Its around 23:00 on a "school night", and MER was trying to acclimatise his mind to the nebulous interior casino lighting, which does not change throughout the course of the day, and sets the mind to delusion central. Word on the street was that Dave Smerdon, the Aussie GM playing in the event had finished his game, and was chilling at an Indian restaurant with several other glitterati of the tournament, including Gawain Jones, the English GM, his mate from Aus, Tristan Stevens, and several other notables. Nigel Short also popped by (note the skilful namedrop there!) and MER decided it was time to pretend to be 2800 Larry King/Piers Morgan, although performance-wise we are looking at more a 1500 Kermit concept.
Upon first impression of seeing Dave, I thought he looked like an extra from an Avril Lavigne Skaterboy music video. Long T-shirts and jeans are de-rigeur for this man, though occasionally he can be spotted, like an exotic piece of wild life wearing some form of headwear. He immediately distorts the image of the nerdy chess player (although he claims that's exactly what he is), and the adjectives that come to mind are wiry, strong. He looks in good trim, and one can easily visualise him as a tennis player or a runner. At time of interview, he had just lost his first game in the tournament, therefore this possibly didn't seem like the best time for an interview, the average chess player after losing a match feels an urge to go Columbine on the world, however, Dave seems relaxed however, as he sips on his beer.
MER: So Dave, how goes it? You went down in the last game against Nic van der Nat, initial thoughts? (MER note: Nic is a professional chess coach in Joburg, and one of SA's top players)
DS:- Yeah, I haven't been playing brilliantly this tournament, and that's the way it goes. Clearly its the shirt I am wearing. I just choked. {Dave, in a massive affront to all Aussie heritage is wearing a South African cricket shirt. Hence the analogy}
MER: Its interesting that you mention cricket. You've spoken before of your love of test cricket, you compare it often to chess. As a chess commentator, you often contract the two.
DS:- Its really similar. Test cricket you can watch for 6-8 hours a day, and often not much really seems to be happening. You just sort of drift into it, and often the commentary then allows you to talk about pretty much anything you want. Its great. Chess can be the same, a game can be 6 hours long, and whilst commentating you get to shoot the breeze on other items as well. {MER: - Only too true, who can forget the halcyon days of SA Cricket commentary, listening to Trevor Quirk explain how he used to enjoy a bit of ice cream at the lunch break, and generally the banter between the various people. Its an acquired love, but a very cool one}
MER:- Onto chess, what's your status. I mean, you are a 2520 Grandmaster, but claim you aren't a professional?
DS:- Yeah, I have played for around 20 years. I had the big decision to make when I was about 15. I was approached at a World Championship by one of the top trainers in Budapest. I had performed well up against my peers in World Chess to this point, and he offered to let me go to Budapest, and try to turn pro. It would have been hard graft, 8 hours of chess a day, I would have obviously dropped out of school, and gone to live in Europe. My parents weren't particularly keen on the idea, but they have supported me through the whole chess thing, and if I had really wanted to do it I could have. At 15 you aren't really thinking about life after 18, careers, schooling and whether you will study economics and work at the Australian treasury (Dave has a degree in Economics and worked recently for the Australian treasury in Canberra). It was probably one of the biggest decisions I have had to make, and I chose school and uni (university) over it. Now I play for enjoyment, and as a chance to see the world.
MER:- What do you enjoy about chess? How do you explain to a non-player why you enjoy it so much? What's it all about?
DS:- The common answer that you will get from a lot of top chess players, and amateurs is that chess is an art, science and sport rolled into one. That's what makes it so great. That's the right answer, but from a personal point of view, chess is the one constant in my life. I've been playing for 20 years (Dave is 27 years old), and was going to World Championships since the age of 10. Over the years, other than my family, chess is the one thing that has been there the whole time. Friends can come and go, but its great that I can walk into any city in the world, and there's immediately a chess community to go to. Its a common language that transcends culture and nationality, and I love it.
