It has the rather strange title of "Fighting Back!", and a further objection to it might concern how much can be learned from a player whose ECF and Fide ratings are both below 1800.
(Then again, I am sure there are many players rated 2200 or so who wonder what they can get out of a blog written by someone with over-the-board ratings below 2000).
However, instead of filling the article with his own views, Graff sought opinions from people who might be expected to know rather more than most of us.
First up is grandmaster Keith Arkell, who makes many interesting points, not all of them directly related to preparation, including:
1. "I do not strive for much objectively with white, but instead strive for a position I like to play. With black I just want to get the ball back over the net, again with my kind of position. If that entails enduring, say, -0.7 early on, then so be it." [emphasis added]
2. "Weaker players are massively better than they used to be. We talk about grade inflation (but) the reality is what we are seeing is grade deflation."
3. "Some years back a friend paid me to help him prep for two hours before each round. I was also playing in the event (and) I played horribly - one of my worst performances of the last three decades."
By contrast, at Bad Wörishofen earlier this month, I was chatting in a bar one evening to a player seeking his third international-master norm.
He said he prepared each morning for four hours, and did not feel this tired him for the game that followed.
Having said that, he spent much of the evening drinking beer, while joining in rounds of schnapps, and claimed his worst games of the tournament came the days after the bar was shut (it opens Tuesday-Saturday), which spoilt his usual drinking routine.
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| March Chess ... no doubt there are many forms of Dutch courage |
Graff also interviewed Jonathan Arnott, author of last year's Prepare To Win - A Club Player's Guide To Winning At Chess Before Move One.
Arnott seems to agree with Arkell that 'weak' players are stronger than they used to be.
"There are a few factors here," he states. "First, the abundance of openings knowledge means that even weak players are now getting past the opening pretty much unscathed.
"Second, engines give instant and brutal feedback on your mistakes. In the past players would have repeated and reinforced the same mistake; today engines put a stop to it."
Finally Graf interviewed Coventry junior Elis Dicen, a 12-year-old whose ECF rating has reached 1997, and shows no sign of slowing.
I am not sure all of her advice will be relevant to older readers, for example: "To improve my chess ... I meditate, colour in colouring books and play the Nintendo Switch as part of relaxation."
Several players I know like to use a 'lucky' pen to record their moves, and Elis also has her superstitions.
She reveals: "When I was starting to play chess my mum would accentuate my hair with a big bright JoJo Siwa* bow.
"I have always considered the bow as my lucky charm, but actually I heard my dad say that it was to spot me easily in a large crowd of children."
Perhaps this helps explain why many adults at chess tournaments walk around clutching a Tesco bag.
At the end of the article, readers are invited to send in their views and tips on preparation. I thought of letting Chess know about the lucky pen that used to pick my openings, but that is probably better left for another time.
*JoJo Siwa is a popular YouTuber who is, according to Wikipedia, "known for appearing for two seasons on Dance Moms."
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