The Long Climb to National Master - Part 1
After seven years of playing chess competitively, I finally surpassed a United States Chess Federation rating of 2200 and thus achieved the long-awaited National Master title. Unlike many other players, my journey to National Master took an extremely long time and involved many ups and downs. Today, many players achieve the title within 3-4 years of playing competitively, or even at single-digit ages. However, I believe this makes my climb to National Master even more insightful and unique. Therefore, I've unretired from blogging and I'm back to share my brilliances and blunders on The Long Climb to National Master.
Introduction
The United States Chess Federation (USCF) awards the title of National Master once a player has achieved a rating of 2200. The National Master title cannot be lost, even if a player goes under a rating of 2200. Initially, I expected myself to reach the title much earlier, certainly sometime in 2024. However, as school work piled up, I found myself with less time to play tournaments as I had to balance my time wisely.
The journey took longer than expected, my rating was stagnant, and even when I was close, I would choke at the finish line. This blog series will be a complete summary of my entire journey from 2100 to 2200, showing all the heartbreaking losses and big wins. I hope everyone is able to take something away from this blog: about chess or about trying to achieve goals in general.
Summer
When the summer of 2024 came, my rating sat at 2129, previously peaking at 2155. I believed that the summer of 2024 was it; if I was unable to achieve the National Master title this summer, it would be a lot more difficult to achieve it later on, as it would contradict with my sophomore year of high school. I decided to go all out by playing in four tournaments in Europe. Playing in Europe allowed me to have a lot more time to prepare for opponents, as tournaments were now one round a day compared to tournaments in the United States, which were generally two rounds a day. The ultimate goal was to achieve the National Master title and a FIDE title.
Some of you may be wondering, how would I be able to achieve a USCF title if I were playing outside of the US? The answer is that my USCF and FIDE profiles were linked, meaning I could still gain USCF rating from playing abroad. For example, if I were to beat a player with a FIDE rating of 2200, my USCF rating would be affected as if I beat a player with a USCF rating of 2200. For this blog, the following games will display my USCF rating and my opponent's FIDE rating.
2024 Carolinas Classic
Before my trip to Europe, I started off by playing in the Carolinas Classic in Charlotte, North Carolina. In the first round, I was paired against GM Tuan Minh Le (@wonderfultime), a man who was once renowned as "the world's strongest IM". It was just my second time playing against a Grandmaster over the board, and I wasn't sure what to expect and simply wanted to put up a good fight.
I didn't play very well against Minh Le, getting crushed positionally and making it too easy for my opponent. I definitely should not have played for 17. f4, and instead played in the center to prevent my opponent from taking advantage of my weaknesses. 14. c4 also needed to be played rather than Qe4. In my next round, I faced a 2050, who made a crucial blunder in a chaotic position. Can you find how I took advantage of my opponent's passive setup?
In the coming rounds, I was able to defeat all the lower-rated players I faced, but was unable to hold a draw or beat any higher-rated players. This trend was an accurate representation of the majority of my chess results, and struggling to be able to beat or draw 2200-2300s was a major roadblock towards the National Master title. However, I finished with a score of 3/5, and my rating increased from 2129 to 2145, a nice start to hopefully get the ball rolling for the rest of the summer.
2024 Arona Chess Festival
The first tournament that would kick off my chess journey in Europe would be the Arona Chess Festival, hosted on the Spanish island of Tenerife. This tournament was filled with grandmasters, as well as beginners; it was a completely open tournament to all. I was quite excited to start, yet there was also a lot of pressure for me to perform.
In my first game, I was paired against the young British International Master (now Grandmaster) Shreyas Royal, rated 2475. I was much worse throughout the middlegame but my opponent slipped, letting me reach a drawn endgame. However, my shaky technique led to my position falling apart, and I lost the game. The key turning point is seen below, where I had a clear path to a draw.
In the rounds that followed, a trend began to form where I would lose a high-rated player and then win against a very low-rated player. This back-and-forth trend was quite frustrating, as I was slowly losing rating. However, in round 7, I reached a great position out of the opening against a 2251 rated player from England. It was finally an opportunity to breakthrough this pattern and finally get a win against a higher-rated player.
