Mirror mirror on the wall

Why did you lose? You could have played this move? Why did you accept a draw in plus position? Oh, you blundered again.

Sounds familiar? almost all parents say the same thing after their child has either drawn or lost a game. This expert advice comes mostly after seeing the engine.

All this is going to change, for a few parents, at least for sometime.

In the recent RWF tournament, organiser Rajeev Bhatt had an innovative idea, tournament only for parents whose kids are playing in the tournament, so that they get to understand what it is like when their kids play.

Not easy to get parents to take part, so he enticed them with some more carrots, Chessbase India sponsored prizes for the top 20, and the best part was, top 20 will get to play simultaneous chess against a GM and the next 20 will play against an IM. Now it was difficult to say no, but still there was some reluctance on my part. Giridhar, another parent forcefully took me and got me enrolled, so I did the same to Sandeep and so on, eventually it was 60+ parents who would fight it out.

And the day came, and the time came, and the tension started mounting.....tables and chairs were setup, DGT clocks were neatly placed next to the boards, oh my, it was all happening, it was for real, and.... first round pairing was displayed....

Round 1

The clock read 15, it was a rapid match, how can we play in 15 mts, it takes time you see, each move needs to be calculated, stating from move #1. Time for making excuses was over, game would start anytime soon.... and it started ... and my heart began to pound ....

All thoughts started going on in my head, is my opponent a player, do they know chess better than me, then I should not play e4, I should play some random moves... clock is ticking, ok made the first move, opponent responded in no time, now what next... should scare the opponent, play fast, beat them on time, ok thats a strategy i will stick with....played fast.

Very soon it got complicated, what do I do, take the pawn or not, had heard of things like poison pawn, stick to my strategy play fast and outwit them on time, even they cannot calculate that well, so hoping for them to make mistakes. Had overheard concepts like there should be more attackers than defenders, now that came to my help. Start counting, number of attackers and defenders, oops clock is ticking. New strategy came to mind, attack relentlessly, opponent will not be able to calculate and buckle under pressure.

It would have been so nice if I had one more piece attacking that square, oh, realize that I have not developed my pieces, and have no time to develop, rememmbered one of the opening principles, develop your pieces, but it was too late. Get on with counting attackers and defenders, cant attack as opponent has more defenders, count again, its the same, clock is ticking, oh what the, all the time I was counting one of my own pieces as opponents piece, phew, what a relief, now remembered people saying you need to have board vision. Get serious, this is a serious tournament, need to answer my son later, cant cut a sorry figure, oh, this is what my son goes through I guess - need to answer my father, realized that there are too many expectations while playing. All this can wait, focus, this stupid clock is ticking...

Wow, brilliant play, not even developed my pieces and able to corner opponents queen, oh only one sqaure to escape for the queen, let me close it with the bishop, opponent takes the bishop, what the, illegal move, no, bishop does not have any cover, did I just blunder a piece, cant be, but it just happened, this is not going well, have to do something, pretend it is a sacrifice, read many articles where a player maintains a poker face, so yes, poker face it is. But I cant lose, so attack more.

By this time, could not concentrate, it was too loud, my heartbeats, forget about poker face, placed my hand on my heart to releive the pressure a bit. Opponent had a better position, but somehow I got one good move, got the queen into the game and started attacking, was relieved that I was back in the game. Now get more pieces near the opponents king and try to checkmate, oh no, its not happening, how much ever I try, unable to mate, there is always one escape square. By this time the oppoenent could not take it, either he was under too much pressure or to show some mercy, he resigned, hurray, had scored one point, and I could show my face to my son.

Wish it was the end of the tournament, I could go out on a high, but there were a few more rounds.

Round 2

Second round pairing are out and I am playing my friend. Ok, lets have some fun, surprisingly, this time I was much more calm, heart was beating normally. Decided to shake things up, knew my Rook was going if I continue my line, but what the heck, play aggressively, remember last game, one queen move made all the difference. Made one blunder after another, and my oppoent was less merciful, he actually took the free pieces. I could still get back into the game, if only he does not advance the pawn, cant believe my eyes, he actually did it. Maybe I thought too loudly. Could see the end was near, lone king versus an army, still not the one to give up, new idea struck me, try for a stalemate, almost had it, but the oppoenent saw it. Game over, now I have to explain it to my son, why I did so many blunders...

