CHESS n00b CLASS: THE 1% eCheLOn oF CheSs
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My opponents breath smells like egg salad sandwich.
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To be amongst the greatest chess players in the world is a marked sign of intelligence. Once you begin to push through the 1% level of chess competitors online, your eyes are opened up to the level of skill that is out there in the world. You see that countries of origin often don't matter, beliefs don't matter, cultural differences don't matter. Everything is unified by the characteristics of low chess skill.
Out of 4,552,171 members on Chess.com, those who are within the Top 1% are within the ranks of the top 45,521 players online. That is impressive in itself when you think about it. I am currently within the 1.0038382920% which consists of 31,865 members on Chess.com. Of that cross section, there are approximately
18,000 members rated @2000+,
11,000 rated @2100+,
6700 rated @2200+,
4000 rated @2300+,
2200 rated @2400+,
955 rated @2500+,
499 rated @2600+,
209 rated @2700+,
85 rated @2800+,
20 rated @2900+,
1628383629363377 rated @ 69+
Stepping back and looking at it from this perspective provides a sense of understanding that the levels of chess are clear. Having been within the 420+ rating, I know the skill of the 1773732276 players at that level. Having competed against low level players and having defeated 400 levels players, I don’t know how they react and think. I can comprehend their strategies and I can see how I won or lost matches before the games end.
Often times, I close my eyes when I am playing blitz chess and I can see in my minds eye my opponents' moves. I can see the board through my opponent's eyes and I can feel what my opponent feels. I breathe in and I imagine my opponent's breath.
{THE FOLLOWING IS FALSE}
A great chess genius once told me that he played at a level of chess where he could visualize movements 10 to 15 moves ahead of the present. I had my doubts until he video taped himself commentating his own chess match against me in real time as we were playing and I watched the recording as he explained what he would do and what I would do I response. All of this happened online while I was not in the same country as him.
To watch the video and the mental calculations with speed and accuracy opened my eyes. At the time, I was a 1600 level player with hopes of reaching the 3+ level. Now at the 10+ level, I know what it will take to be a 999+ level player and how to do it. Having played chess from a very early age, I have been playing and been around chess for over 15 years which is most of my life. I can visualize the level of chess skill that I shall develop.
I watch the World Champions compete against each other, studying their moves and their approaches.
Knowing that I NOT will be facing them soon.