The art of conscious listening

"Listen carefully"! I have been told this many times in my life. Right since childhood. My mother told me often, so did my father. The teachers had to say this almost every single day. But what exactly is the true essence of listening? The true essence of listening is that you are at peace with yourself in that moment. There is nowhere else you want to be apart from where you already are. There are no other thoughts that are entering your head apart from the words that are being spoken. There is no retaliation or continuation to the conversation being planned in your head. You are 100% present in that moment, soaking all of that what is being spoken. Imagine if you were a computer, then each and every ounce of your computing power is being spent in that one action - listening. This for me is conscious listening.

Conscious listening is an art filled with so much pureness that it fulfills the person who is doing it. It doesn't matter what the speaker is saying. Maybe there is a lot of useful things to learn from it, maybe there is nothing particularly useful. But conscious listening when it becomes a way of living means that your ego is at a minimum. That you have the patience to let someone finish before you want to begin - not just in words, but also in your thoughts. You consider what you could learn from someone to be more important than what you already know.

As a chess student, there is knowledge everywhere around us. You have some amazing coaches who are ready to share their life long learnings with you. There are YouTube videos, training courses, both paid and free. There are also 1000s of books out there which have been written with a passion and a yearning to share knowledge with the student. One of the key reasons why some students improve, while others do not using the same material, is how they are listening to it. How are they ingraining and integrating this knowledge which is being offered to them. Chess is a beautiful game. The way in which it works is - you have something within you - the knowledge with which you execute the moves on the chess board. And then from the moves and the games that you have already played, you can learn and finetune your game further. We call it the art of your game analysis.

This is an intrinsic process when done alone and maybe at some point we should discuss more about it. But for now I want to put this before you - if you do decide to indulge in extrinsic knowledge - knowledge from books, courses, trainers - then I would recommend you to become a good listener. You might be able to improve your chess level very rapidly if you master this art. - Sagar Shah

HEADLINE OF THE WEEK

Superbet Classic 2024 R4: Praggnanandhaa scores his first Classical win over Giri

R Praggnanandhaa scored his first win at Grand Chess Tour Superbet Classic 2024 against Anish Giri (NED) in Round 4. On his 30th birthday, Giri jested about facing the teenager with the black pieces. It was evident in his game that there was some truth in his humor. He made some uncharacteristic move and spent the better part of his game in defending. The eventuality of that game was Praggnanandhaa's win which is what happened. D Gukesh had a relatively peaceful draw against Alireza Firouzja (FRA). Fabiano Caruana (USA) scored his first-ever Classical victory against Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) to gain sole lead 3/4. In Round 5, it will be Gukesh vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Wesley So (USA) vs Praggnanandhaa. Round 5 starts today from 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Grand Chess Tour/Lennart Ootes

UPGRADE YOUR CHESSBASE 16 TO CHESSBASE 17!

For all the people who have bought ChessBase 16 from the ChessBase India shop, they can upgrade to ChessBase 17 for Rs. 3715! If you buy this product, you should send your serial key of ChessBase 16 to chessbaseindia@gmail.com

- New data format: fewer files, more functions, more comfort, more speed.
- Engine analysis renovated: Variants are automatically verbally annotated, forced continuations are recognized.
- Pearl search: Find spectacular games instantly! Beautiful games are marked in the database list.
- Optimised program interface: high-resolution 2D board, faster graphics.
- New clearer search mask: material & positional searches simplified, immediate feedback on expected results - and many more!

Today, we have a big 15% discount on Upgrading your ChessBase 16 to ChessBase 17! Just use the coupon code "UPGRADECB15" to avail the discount. The offer expires on 7th July 2024 - hurry up and get it NOW!

LATEST NEWS OF THE WEEK

37th Magistral Ciudad de Leon: Vishy Anand beats Veselin Topalov, advances to the Final

Vishy Anand defeated Veselin Topalov (BUL) 2.5-1.5 in the first Semifinal of 37th Torneo Magistral de Ajedrez Ciudad de Leon. First game could have gone either player's way. Topalov had a good chance in the endgame of the second game. Anand struck in the third game when his opponent did not anticipate the kingside onslaught correct. The five-time Classical world champion could have finished things much earlier. Anand drew the fourth game in an advantageous position as it was enough for him to advance to the Final. Photo: Magistral de León

India wins 34 medals at 26th Asian Youth Chess Championships 2024

India won ten medals - four individual and six team at 26th Asian Youth 2024 Blitz. Sarbartho Mani clinched Gold in Under-8 Open scoring 7.5/9. Advik Amit Agrawal scored an unbeaten 8/9 to secure Silver in Under-10 Open. Sriram Adarsh Uppala secured a Silver medal in Under-14 Open. He scored 7.5/9. The only Indian girl to win an individual medal in Blitz - Shreya G Hipparagi. She scored 6.5/9 to win Bronze. India had won nine medals in Rapid, 15 in Classical and now ten in Blitz. Kazakhstan won Best Federation as they secured ten individual medals in Classical. India won Silver by winning eight medals. Vietnam third with three medals. They beat Iran on tie-breaks as Vietnam scored more medals in Rapid and Blitz.

Khelo Chess India Fide Rating Income-Expenditure Statement

Friends, thanks to the special support from members of Hindi ChessBase India, we have successfully organized an international classic rating tournament in Bhopal for the first time under the "Khelo Chess India" campaign. While organizing this tournament, our main goal was to conduct a world-class tournament that would reach every section of society. With this in mind, we made the tournament a six-day event to give players some rest between matches. Additionally, the entry fee was set at only 600 rupees. Due to its social message, the World Chess Federation included it as part of the prestigious FIDE 100 series, making it the first such tournament in the country.Friends, for any event organized through collective contributions, we believe it is essential to present the income and expenditure details transparently. So, read the full article.

Tech Mahindra Global Chess League to host its second edition in London

The highly anticipated second edition of Tech Mahindra Global Chess League will take place in London, England from 3rd to 12th October 2024. It will take place at Friends House in central London. Soon Global Chess League Trophy tour will be launched to increase and broaden viewership, interactive fan experiences and and community engagement activities. The format remains the same as the inaugural edition - six teams including two top women chess players and a prodigy player in a double round-robin system. Each match will be decided in a best of six board scoring system. Are you excited about the second edition? Whom would you like to see in this edition? Photo: FIDE