1 on 2, not good, not bad.

Thats all for the day, next three rounds the following day. Now I have to face my son....

After chiding me for a poor show, he asked me to explain the game I lost, which I did and he said, oh pappa, you are getting a free peice in the fourth move itself and you did not take it, oh really, actually yes, how could I....

Round 3

Day 2, pairing for round 3 announced. Just then my opponents wife is telling the arbiter that he will not be able to make it as he had a minor accident, my happinies knew no bounds, and it was short lived, as the organiser invited some other parents to take his place. Game starts, and I was learning from the previous games, and correcting a few mistakes, one was, dont attack blindly, but make sure you calculate and attack. Did little bit of calculation, and I had more attackers than his defenders, so was a piece up. So glad, was proud of my calculating ability and how I had improved in just two games. Opponent pinned my queen. How could I have not seen this, was losing my queen. All this would not have happened had I followed the opening priciple and castled early. Ummm, still learning. But wait, isnt attack the best defense. Came up with a cute tactic, gave check with knight, if opponent takes with queen, then back rank mate, if he takes with pawn then he is winning. And he took his queen to take the knight, soon realized his folly and kept it back and took with the pawn. As per rules, touch piece was allowed, so it was all ok. From then it was losing. Was 1 on 3, not good, was prepared for lessons from my son.

Its not about winning, its about participating :)

Now something had to be done, in the games played, I still had plenty of time left on the clock, and I used to tell my son that time is like a queen, use it. Realized that I need to take time as well.

Round 4

Taking time and playing, no obvious blunders, but position is getting complicated, and I have less than half the time compared to my opponent, more pressure. Turned out to be super complicated, found few good moves, more important, stayed in the game, and won a very tough game, it could have gone either ways, realized that any win is not easy.

2 out of 4, 50% score, already getting a feeling that this is fun and interesting. Have to improve, for that I have to practice. Others parents stated to feel the same and many were already contemplating to play a rated tournament.

Last round, decides whether I am above 50% score or lower.

Final Round

My opponent says that the clock should be on the right side of the player playing black, or some such thing, though it does not make any difference to me, the very fact that my oppoent knew these details meant she was a well versed player, heart starts pounding. Let me play random moves, as she might know theory well.

Game goes on and soon realize that I am taking too much time and position is not good either. Opponent was pressing for advantage and I had to magically find one good move after another to stay in the game. My opponent was a great sport and said "good move" more than once during the game. Both were under time pressure, last few boards going on, people gathered around, adds to the pressure. Opponent made an illegal move, but one illegal was allowed. In my excitement to win, I made an illegal move, finally managed to win. It was all too surreal.

I must confess that this was not my first tournament, almost three years back, when my son played his first tournament, I played too, to experience first hand what its like to play a tournament. The effect had eroded and I had become a typical chess parent, this tournament was like a fresh dose and its effect will stay for sometime....before long I should play the next tournament.

Was placed 25 out of 66 players, so not top 20, but in the top 40 and get to play simul against an IM and he was none other than Karthikeyan P.

I was not practicing what I usually preach my son, tell him that even if he is playing Carlsen, he should play for a win, but I was more about how long will I stay in the game and should not be the first one to be eliminated.

Game started, though IM was playing 15 opponents, he hardly took time and before you could think and decide on a move he would be at your board and you are forced to make a move. From the corner of my eye, I could see that one by one players were getting eliminated, and I had already achieved my goal, if my son had said these things, I would have called him a loser. But here I was, struggling and not knowing from where mate is coming, and it was all over.

The whole experience was memorable, for me it was more like a mirror shown to me. How easy it is to preach and how insanely difficult it is to go out there an play, forget winning.

Its been a week or so and my son plays another rapid tournament and loses a game, I quickly turn on the engine and tell him how he was winning and what he could have played, oh these parents.....

After having been checkmated by Karthikeyan P