Wesley So at Home

[Wayne Komer]

Wesley So at Home

December 25, 2016

Sagar Shah has a nice piece on Wesley So after the Grand Chess Tour in Firstpost of India:

http://www.firstpost.com/sports/lond...s-3173346.html

Some excerpts:

In Baku, the US gold medal and my own gold for board three were true miracles. I caught a bad cold and for several games was fighting to focus. The fact that it was an Olympiad made everyone play extra hard and the competition was very sharp. That it came down to such a narrow victory over Ukraine and Russia left most of us breathless. In the stadium later for the closing ceremonies, Lotis (his foster mother) and I were in tears when they played the Star Spangled Banner. You know you hope... you hope and hope and hope and then when it happens you can hardly believe it.

Being the GCT (Grand Chess Tour) champion was the icing on the cake. Holding both those huge crystal trophies in my arms and thinking, okay I ended the year well.

It takes time to absorb such wonderful experiences. When you win, there is a whirlwind of activity and then suddenly you are dragging your bags through an airport at dawn the next morning, headed for home totally exhausted. Usually, we feel the win about four days later when we're eating in the kitchen with the family. That's when suddenly we realise it.
________

In the Sinquefield Cup you had floored Anand with some excellent opening preparation. It was Vishy's turn at the London Classic. Can you tell us what went through your head when he unleashed the new move by taking the pawn on a3 and what you were thinking in the next 30 minutes?

Wesley So: I prepared for a long time in the morning before the game in the executive lounge of our hotel. Vishy would also have his breakfast there with his second Polish GM Grzegorz Gajewski. So I waved to greet them while letting my computer analyse this QGD 4.Nbd7, which is Vishy's pet line. Anyway, I thought I made deep preparation and was ready to check out what he had in store for me. Unfortunately, he out-prepared me as I had never seen this 10.Bxa3! idea before.
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Your sister Abbey writes on Facebook, "Congratulations, Wesley. I've seen how hard you've worked." It's true that such results are impossible without hard work. Can you tell us how you keep yourself motivated to work hard each and every day?

Wesley So: Well, I work for many hours but I really like to work so it is not a burden. When I put in a good day of chess work, I normally end the day with a swim and then if there is time, we watch a movie. I have my house chores and responsibilities, which I get done when I need to stretch out or rest my eyes. Our life is full of activity because everyone in this family has lots of friends and commitments. We volunteer our services regularly to help others, attend church, meet friends and have outdoor activities. Minnesota is a place where everyone does outdoor stuff because it is clean and beautiful.

As a professional chess player, one of the major expenses of players is training and coaching. You have won $295,000 thanks to the Grand Chess Tour, plus you have $42,000 of the Samford scholarship. Would you think of hiring a chess coach now?

Wesley So: Lotis makes sure I save my money. She does not approve of careless spending. After I pay my taxes and my other bills, I put the rest into savings. And yes, I do plan to have a coach now.

[Wayne Komer]

Re: Wesley So at Home

Wesley So at Home

January 27, 2017

At the end of last year Wesley So was looking for a coach. He now has one. This is detailed in a recent article in ChessBase:

http://en.chessbase.com/post/wesley-...-with-tukmakov

Wesley So partners with Tukmakov

By Eliseo Tumbaga

By December 2016, So had also made an important decision – employing a personal coach who could help him get to the top of the world rankings and enable him to mount a serious challenge for the world championship in the near future.
The name of the coach? None other than the Ukrainian grandmaster and veteran coach Vladimir Tukmakov, who has had a distinguished career as a player, trainer, and author of three books.

“We considered different people, ” Lotis Key-Kabigting, So’s foster mother, disclosed. “And while there are many talented coaches out there, there are many different angles to be considered apart from expertise. Apart from skill level, you need to match temperament and style. ”

“Wesley is a mild-mannered, quiet boy who had to make his own way in life without a personal coach up to the present time. Because of that, he has developed differently than others who were fortunate enough to move into a coaching relationship early in life.

“Wesley is used to doing it on his own. Although mild-mannered, he is not a boy to be bullied or pushed around. GM Tukmakov is very soft spoken, the gentleman’s gentleman, and although seemingly mild, he has that deep inner toughness on top of the tremendous experience that Wesley still lacks.

“We were introduced by a mutual friend who wishes to remain anonymous several months after Anish Giri and GM Tukmakov parted ways. We had seen him at a few tournaments, so we knew him vaguely. Things proceeded slowly but surely as Wesley and GM Tukmakov began to have conversations and exchange ideas while occasionally meeting over Skype.
“With his win of the Grand Chess Tour and the added help of the Samford Fellowship, Wesley is now able to make a hiring commitment for a chess coach and has asked GM Tukmakov to guide him towards improvement.”