Chess competition

So much to write, yet so little time to spare...

Anyway, since I just came back from Johor Open 2013, I would love to share about my wonderful and awesome experiences. 

Firstly, the concept about competition. 

In my views, competition was meant for exposure, for improvement and for experience. It is a test to your ability or your skills, a way to weigh the result of your training(s). Similarly, in the economic or the business way, competition was about outweighing your opponent, compete to be the best, improve for the better. Healthy competition creates healthy society. 

Second, the mind and composure during competition. 

No matter how well you did or perform during your training, it means nothing if you can't perform under the pressure of the competition. It's about composing yourself, keeping calm, thinking straight, and just do your thing. 

It's not easy really. I had a hard time overcoming it, and I'm still trying hard to keep focus and stay in the line. It was extremely tough when you are encountering strong opponent, and when you are overconfident during which you think that the opponent was weaker than you. It takes time and experience to overcome these, to be able to climb up the stairs. 

Third, the learning. 

Competition is about learning. You learn when you win, you learn more when you lose. Losing doesn't mean you are worse than anybody else. It simply means, you have a lot more to improve, and by losing, you know where you made mistake, and learn to correct it. Learn from your friend, learn from your opponent, learn as much as you can. 

And based on this three concepts, I had accept the first, testing my strength and upholding my responsibilities and virtues as a chess player. The second concept was the toughest! I was trying to calm myself down and prevent my mind from entering into the excited zone, to maintain straight and sharp thinking during my game, but i ended up losing focus from my 5th games onwards. I got 3 points out of 7 in the competition, where I lost the last 3 games consecutively even though I was winning, due to bad composure. The third concept, yes, of course I learnt. I was keen to learn, and I learnt a lot today. It was really a great and wonderful day.

Johor Open 2013 had not only made me learn a lot, but also open my mind to the JB chess culture. It was warm and welcoming, where people greet each other every where, and everybody is getting to know each other. People win, people lose, yet they are keen on learning, on improving. 

My school coach, the right one. :)) He got second for the competition. 
*Disclaimer: This pic doesn't belong to the owner of the blog**

Chess Spirit! We should never stop learning...