How To Be Good At Chess: An Interview With Adesokan Emmanuel.
Adesokan Emmanuel and unnamed Dentatics Press representative after representative was destroyed in a chess match.
The interview is recorded below. DPR=Dentatics Press Representative. AE= Adesokan Emmanuel.
DPR - When did you start playing chess?
AE - I started when we crossed over to UCH, which was around April in 2024. So April 2024.
DPR - What is your chess rating?
AE - Using my highest rating which is on LiChess, that would be 1500.
DPR - Was your rating ever higher than this and it dropped to the current state? Or is this your highest?
AE - No. I actually stopped about two months ago. I felt I was getting addicted and playing it too much. So I kind of stopped for a few months. I dropped it again when we were close to exams.
DPR - Why have you kept on playing chess?
AE - First off, I am a very happy guy. I want everyone to be happy. When I play chess and I win, I’m happy, when I lose, I’m not so happy but it’s fun and so I enjoy it even then. Second, I don’t do a lot of things. It’s either work or school for me. I don’t watch movies, news, or anything like that. I also don’t follow any sport. I tried to pick up basketball but I’m usually too busy. I also play table tennis but then again, my work affords me very little time for it. When I found chess, it was a lot of fun. And I could play right inside my room.
DPR - Some people say you had very rapid zero-to-hundred times in that the gap between your novice stage and getting quite good at chess was relatively short. How do you measure how good you are? Also, what’s your secret?
AE - For how I knew I was getting better, it was really based on the people I could beat. I know I can take Jiga in a chess game. I have also beaten Oludele John before. Also, for how to get better. There are books and videos on YouTube. The truth is that learning chess is boring. It takes a lot to sit down with those textbooks and videos and follow the game move-by-move. For me, I had to try to fill my YouTube with chess-related things, whether chess games or Gotham chess videos. And then you have to play. You play games.
So one thing I actually noticed was that if I’m sleepy, and I play two chess games, I’ll be awake. You can just try it sometime, if you can play two chess games to the end, you’ll wake up. So I would use this every time I’m working and I feel tired. I would simply pick up my phone and play. This way, I began to play sometimes as many as twenty or more games in one day. It’s part of why I felt I was getting addicted and I had to stop. In the end, I’d only go to sleep on days when the games I played made me feel my brain was disappointing me.
DPR - Which do you prefer, Lichess or Chess.com?
AE - Chess.com. As a designer myself, I just really love the interface. Also, I have a premium subscription, so I use it more.
DPR - Have you ever read a book on chess or has it always been videos?
AE - When I started playing, some people sent me some books. As I mentioned earlier though, learning chess is boring. Also, I’m not a person who likes to read. Other than school stuff that I obviously have to read, I can never be caught reading for leisure or fun. An article about my work on Errandly with Olalekan Yusuff was published by the UIMSA press. I only skimmed through it, and that’s because I was involved. I barely read non-academic material. So, the textbooks sent to me, I didn’t really read even those ones. I tried to read one of them tho. In fact, I might not read this article. I probably will only read it because it’s about me.
DPR - Do you think you’ll be going to any competitions with ABH’s big players, the likes of Mattace, Okojie Simeon, and Abimbola Ojo, anytime soon?
AE - I think it takes a lot to be that good. Some of these guys you mentioned are said to be people who wake up in the morning, make some coffee, and look at something on chess first thing in the morning. A video or whatever. I think it takes a lot of dedication. I remember one time, I stepped out of my room around 8 or 9 in the evening, Okojie and Akporherhe ‘Mattace’ Blessing were playing. I still came out around 11pm, and they were still there. I feel that despite being some of the best players in UCH, they are also still some of the hardest training chess players in UCH. So catching up to them will be hard. That being said, I have things that push me to be better at chess too, people I do not want to overtake me. So I also try to push myself. If the opportunity ever comes to go for one of those contests, I’ll definitely go. It’s a lot of money.
DPR - How much time do you think it would take to get really good at chess?
AE - It is relative. I am good at chess. Mattace is also good at chess. I think it’s a question of perspective and depends on the person in question. ABH’s best are people who have been playing for years. One of them started as a novice and then left school for some time. 8 months later, he came back really good. So that question depends on the person and how they define ‘good’ to be.
DPR - The current sports secretary, Adelola Ayomide Abel, has plans to make a chess group so as to foster a good chess culture in dentistry. What advice would you give if he follows through with such a plan?
AE - It is a very nice idea. We have people who are very good at chess. Someone I met earlier this year during the dentistry@50 event, Caleb Ogunbiyi, is a very good chess player. I didn’t think I could beat him. So it’s a nice idea. The advice I would give him is to organize tournaments. They are pretty easy to host. Also, he should make it fun and lively and try to carry everyone along.
DPR - Thank you very much.
AE - You’re welcome.
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