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CCNTV6
  • 1 year ago

Joshua Johnson is an elated man after retaining his title at this year's National Chess Championships.

The Fide Master is now fired up to take it up a notch with the hope of becoming an International Master or IM.




Transcript
00:00He won it last year, and in 2024, he made it two in a row.
00:06That's the story of Joshua Johnson, who retained the National Chess Championship title
00:11following his sterling performances at the recently concluded tournament.
00:14What made it sweeter was the fact that it was by no means a walk in the park.
00:19I'm really happy about this one, definitely going into the tournament.
00:24It was my goal to win, and I fought hard and was grateful to bring it home.
00:30I would say definitely the games were tough, a really competitive event.
00:35It usually is this National Championships.
00:39I would say every game I had to show up and fight hard, prepare before,
00:45and stay very concentrated during.
00:48Well, it may not have gone as well as it did.
00:51Johnson is a full-time player who also does some coaching,
00:54which means he eats, drinks, and sleeps chess.
00:58So the question is, is he focusing on making it a hat-trick of titles?
01:02I guess it is there. It's not too towards the front of my mind,
01:08because I'm focusing on my training.
01:11I'm focusing on the tournaments that I would play before that.
01:14Nationals event even is announced.
01:18Tournaments abroad, that kind of stuff.
01:20Next year is the year I really want to dig deep and really push myself to a new level.
01:27With regards to your position, I know you are an FM,
01:31and the next position thereafter is an IM, International Master.
01:35Are you focusing on that?
01:37For sure, for sure.
01:39Next year is the year I'm really going to get into that and try to make it happen.
01:44Five-year-old Johnson says in order to reach four,
01:47two key ingredients are one, time, and two, mental toughness.
01:51Having said that, there's another important factor that helps make things happen.
01:56My family is extremely supportive. I'm super grateful for them for that.
02:00Definitely from a young age, I was showing a lot of willingness to pursue this,
02:07and I've got nothing but support from them ever since.
02:13I definitely wouldn't be this successful if it wasn't for their support, so I'm so grateful.
02:18Even though Johnson has a degree in actuarial science,
02:21he has no interest in entering that field, and we all know why.
02:26Vinod Narwani, Chiefs Export.
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