5 Boosters to Speed Up Your Chess Growth

They didn’t have any Grandmasters. They didn’t even have an International Master.  

The average rating of the team was around 2,200 and then there was this 11-year-old kid hanging around. He was about 1,600. It was the Thailand National Team. I was the coach. 

A month in, I went to Sahapol, their secretary, who was determined to change the future of Thai chess (more about him in Booster 4), and said: “Mark my words. This 11-year-old kid is going to be your first Grandmaster.”

Fast forward six years, Prin, whom you might remember from our Success Stories articles, became Thailand’s first International Master at the age of 17.

Recently, Prin also won a Grandmaster-Robin tournament, and was just half a point behind for making his 1st Grandmaster norm. 

But I can bet 100 boxes of my favorite sweets - Rafaellos, that he’ll become a Grandmaster in 2 years. 

***

This year, when I went back to Thailand, Sahapol organized a dinner with the same team I was working with, including Prin.  

I raised a toast to Prin and his 5 boosters, and explained why I had predicted, so many years earlier, that he’d be their first Grandmaster.

***

Myself, I became a Grandmaster at 19 and I have since helped many to achieve it. 

I have many Grandmaster friends and have met many during my career.
We all had at least four of these five boosters. 

In Prin's example, I’ll explain what they are.

Even if the Grandmaster title isn't in your wishlist, just knowing the five Boosters will help you to know what you are missing, how to fix or compensate them, and speed up your growth.

Booster 1 - You
Your biggest booster is, well, you.

How talented are you? How much do you love chess? How strong is your character? How much work will you put in?

Prin had them all! 

Talent?

If I had a chance to clone someone’s brain and replace mine with it, Elon Musk would be the first to come to my  mind. Richard Branson…
Mmm…Maybe…
But anyway, in  the end I would choose Prin’s brain to clone for myself 😊

Love?  

He would pretend he was  sleeping and would play chess on his mobile. 

At school, he would have one schoolbook to take notes, and on his left, he would be reading chess books. And he would play chess during lunch times 😊

When Sahapol organized the dinner a few months ago, Prin didn’t know I was in Thailand and that I would be there 😊

It was a surprise for him. He came there with Kasparov’s book in his hands.

“I didn’t want to waste my time in the taxi”, he explained.

Hard work? 

Toodoo, toodoo… Skype is calling.
Prin: connected to tubes, lying on a hospital bed, sweaty forehead. 

“Prin??? What’s this? Are you at the hospital?”, I was looking at my screen and trying to understand what was happening on the other side.

“Yep… I got a terrible fever. Just had injections. But I asked my Dad to bring my laptop, so I don’t miss our lesson.”

Character?   

When the national team would play (often rapid games), I could easily see their Character. 

How they bounce back after blunders. How they focus on the next game when they painfully lost the previous one. Are they more determined than ever? Or do their faces look discouraged, in pain, adrift?

Prin was… I was so impressed!!! He would blunder in a winning position, shake his hand for a second or two, resign, and then start the next game like absolutely nothing had happened. With the same concentration, with the same focus to win the next game.   

At the end of the chess training, we would go to the nearby stadium to run for a few kilometers, and then do push-ups, planks and everything else. 

A Navy commander would be proud of how I was squeezing their juices. Prin always stayed till the end!

Prin's awesomeness knew no bounds. With his infectious playfulness, unlimited energy, and heartfelt gratitude, he was impossible not to be loved.

It's no shocker that doors swung wide open for him; his vibe was a universal key. 

What if you don’t have the Booster 1?  

I have been there. I wasn’t a prodigy. My memory always sucked. I wasn’t that cool and loved as a kid as Prin. But I compensated with my deep love for the game, with my hard work (often with 80-hour week training), and my character. At age 12, I stopped playing chess for a year and was practicing MMA!

Getting punches in the mouth, finding yourself on the ground and then finding the strength to get back on my feet definitely helped with chess.
(More about it in my upcoming book) 

So… If you don’t love chess, just quit it. Talent isn’t in your hands. But the good news is you can compensate it with your hard work, mental strength and awesomeness! It’ll open so many doors you’ll be shocked. 

Booster 2 - Family
So many parents ruin the careers of their kids… Without realizing they had a “World champion” material. 

As a parent, you have so many choices. Will you support your child's dream and passion? Will you notice his/her talent? Will you invest time to find the Right coach for your child? Will you be smart enough to let the coach do the job, not interfere, and be there whenever help is needed?

Will you support your child during his/her dark periods? Will you yell at him/her when he/she loses a painful game, or will you be supportive and be next to your child?

Many parents fail here. And having a supportive and smart parent is a huge boost!