On Sunday May 6, Grand Master Alfonso Romero visited Hong Kong after a good tournament result (shared 2nd place) in Melaka and a subsequent visit to the chess community in Macao.  Savoring the local cuisine at lunch somewhere in Western market area we reflected on how to get from a plateau of a rating of some 2,000 or 2,100 towards that GM level of around 2,500. What is it that you do differently?

There seemed to be no straightforward answer. Yes, you put your pieces on better squares on the board, you are faster in pattern recognition and perhaps you pick your small battles on the board wiser. But does this all really add up to good chess? Or, chess being a mix of art, science and mental endurance, simply doesn’t allow for a one-off answer to what is good chess?

But interestingly, Alfonso said that once you get to your IM (International Master) norm, you have broken through the most significant plateau and you are ready for a slow ascent. So, that’s it … just get your IM norm …