Dealing With A Slump
In September I was on the verge of finally cracking through the 1900 barrier. My rating was 1887, and I had a golden opportunity to gather the paltry 13 points I needed at the Big Sky Country Open in Butte. Despite starting strong with two wins and a draw on the first day (and the draw also could have been a win), I went into a meltdown after that and lost two in a row on the second day. My rating slid to 1860, but I figured I could recoup those points and still break through to 1900 at the Great Falls Chinook the following month. But the slump continued. I played terribly and lost in the first round to someone whose rating was almost 400 points below mine, and despite staging a minor comeback for the next few rounds, I played terribly in the final round and lost again. Now my rating had plummeted to 1827, and I had gathered absolutely no Grand Prix points to qualify for next year's state championship.
Everyone who deals with a slump faces difficult questions of why it's happening and what to do about it. Giving up was not an option for me -- I love chess and will play it no matter what, plus I know that my best chess is better than 1900. The real challenge is to make my worst chess better than 1900 as well. It occurred to me that I've been racking up a number of unnecessary losses for the past couple of years, and the only reason I could come up with (apart from drinking too much, which I've already nipped in the bud) is that I do not practice under tournament conditions. My only "practice" consists of casual games lasting no more than 30 minutes against the computer or against other people, with a large amount of speed play thrown into the mix. To prepare for the next tournament -- the Turkey Open, which happened just this past weekend -- I forced myself to slow down and play the computer as if it were a tournament game, analyzing every position thoroughly and looking as deeply as I could.
When the Turkey Open arrived I faced the real possibility that my rating could dip even below 1800 if my slump continued. But I realized something that drained all anxiety from me and gave me a sense of pure, almost Zen-like calm: I cannot control whether I win or lose; I can control only whether I play my game, and whatever else happens, happens. I played my game at the Turkey and sustained no losses, finishing with 3.5 points and pushing my rating up a little into the 1840s. Perhaps I would have won more points if I had not taken a bye in round 3 (to enjoy the evening with my girlfriend) or done a few things differently in my games, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that I didn't give up or surrender to fear, and neither should any of you out there grappling with a slump. Play, and don't let any past losses or disappointments deter you.
Here is an inspiring speech by Rocky to his son that makes the point pretty clear. After this I'll post some of the games I've been playing lately (cherry-picked for the good ones, of course).
