was not even a consideration, chess books were scarce and there was no internet! And certainly no one charged for lessons, let alone make a living for chess.
Now we have so many locally calling themselves chess teachers or chess coaches, and there are now so many chess academies, and they collectively service the market demand.
Of course, there are also chess trainers from all over the world who complement their work online, at camps or private lessons during visits to tournaments, and even when the young players go abroad to compete in international competitions.
It is no secret that chess has greatly increased in popularity for several reasons, including the lowering of the rating ceiling floor, the proliferation of international cadets, schools, youth, and junior competitions in multiple regions. Also, various continental and world championships are organized, where player titles are directly given.
Anyone paying the entry fees and the travel expenses, which often includes compulsory stay in official hotels, can participate and be listed as a national player or representative.
While it must be acknowledged that the top talent everywhere has been benefiting from these increased opportunities, I believe an objective analysis would still show that when talking about producing and retaining top players, the result is practically the same number of chess players who perform at a high level in every country.
In short, this is an ecosystem that comprises parents funding these tournaments for their children. If not to win titles, the parents certainly do this for their children to gain recognition as national players or representatives. Organisers, therefore, do not need to seek sponsors, and as a result, many can now make a living as chess trainers, whatever their playing strength, experience and teaching ability, as these international tournaments cover every possible age-group, some starting from as early as five years of age!
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Today, unlike when I played junior chess, for many it is not always about excelling in competition. In the current system — in force for at least two decades — this attitude has become the norm, which is not right or wrong, but it is just the reality. Perhaps the main disappointment should be that even the most ardent advocates of chess as a sport not only go along with this, but actually actively enable this tendency. And so much of this, does not lead to the solid establishment of chess as a sport — the arguments for it actually being just a game would require another article!
So, I have nothing to say about the qualities of the many chess teachers and chess coaches out there, except we should understand their limitations in doing our work and be more professional. Parents, in fact, need to make more informed decisions if chess is really important for their children.
It should not be too difficult to understand that an unrated or lowly rated chess trainer cannot possibly have the chess playing strength, chess knowledge, and chess experience — no matter how articulate, clever with computers, and/or a voracious reader — to develop a young player beyond the initial stage of the game and the truth is that chess trainer with a 1800 rating can barely help a 1500 child and arguably would even struggle with a 1200 rated child. And could he really work effectively with a 1800-2100 child?
The lower end of this spectrum will already need a high 2200/2300 rated chess trainer, and the higher end of the spectrum will need closer to a 2500 rated chess trainer.
Children start early in chess and tend to accept the authority figure put in front of him or her, and more so if the chess trainer is on excellent terms with one or both of the parents.
It is universally understood by all chess trainers that parents are both our greatest help but also our greatest hindrance and while that could be another article by itself, it is also pointless to say too much except that the role of the chess trainer is not that of parenting and should not be co-opted into it in any form.
We are perhaps ready now to discuss developing young talent and already know from Adianto’s quote how important an individual trainer is, but at the same time, he has also clearly pointed out that a trainer cannot do much without having the right player to train. What that entails will be included in part 2 of this article, should I dare to write it.