MER:- You say you aren't a pro, but you have some experience of the pro-GM lifestyle right?
DS:- I took time off after high school to try and get the GM title. I went through Europe, playing as a pro.
MER:- The enjoyment of playing pro?
DS:- It can be really tough. When you are pro, its all about playing the right moves, not necessarily the most exciting moves. I always want to play the most exciting moves. I want to play openings that I know are shit. {MER:- This distinguishes Dave from a lot of others. He regularly plays off-beat crazy stuff just to make it interesting. No dry boring, or heavily theoretical positions for him, though he demonstrates a remarkable knowledge of chess theory, and knowledge when we chat over a board. DS has the ability to distinguish good openings from shit, unlike this correspondent.}. When you are a pro, its all about the slightest of little edges, and players do anything to win. Round 2 of the current tournament I played a Belgian guy (MER:- A club mate of mine - Xavier Buck), and through the game he was saying things like "Wow that's a cool move" "What an idea" etc. etc. You would never see that one the pro scene, but it really made me remember why I enjoy chess. Being a pro, having to live on tuna fish and bread, and knowing that you have to win to pay the rent takes some of the fun out the game.
MER:- Its certainly sheds some light on it. I plan on interviewing some other pro-GMS later in the tournament, will be exciting to get their thoughts. On a more mundane note, if you have to give muppets like me (1600-1800) advise on how to improve their games, what would it be?
DS:- Endgames. (MER:- Dave was heard commentating during the recent blitz tournament that SA was the land where nobody knew how to play endgames) If you work on those, it improves every other area of your game. Its not as sexy as other aspects of training, but it reaps rewards. The other thing is to vary the routine, much like gym routine. Work on different aspects of your game, so it does not get too dull. The most important thing is to do whatever you have to do to keep enjoying chess. The day you stop enjoying it is the day you should stop.
MER:- Any chess related book projects for you?
DS:- Possibly a book on the Portuguese variation of the Scandinavian (1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4)
I'm the strongest player in the world who plays it, not really because I am that strong but because no other grandmasters this strength would touch it. Its going to be the first honest opening book ever written, basically stating upfront that the variation is opening is rubbish, but you are guaranteed to have a lot of fun, and will conclude the game in 30 moves either way.
MER;- Any regrets?
DS:- Not really. The one thing that is really difficult is that my rating is too high. (MER:- shakes his head in bemusement, he wants to swop ratings for a couple of hours, to go settle some scores). It sometimes makes it difficult to enjoy the chess as much, as you can't really relax. In tournaments like this there are only a handful of players that are rated higher than me, that give me a chance to try and step up, and every weaker player is looking for a shot at me. The weaker players always step up. I still really love sitting in a bar, playing blitz and trash-talking the opposition. That's sometimes harder to do for a GM than it might be for an 1800. Chess is great when its relaxed like that.
MER:- So where is David Smerdon in a couple of years time?
DS:- After the tournament I am heading to Peru to do aid relief work, they need people to teach chess and maths to kids. (MER- lucky kids, imagine learning chess directly from a GM). Then I am off to Amsterdam where I plan on studying and finishing a Masters in Economics.
MER:- Any on the chess front, any plans.
DS:- I'll keep playing. For me chess is a hobby. I am just very good at my hobby.
{MER:- As an International Grandmaster with a 2520 rating, he probably has a point}
David Smerdon - vital statistics:-
Nationality - Australian
DOB:- 17 September 1984
Qualified as a GM in July 2009 to become Australia's 4th Grandmaster
Peak ELO Rating - 2530
Many thanks to Dave Smerdon who kindly agreed to chat with MER. Dave is articulate and sharp, and perhaps the best thing I can do is refer you to his own blog, where he demonstrates that not only can he play chess better than this author, but he can also write significantly better as well. Visit
http://www.davidsmerdon.com/
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