Dear members,
It’s been a while since our last news email so in case you missed it, Andy Woodward is the youngest GM in the world! We are honoured to be part of Andy’s journey! Congratulations Andy!
Group photo with academy students in Mumbai
Mumbai was great, and it was so nice to hang out with many of you in person!
We have finally been able to discuss internally who are the Students of the Year 2023.
Our decision has been that the u2100 student of the Year is Arshiya Das, while our overall Student of the Year award is split between Uwe and Kirk. They have achieved different goals in different stages of their lives, Uwe to surpass 2300 in his late 20s as an amateur, and Kirk his first two GM-norms (the third one came in 2024).
We will contact the students individually regarding their prizes.
GM Mickey Adams
Cambridge 2024 winner!
Our member IM Peter Roberson and coach Michael Adams played in a strong open in Cambridge. Adams won the tournament on second tiebreak in front of GM Tiviakov, while Peter denied a player from Jacob’s local football club in Copenhagen, IM Martin Haubro, from winning the tournament, holding a lost endgame on Board 1 in the last round.
Peter’s result was strong. The win in Round 8 against GM Gasanov alone would have made him look back at the event with joy no doubt. He finished 6th overall.
Who is the strongest player ever to submit Homework Club? We have been asked this question for a long time, but only now do we have permission for revealing the name. It is GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan, Rapid World Champion in 2021, and personal student of Jacob Aagaard from February 2022 to February 2024. Jacob says the following:
“As a trainer, perhaps the most difficult thing you ever have to do, is to recognise that your student is better off continuing his/hers journey without you. In classic narration, they talk of the hero’s journey. There is almost always a wiser older man that walks the first half of the path with him, before staying behind (or getting killed off).
I am not saying that I timed it perfectly, but the moment I realised that my job was completed, I looked for the best moment to tell Nodirbek that it was time for him to continue the journey to the top on his own. He was a bit disappointed, but he could also see the logic and like we have all seen when he makes a mistake in a high stakes game, moved on emotionally without blinking.”
Abdusattorov has just turned 19 and is no 11 on the live rating list and he is the no. 1 Junior. Jacob believes that after sharing victories in Qatar and Wijk aan Zee, coming third in the Grand Chess Tour Final, and winning the rapid part of the Freestyle event two weeks ago, defeating Ding and Carlsen on the way, Nodirbek is marginally leading the pack of young warriors taking on the established elite. With a more up to date rating system, Nodirbek would probably be in top 5.
Going forward, Jacob will focus on book publishing and Killer Chess Training. His new course on High Level Practical Training will be aimed towards the titled members and the members currently chasing titles. The first lesson will be on the 6th of March. Because we are currently busy packing down to move country, the course will start slowly, but will over time happen 2-3 times per week. The lessons will be available for 21 days after airing.
Last year, Ashwath Kaushik was briefly a member of KCT, and has since then had private training with GM Stany, one of our trainers. Last week he defeated GM Stopa in Switzerland, becoming the youngest person to ever defeat a GM. Although it was not the best game of all time, it was a sensation that went around the globe. In Denmark TV got interested in the Danish angle of the story, based on Jacob’s tweet. They entirely overplayed Jacob’s role in the achievement when he was interviewed in a 10 minute segment, that also featured a visit to a local chess club.
See you in class!
Your friends from Killer Chess Training
