Kogan heeft soms niet eens een bord nodig
Zowel de Nederlandse dames- als jeugdtop wordt met enige regelmaat getraind door de in Spanje woonachtige Israelische trainer Arthur Kogan. Die ooit zijn eigen ambities om bij de wereldtop te komen opzij zette omdat hij die niet kon combineren met zijn gezinsleven. 'It was a big sacrifice back then because prior to that decision I enjoyed a very succesful period', aldus Kogan. 'But I opted for a more stable future as a trainer. Kogan sprak met de website van de KNSB over zijn leven en zijn trainingmethode.
TB: You call your training method Olalachess. Not a bad name probably because you live in Spain but what does it mean?
AK: The main idea is to create active chess with it. To play positive, to be in harmony with your pieces. First of all my training is mental training. My student has to trust his potential.
TB: Is that really that important? What happened to good moves?
AK: It is clear to me that it is important. I can prove it in a way. With that I mean that the results of a lot of my students improved after I gave them mental training. Systems to handle fear for instance.
A lot of very strong players in the present and past play a lot of draws just because they are so afraid to lose. They remember how they felt when they lost and they fear that emotion most of all. As a consequence they tend to offer a draw in a lot of good and even winning positions. Needless to say this approach does not lead to the maximum result.
TB: How do you know how to handle fear?
AK: I took a lot of psychology courses on several universities.
TB: But psychology alone does not win chess games. How to improve the strength of your students further?
AK: By teaching them how to make their pieces smile.
TB: My pieces never smile... Well I really dont know, I usually sit behind them.
AK: Mine do! I see chess as a mirror of life. A lot of things that work in life also work in a game of chess. An active piece is happy, a passive one, an undeveloped one usually is not. Furthermore the pieces have to work in harmony like the different members of a society. Tactics usually don't work when you still have a lot of undeveloped pieces. And I believe strongly in the importance of details. Sometimes one wins because he or she noticed a tiny little detail in a certain position. Or because he or she took care of a little detail in life.
TB: Can you give an example?
AK: There was this German guy who had more than enough knowledge to become international master. But he just did not make his norms. I got the impression that his lack of concentration was his main problem so I advised him to pick up running, excercising. After that he became an IM easily. I did not need a board to teach him that...
TB: And that proves...
AK: That every person can achieve and maybe has something to achieve in life. Well it doesnot prove anything of course. It just makes it a little bit more likely. If you believe in yourself and work hard enough anything is possible!'
Tom Bottema
