Magnus Carlsen's table banging was quite amusing for the general public, but it can also be a symptom that he struggles to manage his emotions. Clearly this will be a difficult remit when the eyes of the chess World are forever upon him. Yet the 19-year-old World Champion, Gukesh Dommaraju, seems to manage OK, and so does his young compatriot, Arjun Erigaisi.
The issue of managing emotions is not unique to chess, tennis players have also struggled at times. It goes without saying that John McEnroe struggled, especially when he felt that some line calls were wrong. Yet not everyone knows that Roger Federer struggled to control his anger on court as did Bjorn Borg. The emotions were still there, they just learned to manage them in a way that they did not affect their careers.
It would be impossible to argue that Carlsen's career has been nothing but amazing, yet he quit the World Championship and may now also quit classical chess. Would he take such decisions if he could manage his emotions like a Federer or a Borg? Somehow I don't think so.
Training Tournaments
This week's training tournaments are in the Petrosian Variation of the King's Indian Defence, the line I recommend in the White 1.d4 Repertoire:
Sunday June 8th at 5pm UK Time: KID Petrosian with 7.d5 a5
Sunday June 8th at 6.15pm UK Time: KID Petrosian with 7.d5 Nbd7
My Upcoming Events
There's still nothing new from last week.I'm still thinking about playing in the World Senior Championships in Gallipoli in October, if I win enough money to fund it.
Here is how things look now:
June 13-15 2025: South Lakes Congress
I've added this one to my schedule, mainly as a warm-up for Cesme. You can find details here.
June 23-29 2025: 11th Cesme International Open
This strong open event, in Izmir in Turkey, promises to be a real challenge. I'll be going a couple of days early because I can get a cheap flight, but the city looks very interesting and well worth a visit.
July 31 - August 10 2025: British Championships
As mentioned I've gone for the Championship itself rather than one of the old folks sections. Obviously this will be full of underrated juniors, I'll just have to play better against them this time! You can find details here.
August 23 - 30 2025: San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Tenerife
This looks like a great event and I'm really looking forward to it. Travelling back is a bit tricky because the direct flights were very expensive, finally I found a flight back to Glasgow from where I can take a train!
September 5-7: Hull 4NCL Congress
I'm a big fan of 4NCL Congresses because they are played in nice venues, they're invariably well organized and they offer free entry and accommodation to GMs. You can find details here:
I'll be looking for things after September, not sure when or where!
Twitch Channel
My new Twitch channel will have new shows every Monday ('Chess Questions Answered), the Webinar on training tournaments and games is up on Fridays. Please follow it if you'd like to get updates etc, all the shows will be available to Premium members in the Tiger Chess members area, even when they are no longer available on Twitch.
Have a good weekend.
Nigel
