#mychessqg Jennifer Yu

Sometimes I joke that I either win all of my games in a tournament or I lose all of them. Sure it’s a hyperbole, but If I had a dime for every time someone said that I’m an inconsistent player, I could pay off my tuition. Last year, I hit both extremes within a few months of each other. At the US Women’s Championship, I won 9 out of 11 games, but on the other (sadder) end, I scored a phenomenal 0.5/9 at US Juniors. I think about it sometimes and first of all, I have to admit it’s really funny. But also, who does that? I understand that there were different extenuating circumstances, but how can something this extreme happen? It reminded me of the advice my former coach gave me at the 2014 World Youth Chess Championship. I was on a winning streak, and although I’m not result-oriented, my mind couldn’t help wandering towards the gold medal. After a game, my coach told me to ignore the tournament situation. Thinking about the medal wasn’t going to get me any closer to getting it. Instead, all I needed to do was play the tournament game by game, move by move. I realized months after US Juniors how result-oriented I became. After that stunning half-point result, I was hungry to prove myself. When I should’ve taken a break to study chess and identify my weaknesses, I played tournament after tournament under the mindset that THIS will be the tournament that I redeem myself. All I did was dig myself deeper in a hole, losing rating and confidence in myself. I had forgotten the motto that I lived by in the last five years: play chess game by game, move by move. I’m still an inconsistent player and will probably always be one. But, after that disastrous summer, I had some decent results and more importantly, regained my fighting spirit. And hopefully in the future, I won’t lose all my games in a tournament again.

#mychessqg