Out of the opening, everything was going for me, the open king and my piece activity. My spotty technique and crucial mistakes like Nf3 ultimately led me to lose this game. My performance at the Arona Chess Festival was quite disappointing. I finished the tournament with 5/10, beating all lower-rated players and losing against all higher-rated players. However, this time my USCF rating took a hit from 2145 to 2131, this was because the lower-rated players ranged from 1600-1800, and the higher-rated players hovered around the 2200-2300 range.
Looking back on this tournament, a key mistake that I made was that I gave too much respect to my opponents. This is evident in my game against Shreyas, where he bluffed by allowing me to take the pawn on a6. I went against my instincts and trusted my opponent, not even calculating the clear path to a draw. Changing your play style against opponents depending on their rating is a common mistake, and I would suggest that everyone try their best to eliminate this harmful mindset.
Ceske Budejovice Festival 2024
In my next tournament in Czechia, my mistake was made before the tournament even started. The tournament was nine rounds and I decided to take byes in the first four rounds as it overlapped with my previous tournament. However, unlike tournaments in the United States, where byes are counted as half points, the byes I was given were worth no points! This meant I would start my tournament on 0/4 and likely not face any high-rated players for the entire tournament.
After a smooth 2/2 start, I was paired against a 1585 from Turkmenistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia. Immediately, I knew that this player was likely extremely underrated, as many players from Central Asia have beaten my friends at international youth tournaments despite a huge rating gap. With few games in the database, I went into the round completely unaware of what opening I would face. If I were to win, I would gain a singular point; if I were to lose, it would cost nearly 20 points. This game was the exact opposite of the phrase "no risk, no reward" and was rather "all risk, no reward."
This game was the biggest setback of my entire climb to the National Master title. If it were not for this game, I likely would've reached my title a lot earlier, as this game cost me 20 whole rating points. Overall, I played quite poorly and my opponent played a near-perfect game, taking advantage of all my poor decisions and lack of plan. I believe my first mistake was in the opening, where I refused a trade of light-squared bishops, which came back to bite me later on.
I had never lost to such a lower-rated player, and the game left me filled with disappointment and anger. To add insult to injury, I decided to clear my mind by watching the Euros where one of my favorite players, João Félix, missed the third penalty in the shootout. I found the fact that I lost my third round, and he missed the third penalty, quite coincidental: which explains the thumbnail for this blog.
I went on to finish the tournament with a score of 4/5, which normally sounds like a good result, but instead dropped my rating from 2131 to 2117. The start of my journey was already extremely disappointing, and I knew that if I continued to play like this, there was no chance I would be able to make any progress. In this tournament, I learned not to let my emotions affect my play. Despite my third-round defeat, which made me extremely frustrated; I still played with patience and poise to make sure to pick up rounds four and five with a cool head.
Slovakia Chess Open Piestany 2024
The Slovakia Chess Open served as an opportunity for me to find my form again and rebound my rating. In this tournament, I was one of the lowest-rated players which meant there was a lot of potential for upsets. In my first round, I was paired against a 2304 IM from India. I played quite poorly, and lost the game after many mistakes in the middlegame. Not a great start, but still with eight rounds to go there would be a lot more chances for me to win. However, that same day, I started to develop symptoms that aligned with food poisoning. No big deal right?
The morning before my second round, the symptoms intensified and I could not digest anything that I ate. I decided to forfeit the round, and rest up. For the next few days, I ate very little and missed a total of three rounds. Eventually, I recovered to a state where I would be able to play. In round 5, I faced a 2100 WFM from India. I preceded to play an absolutely horrible game, finding myself in a terrible position out of the opening. I quickly lost and was feeling unmotivated as ever; I had just 13 games left in this trip, and my USCF rating had actually decreased rather than increased. I needed to find my form again, and I needed to do it in the next round.
Finally, a win versus someone who's rating was somewhat close to mine. After this game, it finally felt like I was beginning to find my form. Following the momentum, I went onto win my next game against a 2114 after pulling off a swindle. In the 8th round, I was paired against a 2258 WCM from Ukraine; a good chance to make a big win and continue to ride the momentum of the last two rounds. Would I finally be able to pull off my first upset of the summer?
The key issue in this game was the fact that once I established a winning/better position, I spent too much time looking for a perfect win and ended up falling into time pressure. Additionally, I gave my opponent too many defensive resources when I should've opened up their kingside earlier on. The game was certainly disappointing, but still was somewhat promising as it showed that I was clearly capable of beating these 2200+ FIDE players.
