On the family wings
LE QUANG LIEM
Updated : Wed, April 11, 2012,2:19 PM (GMT+0700)
From my observation, many sports in Vietnam do not lack players, but those who can make it to the world-class professional level are rare, indeed. This is a tough situation that has been caused by a combination of many different factors.In this week’s blog entry, I would like to talk about the athletes’ features and inborn talents, plus a great contribution from their families to their success.
Like athletes in many other sports, most excellent chess players have natural talent. People are born with a special ability to perform well in certain fields, and sport is no exception. However, it is not simple to discover the special ability of a kid.
Naturally, this originates from the family environment. Normally, if a kid is talented in playing a particular sport, he will have special interest in playing and practicing it. The love for the sport is the basis for the kid to regularly practice and compete, which will lead to improvement.
I still remember that when I was seven, I was only fond of playing chess, though I was introduced to many other sports. I could not explain how I could spend hours only on thinking about the moves in the game which is much quieter than its counterparts.
When I started playing chess, my parents could not have imagined that ten years later I would become a super grandmaster, and chess would become part of my soul. Perhaps the same thing happened to other chess players, as they have learned the sport from their family members, and chess has gradually become part of their lives.
There are many special “chess families” in the world, and one of the most noteworthy is that of Polgar, a Hungarian player. The father of the family has been determined to implement his original training methodology to prove that family plays an indispensible role in discovering his kids’ talents, and assisting them to reach the highest level of development.
The father trained his three daughters to play chess from a very young age. The first two older sisters have won world championships, and the youngest girl has made an even greater achievement: entering the world’s top 10 strongest player list, something which used to be achieved by male players alone.
Also in Hungary, we have the family of Vietnamese grandmaster Hoang Thanh Trang. Hoang Minh Chuong, Trang’s father, has extended huge effort to study about chess and train not only his daughter, but also other players.
Many Vietnamese players, including me, have been sent to his house for training. We have gained many things, not only the title we won, but also precious lessons and experiences that are useful for our chess career.
Obviously, the family factor plays the key role. Family is the platform and strong ground for the sport’s young talents to fly high. The passion for sport originates right from the athletes’ families.
If the family develops an adequate plan for the kid’s talent development, without a hasty view on achieving trophies, and provide timely assistance and sharing with him or her, their special features and natural talents will gradually grow, and vice versa.
Fortunately, I have been strongly supported by my family from the very chess game I played. They enabled me to balance between practicing chess and pursuing education at school. Though neither of my parents is knowledgeable about chess, they have studied the sport on international websites to assist, support, and guide me, after seeing me so in love with the sport.
They also encouraged and shared with me, and supported me after each of my failures.
Without such assistance, I would not have achieved the success I have today.
Source: http://www.tuoitrenews.vn
A very thoughtful young man.