Sports business. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Polish chess grandmaster: Chess develops…

♦ Jan-Krzysztof Duda became a grandmaster at the age of 15, and today he is on the 18th place in the international FIDE ranking.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Polish chess grandmaster, who reached the first place in the list of Polish chess players in December 2023, believes that chess can develop many qualities and skills that can be useful in life, among them he mentions the ability to staying focused, a very important thing especially in the age of smartphones.

“Chess can develop many qualities that can prove useful in life. Most important is the ability to stay focused. This is essential in today’s smartphone era. Also, in chess you learn how to lose, as you sometimes lose, unfortunately. Learn how to take responsibility for your decisions. In chess, you can only blame yourself if you lose the game. There is no wind, no sun, nothing to blame. Also, everyone can play chess, so you can meet people from all walks of life. You make new friends and broaden your perspectives, you can meet people you wouldn’t otherwise meet”, says Jan-Krzysztof Duda.

He became a grandmaster at the age of 15, and today he is ranked 18th in the FIDE international ranking. Jan-Krzysztof Duda started playing chess at the age of five, after trying several activities to see what his mother was good at. Chess, he says, was part of his family, his aunt being a champion of the sport. “I can’t really say why I chose chess. I was very fascinated by the game, I enjoyed playing and training and I got better and better. This passion persists even today”, he states.

One of the moments when he realized that he wanted to perform in chess was when he became the international champion in the U10 category at a competition held in Vietnam in 2008. That was the moment, he says, when he realized that he could make a career out of chess.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda believes that without passion you cannot perform in this sport, but practice is equally important.

“In the past, it was important to train hard every day and only occasionally play tournaments. But today there is a lot of information everywhere, so it’s mainly about playing more and analyzing the games afterwards to see what mistakes were made and try not to repeat them,” he adds.

When he started practicing chess, this sport was not so popular, nor were there as many resources as there are today. In his opinion, the players at the beginning of their journey in chess should practice this sport a lot, but also use the online resources provided by the specialists in the field. Moreover, studying the game could represent a factor that would bring them closer to winning next time.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda will participate in the Grand Chess Tour this year. One of the stages of the tournament will be organized in Bucharest, namely Superbet Chess Classic Romania, which is the second stage of the Grand Chess Tour circuit, and will take place between June 26 and July 6. Jan-Krzysztof Duda also participated in one of the previous editions of the Grand Chess Tour.