Preparing for a Chess Tournament

“Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy.” – Siegbert Tarrasch. I rarely ramble about chess until now. Today, my team and I shall have our final session before we head off to Belize City tomorrow for the Nationals.

Three weeks ago, I accepted to coach the Muffles College High School chess club in preparation for a national tournament on June 30. Since then we’ve trained daily in the college library. We’ve been out of the country on occasion and the team has even received special lessons from national chess coach Mr. Glen Reneau.

It’s clear that there’s been a drastic improvement in their playing since day one. I’m impressed. Their decisions are more mature, they exhibit knowledge of the basic principles and theories, and their improved creativity has been a significant factor in current head-to-head results.

I guess the preparation has paid off. Unfortunately, there’s only one way to find out, and we’ll know that by tomorrow.