In the last round I drew against a 2312 rated player, a decent result to cap off the tournament. I finished the tournament with a score of 2.5/6 with an average opponent rating of 2182. My USCF increased just 10 points from 2117 to 2127. Now despite the small increase in rating, I believed that the last 4 rounds of the tournament showed that I was finally starting to find my form.
Czech Open 2024
The last tournament of my trip in Europe was the 2024 Czech Open. I had high hopes for this tournament as there were many higher-rated players. If I was able to continue to play how I ended the Slovakia Open, I could at least end the trip on a high note. At this point, I realized that I was likely not going to achieve the National Master on this trip, but I decided to not let this get to me and to try and simply play my best chess.
In my first round, I faced a 2196 from India. At one point, I was able to win an exchange, but under time pressure I was unable to convert the game and we ended with a draw by repetition. In my next round, I had a crazy game against a 2186 that also ended in a three-fold repetition. The game was one of the very last to finish, and the endgame had a study-like imbalance. Despite the unusual position, I still think there is some interesting educational value.
I was quite fortunate to escape with a draw in this game. So far I had a score of 1/2 with two draws against players around 2200. In my next round, I was once again facing a player in the similar rating range, rated 2176. Out of the opening, I had already began to develop an extremely comfortable position with a monster bishop on g7, and misplaced bishops on the edge of the board. My opponent has just played a seemingly normal move 19. Qc2, can you spot how I took advantage of my opponent's poor piece coordination?
I went on to cleanly win the game, getting my first upset win against a 2176. A good start to the tournament was a nice change for once, and all I needed to do was to continue my streak. In my next game, I faced a 2260. I didn't play very well, and poor time management skills ultimately caused me to lose the game. I wasn't too worried about dropping one game, but then I went onto lose my next game against a 2156! This game was extremely interesting but once against I spent way too much time, especially out of the opening where I decided to sacrifice my queen.
I played some very pretty moves, but I spent way too much time looking for a "unicorn," when I should've just continued to improve my pieces. The most unnecessary part was spending time on 16. dxc3, when I had already committed to the idea of sacrificing my queen when I played 15. d4. The poor time management skills were a common setback that prevented me from picking up a lot of rating points.
Following this game, I faced a 2165 rated player. I made a poor decision in the opening that led me to lose that game as well. I had now lost three games in a row, and with three games in the tournament I needed to lock in. In the 7th round, I faced a 2111 rated IM, a chaotic opening led us to an open middlegame, where my opponent made a blunder.
To end the tournament, I had some pretty uneventful games where I beat a 2129 rated player and lost to a 2173 rated player. I finished with a score of 4/9, with an average opponent rating of 2172. My performance at the Czech Open pushed my rating up slightly from 2127 to 2142. A decent performance that certainly could've been better without my three game losing streak.
Europe Reflection
After playing in Europe, my USCF rating stayed around the same from 2145 to 2142. On the bright side, my FIDE rating increased 60 points from 2005 to 2065. Despite not achieving my goal in Europe, I still believed that I learned a lot and the trip certainly played a large role in getting the National Master title later on. For example, constantly preparing for opponents greatly improved my opening knowledge and helped me gain valuable experience. Additionally, it helped me identify the clear issue of time management, and I later on made steps to remedy this bad habit.
Playing in Europe definitely humbled me; I had honestly anticipated that achieving the NM title wouldn't be extremely difficult. I often heard about many successful performances by American kids in Europe, and I believe that my experience should be a reminder that nothing is guaranteed and you still need to work to increase your rating. For those who are considering on playing in Europe, I was heavily consider playing in sections where you are one of the lowest-rated players, as I saw the most success in such tournaments.
San Diego County Championships
Just two weeks after playing my last tournament in Europe, I was registered for the San Diego County Championship, a 5-round tournament with many similarly rated players. Prior to playing in this tournament, I warmed up by playing in the Gambito, a local four round tournament. I had a very average performance of 2/4 increasing my rating from 2142 to 2148. I had a nice win against a 2315 thanks to a cheeky tactic.
Now it was time for the San Diego County Championships, showcasing a field of many young players ranging from 2100 to 2400. I started off the tournament by playing against my friend's brother rated 1811. I established a winning position but he found an incredible resource that turned the position to a draw. Thankfully, my opponent flagged after putting up a good fight, starting the tournament on a shaky win.
