From Stuck At 2200 For 2 Years, To FIDE Master In Just 3 Tournaments

How I Went From 'Stuck' At 2200 For 2 Years, To FIDE Master In 3 Tournaments⁣

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I have something shocking to share with you guys.⁣
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Believe it or not, my thoughts around chess were once as 'messed up' as yours.⁣
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I, too, had the struggle of knowing I was 'better' than my rating...yet, not showing it in tournaments.⁣

The Struggle

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Back in 2009, everything seemed to be going wrong:⁣
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- Losing to lower-rated players in chess tournaments;⁣
- Struggling at school; ⁣
- Getting bullied at school;⁣
- Getting cyberbullied by people on the Internet Chess Club (my old 'safe-haven');⁣
- My Mum got wet macular degeneration (i.e. lost her central vision in her eye);⁣
- My Dad was still depressed and making it difficult to focus on studying;⁣

The Shift In My Habits

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But then, closer to the end of 2009, things started to change:⁣
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- I switched to Playchess, where I could enjoy my chess; ⁣
- I disengaged from the students at school so I could focus on my improvement;⁣
- I became a lot more patient and emotionally balanced during my tournament games, making me a lot more consistent;⁣
- I got coaching from better tutors (shout-out to my friend Blair Mandla), who helped me get my marks back up at school; ⁣
- I learned how to block out the distractions at home and work productively on my chess and schoolwork;⁣
- I interacted in chess forums daily with other strong players, learning from them while feeling the rewards of helping others with their chess. (this is the 'secret sauce' that allowed me to hit the ground running as a great coach at 18, despite not having much 'experience' working for money). ⁣

The Shift In My Results

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What I found is that, I was getting more done in less time, I was feeling a lot more energized and optimistic about life, and that soon showed in my chess results, too:⁣
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- 2009 Commonwealth Chess Championship—Despite being in the bottom half of the field, I finished in 3rd place on 6/9, achieving the bronze medal and barely missing out on my first IM Norm.⁣
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2010 Australian Championship: I had a slow start and was only on 2.5/6 at the halfway point. However, I bounced back to win three games in a row and scored 1/2 against 2400+ rated players in the last two rounds to finish in 5th place, despite—again—being in the bottom half of the field on seeding.⁣
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- 2010 Sydney International Open - I had a 'normal' tournament for the first six rounds, losing to the two GMs I faced (I was winning against GM Gawain Jones with Black thanks to my preparation, but got outplayed later), beating everyone below me. ⁣

The Game That Gave Me The FIDE Master Title

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On Day 4, after drawing with a 2400-rated Indian IM who had crushed me the previous year, I had my key game for the FM title—White vs. GM Darryl Johansen.⁣
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I had never beaten a GM in a tournament game before, but I had beaten my coach at the time, GM Ian Rogers, in a training game, and that gave me the confidence in myself that I could also win against Johansen, despite being out-rated by over 150 points.⁣
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I played boldly, going for the English Attack and the thematic g6! Pawn sacrificed to rip open his king. The modern engines don't rate it that highly, but my fearlessness paid off. After punishing some defensive mistakes, I achieved my first-ever tournament win vs. a Grandmaster and, in the process, secured my FIDE Master title! (As I had gone over 2300 FIDE 'live' with this win).⁣

Here's the link to the game, by the way.

It's Your Turn

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How does this relate to you?⁣
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When you are consistently playing at a 2300+ level, the title comes. ⁣
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And it comes in a relatively small number of tournaments. ⁣
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So your path is also evident.⁣
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Put in the correct work beforehand - on your chess and yourself - and the results will come if you do it for long enough.⁣

What Stops Most People

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The problem is most people give up before they start seeing progress.⁣
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If you're not practising your chess effectively, your progress will be too slow to continue.⁣
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But chess is much more fun when shared with others, yes or yes?⁣
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That's why I've set up my coaching program so that you can do all the work you need to get to the master title WITH masters (+ a Grandmaster) rather than on your own. ⁣
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I know all the ways someone can fail to become a chess master.⁣
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And I reverse-engineered all those problems into solutions for you.⁣
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Please share my story with someone who needs some inspiration for their chess!