What can you learn from Vidit Gujrathi at Prague?

Have you ever finished last in a tournament? Well, it happened with Vidit Gujrathi at the Prague Masters 2024. As Vidit himself pointed out, this might be the first time ever that he finished last in his chess career. 20 days before the most important event of his life - the Candidates, this cannot really be a good sign, can it?

Truth be told, this might not be such a bad thing. 2016 Candidates winner Sergey Karjakin struggled big time at the Tata Steel Masters 2016 (lost 9 Elo points), and Fabiano Caruana struggled massively at the Tata Steel Masters 2018 (lost 26 Elo points!).

It has been well known that whenever you try something new on the chess board or off it, a new way of thinking or calculating or just a new routine - your results tend to suffer. That's because you haven't yet mastered the new way of doing things. A dip is natural before the rise.

Most people are scared of the dip. And hence they never really try something new. Their graph then remains like the heartbeat of a dead person - a horizontal straight line. Meanwhile, if you are all the time trying something new and experimenting, the graph would look like the heartbeat of a person full of life! :)

While it is going to be an extremely difficult task to win the Candidates for Vidit, Pragg and Gukesh when you have guys like Nakamura, Caruana, Nepomniachtchi and Firouzja - the good news is that an event like Candidates helps you to grow in the long term. You do things differently - you build a team around you, you do training camps, and you work on new ideas and strategies. And all of this leads to real chess improvement.

Pairings of the first round at Candidates 2024! Photo: FIDE Official Website

Chess has this amazing feature (and it is true about all sports) that you get the feedback of your effort almost on an instant basis. You play a game and 4 hours later, you have the result. This is not true in the life of an entrepreneur or someone doing a job. You might have the most poor state of mind at work, and yet no one is going to deduct your salary for that day.

Immediate feedback in the form of results often brings an intense attachment to results for a chess player. However, the key aspect here is to detach yourself from the result as much as you can. It's extremely difficult - I get it. Mainly because you are working towards getting a positive result and then when it doesn't it is bound to upset you.

Do check out this excellent article on detachment from results by GM Avetik Grigoryan! | Photo: ChessMood

In this respect, I am thoroughly inspired by Praggnanandhaa's learning attitude. When asked if he was upset when he blundered a totally winning position against Rapport in 2 moves at the Prague Master - Pragg replies; "I was happy with my quality of the game!" How can one shake such a steadfast improver ar the game. Even the result is incapable!

Through this newsletter I want you to be inspired by Vidit and Pragg. Try new things and be ready to fail, just like Vidit. And keep an intense focus on developing a learning attitude just like Pragg. Keeping a healthy detachment from results is sure to boost your game and results. - Sagar Shah

Nodirbek Abdusattorov clinches Prague Masters 2024 with a round to spare, now World no.4

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) defeated Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) to win 6th Prague International Chess Festival 2024 Masters. It was certainly not an easy win for the champion. He sacrificed his queen for a rook and knight. Then he had to navigate through a difficult endgame to earn the full point. This win also ensured, the former World Rapid champion move up to World no.4 in the live ratings. D Gukesh won against Vincent Keymer (GER). Aansh Nandan Nerurkar won the Futures section. He will play in the Challengers section at the next edition. IM Ediz Gurel drew against GM Erwin L'ami (NED) to secure his final GM-norm and become the latest Grandmaster of Turkey. Photo: Prague International Chess Festival

VIDIT GUJRATHI TEACHES ADVANCED CALCULATION!

Advanced Tactics and Calculations are of utmost importance when it comes to improving your chess. How do you calculate long variations and where do you stop? When can you rely on intuition, and what methods are there to choose from? Tactics are taught early and lead to serious improvement when you learn themes like Pin, Double Attack, Fork etc. as a beginner. However, after a certain level, it is not so straight forward to simply work on tactics and improve. That's the reason we have recorded the "Master Advanced Tactics and Calculations like a Super Grandmaster" with GM Vidit Gujrathi.

