Story of Karjakin

Hello friends, 

I have recently visited GM Igor Smirnov's blog and I have found an interesting article from him. Here it is!

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A few days ago the 2012 Chess Olympiad concluded. Armenia won the gold medal and continues to get great results in team championships. My congratulations to the winners and all chess fans! This was an exciting event with many interesting games.

When observing such games people often admire the genius moves played by the top players. I often see comments like “Black’s position was tough, but the genius Ivanchuk found the right way.” It’s a bit funny to hear. It seems that Ivanchuk’s talent “tells” him what the best move is. 

In this issue I’d like to reveal the REAL truth. Let’s use Sergey Karjakin as an example. I know him pretty well (initially we lived in neighbor cities and often met at tournaments etc), so I can provide the true facts.

Nowadays Karjakin is considered a “natural talent”, one who chess successes come easily to. Let me tell you how this story began however.

–> Karjakin’s parents hired all the good coaches they could find.
–> He spent a lot of time on chess training starting from a very young age. He’s the only person I know, who studied the entire series of endgame encyclopedias as a child!
–> Sergey took part in all the top tournaments. His father always accompanied him (I even was thinking “When does this man find time for his own job?”).

–> Karjakin didn’t really study in a school or university. He dedicated all his time to chess.
–> He traveled around the world to train with good coaches.
–> When he was school age he moved to another town which offered better possibilities for chess development.

–> Later he moved to another country to join the Russian team and meet even better coaches.
–> Even his wife is a chessplayer and I bet they met at a tournament 

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As you can see, his chess development required a lot of effort and sacrifice (from himself and from his parents as well). Remember this the next time you hear about “natural talent” 

I know some of you will argue: “Some people just have a better aptitude for chess”

A man with long legs has better prospects as a runner. Does this mean others can’t run? Can’t others also improve their results in running? Can’t they become professional sportsmen and run faster than the majority of people in the world?

You may be thinking “Yes, but a natural talent progress’s faster”. I can tell you this: the way you train combined with your enthusiasm are MUCH more important factors!

So don’t overestimate the value of aptitude. And don’t underestimate yourself!

You CAN improve your current results significantly! And realize MUCH greater progress than you originally expected. I know PLENTY of such examples and publish them regularly. Here’s one more.

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Sir, you may be happy to know one thing that “I have become Champion” in All Assam State Open Rapid Chess Championship’ 2012 held on 28th & 29th July at Guwahati, Assam. It was a state level (15 minutes rapid) competition and I got 6.5 points out of 7 rounds. 
Before 1 year, victory in my state was a dream for me, but after going through your courses and keeping in touch with a GM like you, its become so easy to me to achieve the goal!! I get the championship title effortlessly for the first time in my life.

Bidyut B. Handique (India)

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I hope to receive the next e-mail with a success story from you!

At the end I’d like to show you a very interesting position from the recent Olympiad.

Try to find black’s next move and calculate the following lines.
After that, download the solution and check yourself: LINK

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Hope you all liked it guys!

You can get his courses by clicking here