In the second round, I faced a 2375 rated player. Similar to the previous game, I was also able to establish a winning position, but I was unable to find the killer blow. My opponent did a very good job at making the position complicated, leading my time to slowly drain away. At one point I made a huge blunder, and completely threw a winning game. Can you spot the winning idea that would've sealed the game away?
I was quite upset that I threw away such a good opportunity away against a much higher-rated player when there was such simple win on the board. Again, I spent too much time looking for a perfect tactic when I could've easily won by looking for simplifications. Fortunately, in my next round I was able to learn from my mistakes and converted a win in the endgame against a 2306 rated player. Ironically, I actually did have a perfect tactic in this game, see if you can find it below.
I ended up still being able to convert this game despite not spotting the tactic in the game. I think some psychological factors from the previous game may have prevented me from confidently playing it despite considering the move. Nonetheless, a win against a 2300 is a great result and another step closer to the National Master title.
The first day ended on the third round, and with 2/3 I was more or less satisfied with my results so far. The next day in round 4, I faced a 2201 rated player. After poor decisions in the opening, I immediately found myself in worse position. But as the position got more complicated, my pieces began to become more and more active helping push the middlegame into my favor. Eventually I was able to convert, and won the game putting me on 3/4 points! I could pull off a win in my last round, it would be one of my best tournaments to date. In the final round, I faced my friend who was rated 2155.
Despite my opponent's blunder in the opening, he did a good job in complicating the position. Luckily I was able to find the correct resources to navigate out of the mess, but against some players such efforts may work. A lesson that even if you are losing you should always try to play active and go all out on your opponent since you have nothing to lose!
All in all, I finished the tournament with a score of 4/5 points and immensely boosted my rating from 2148 to 2186. Additionally, I finished tied for 2nd place, so the cash prize was also a nice touch. I was finally within reach of the National Master title and just two good games would be enough!
Reflection
Despite myself going into the Summer of 2024 thinking that I would end up getting the National Master title, I wasn't totally unhappy with how it went. Overall, I think that there were many tough losses but I definitely improved my chess and learned a life lesson. No matter the circumstances, you always need to try your best if you want to achieve your goals. I had identified the factors that were holding me back:
- Perfectionism: Looking for a perfect move when the position calls for something simpler.
- Time Management: Spending too much time in unnecessary moments
- Converting: Getting a winning position but allowing too many resources for my opponent.
- Trusting my Opponent: Giving too much respect to my opponent and trusting their moves blindly (seen against Shreyas).
Off the Board
A lot of you will likely be wondering, why haven't I made any blog posts? Which is a fair question as I have not made blog posts in the past two years! One reason was that back then I intended for my next blog post to be about reaching the National Master title. As you can see, it took a lot longer than expected and therefore I am only posting now. Additionally, I am now in highschool, where I have seen a significant increase in schoolwork and decrease in free time. Juggling AP classes, other extracurriculars, and pushing for the National Master title was already a lot on my plate.
One of exciting things that I have done in recent times was co-found a company named MoneyMind Games! Today, financial literacy is often overlooked in education system with only 39% of Gen Z Americans being considered financially literate. That's why my friends and I have developed a card game for children ages 8+ that teaches investing, budgeting, navigating taxes, and managing risk and reward. If you guys are interested in buying yourself a copy, you learn more at playmoneymind.com!
Aside from schoolwork, I have began to pickup 1-on-1 coaching for a handful of kids in my area. However, nowadays ordering coaches and chess courses come at a steep price. That's why @YEAT and I decided to create ChessUnlocked, a 510(c)3 non-profit organization that offers chess instruction for completely free. We often host free group lessons by titled players, host membership giveaways, and the community in general is great for any aspiring chess players! Feel free to check our chess.com club out!
Conclusion
The summer of 2024 was quite the journey, taking my rating from 2129 to 2186. It looks like I still play my best when playing in the United States. At 2186, I was the closest I had ever been. In the next three parts of this series, I will discuss the psychological factors that led me to choke when I was just one game away. Part two will be posted towards the end of August.
I apologize for the blog being so insanely long, and I promise that the next three parts will be a lot shorter and a lot more structured. Even if you did not read the entire blog, I hope that you were at least able to learn something new. Additionally, I will be answering questions in the comments below so feel free to ask questions about the blog or questions about chess improvement! Thank you for reading, and as always, see you next time.
