In this week’s episode I talk with Alexander Baburin, Ireland’s only Chess Grandmaster currently.

I’ve always had an interest in Chess – playing badly but the strategy, the history, and the focus required be a great chess player!

The podcast gives me a wonderful opportunity to talk with experts in their fields and I was delighted when Alexander agreed to come on and talk about the world of chess and his career.

Here is a summary of the topics we discussed during the episode. I hope you enjoy!

Summary Topics:
•The 10,000 hour rule and the Grandmaster
•Hard work v Talent
•Bounce, Matthew Zayed and deliberate practice
•Playing the Polgar sisters – 2 making grandmasters and 1 international master
•Women Grandmaster titles and full Grandmasters
•Growing up in Russia (Gorky)
•Discovering Chess at the age of 7 and being taught the rules by his dad
•Joining a Chess club in school and quickly realising this was something he really liked
•3-4 years later, becoming seriously hooked and starting to play 10+ hours per week
•Early practice was more just friendly games and less structured study and play
•Having a coach and getting play more structured
•What is the best use of your time when playing Chess seriously?
•What to do before the games and after the games
•Creating a Plan to help develop his game – similar to studying for an exam
•There are many topics to focus on to study in chess
•The coach can help very much with this work
•Studying Chess and the impact it had on academic life
•Schools being supportive of Chess and seeing this as a positive hobby/passion
•Chess teaching planning and discipline leading to better schooling
•Having Swimming and Basketball as passions in early years
•Tapping into the desire to win and do your best
•Getting into the ‘Zone’ when playing and everything else fades away
•Living his life and playing for years before realizing it would be a career
•At the age of 20, Alexander had to make a decision where to go next and this time was when Chess became an option as a career – a couple of years later, the boarders opening up, this helped Alexander pursue Chess as an option
•By 22-23, chess became something he would do for the foreseeable future.
•How Chess ranking works and the difference between National, International Masters and Grandmasters, getting a ‘rating’ and moving up and down rankings
•The big gap between IM and GM and reaching the GM level taking 5 year…
•How international competitions work and how to achieve a ‘norm’
•The Swiss System in Chess
•How quickly can someone achieve GM status?
•Looking at the speed at which kids have reached GM at the age of 14-15
•Getting to GM level in 7-8 years and aligns with the 10k hours rule
•Common traits with Grandmasters – coming all forms and shapes
•One common trait – Hates to Lose!
•Every loss is a ‘little death’ – psychologically very difficult
•Driven by the desire not to lose more than the desire to win!
•Developing resilience and dealing with frustrations…
•The role of luck or is it pure skill in Chess?
•Luck playing a role in his career and providing opportunities
•Controlling Emotions during a Game and approaches to keep them in check
•Snatching victory from the jaws of defeat
•How the style of play develops and changes over time
•Playing against ‘pieces’ or against ‘players?
•Chess players peaking at the age of 35 but now it seems to be younger – at 27/28
•The Indian summer is noticeable in many players – even up to the age of 60
•Alexander stopped growing as a player 20 years ago due to making a conscious decision to diversify – write books, coaching, etc
•The general level of play is increasing now compared to 20 years ago – at the club player level – but at the top level, less so
•The role of technology and how it’s changed the game of Chess in a dramatic way
•Making information and learning much more accessible
•Chess engines helping players learn much quicker – like a spell checker
•How technology has brought more cheating in Chess
•Watching more chess online has had a positive impact – it’s overall been a positive
•What advice amateur players could look at to improve their game?
•Coaching, Planning, studying games, and be consistent on a regular basis
•Having a plan is better than no plan!
•Training Sam Collins in Ireland to be a Grandmaster

Connecting with Alexander – you can find him on Facebook here - https://www.facebook.com/alexander.baburin.37

Email – Baburin@gmail.com