In this video course we use studies to present the different aspects of Advanced Tactics and Calculations. As Vidit navigates his way through the world of studies, you get to see a world class GM in action. When does he use brute force and calculation and when does he rely on his intuition - these are all the things that you get to learn from Vidit's video course. IM Sagar Shah sits along with Vidit and tries to break down the thinking of a Super GM in a way that it is easier for you to understand. If you decide to seriously work on the material presented here, you can be sure that you will become stronger at chess calculation.

Today, we have a big 10% discount on Master advanced Tactics and Calculations like a super Grandmaster by Vidit Gujrathi ! Just use the Coupon code "VIDITG10" to avail the discount. The offer is valid only till 16th March 2023 - so hurry up and get it now!

LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK

Xiangzhi Bu wins 5th Shenzhen Masters 2024, Arjun Erigaisi third

Arjun Erigaisi drew his final round game against Daniil Dubov at 5th Shenzhen Masters 2024. Xiangyu Xu (CHN) scored the sole victory in the seventh round against Qun Ma (CHN). The remaining two games between Yangyi Yu (CHN) and Anish Giri, Vladislav Artemiev and Xiangzhi Bu (CHN) also ended in draws. Xiangzhi became champion, Yangyi second and Arjun third according to tie-breaks. The total prize fund of the tournament was US$ 90000. The top three prizes were $20000, $15000 and $12000 each respectively. Arjun is still World no.10 and India no.1 in the live ratings. Photos: Organizer/Liang Ziming

Prague International Chess Festival 2024: Ediz Gurel clinches Challengers, becomes youngest GM of Turkiye

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) had already won 6th Prague International Chess Festival 2024 Masters on the previous day. In the final round, he drew against Richard Rapport (ROU) comfortably to finish a staggering 1.5 points ahead of the competition with a 2873 performance. Czech Republic no.2 made a fantastic comeback scoring 5/7 in his last seven games after starting the event with two losses. Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) and R Praggnanandhaa also scored 5/9. However, Thai Dai Van secured second place according to the tie-breaks, Parham third and Praggnanandhaa fourth. A day after becoming Turkiye's 15th overall and youngest GM, Ediz Gurel defeated Anton Korobov (UKR) in the final round to win the Challengers section. He will play the Masters in the seventh edition. Photos: Amruta Mokal

Diptayan Ghosh becomes National Rapid 2024 Champion

GM Diptayan Ghosh (RSPB) scored an unbeaten 9/11 to win National Rapid Championship 2024. He finished a half point ahead of the competition. Eight players - IM Aronyak Ghosh (RSPB), GM Raja Rithvik R (TEL), IM Arghyadip Das (RSPB), IM Srihari L R (TN), FM Suyog Wagh (MAH), IM Sammed Jaykumar Shete (MAH), IM Ayush Sharma (MP) and IM Aradhya Garg (DEL) scored 8.5/11 each. They secured second to ninth place according to tie-breaks. Suyog is the sole non IM/GM finisher among top ten. Nithin Babu (KER) is the highest untitled finisher at 15th place scoring 8/11. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy

Diptayan Ghosh wins a double, conquers National Blitz Championship 2024

GM Diptayan Ghosh (RSPB) scored 9.5/11 to win National Blitz Championship 2024. After GM Aravindh Chithambaram, Diptayan seems to be continuing his record of the same player winning the National Rapid and Blitz at the same edition. Diptayan finished a half point ahead of the field. GM Raja Rithvik R (TEL), IM Ethan Vaz (Goa) and IM Aradhya Garg (DEL) scored 9/11 each. They were placed second, third and fourth respectively according to tie-breaks. FM Suyog Wagh (MAH) scored 8.5/11 to finish eighth. Once again he is the sole non-GM/IM to make a top ten finish. This is Diptayan's second tournament triumph of the year. Both of them occurred in consecutive days. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy