A Quick Note from Ishaan
Every once in a while, someone in our community reminds us what consistent effort, the right mindset, and love for the game can really lead to.
Hayul is one of those people.
He’s not just an incredibly strong player, he’s also one of our coaches and volunteers who shows up, gives back, and keeps improving. His recent performance at the 2026 OSCF State Championship is something we’re all proud of, and more importantly, there’s a lot to learn from how he approached it.
We asked him to share his experience in his own words.
Hayul’s Story
Hello everyone, my name is Hayul Lim, and I am a Level 4 Coach and volunteer at Puddletown Chess. This year, I had the honor of winning the High School Platinum Section of the 2026 OSCF State Championship with an undefeated score of 4.5/5. I will be representing Oregon at the 2026 Denker National Tournament of High School Champions in the summer. I wanted to take a quick moment to share some key moments and takeaways I learned while preparing and playing in this amazing event that I think will be helpful to many players at Puddletown Chess.
I strongly believe in the importance of focusing on the process and journey of growing as a chess player rather than a final destination. Throughout my experience as an active and competitive chess player, it was more about consistently working on my chess everyday, even if it is just 10 minutes a day, and focusing on growth rather than becoming goal-oriented. This played a major role in reducing the pressure that important events such as the OSCF State Championship would have otherwise caused and let me always enjoy playing chess.
This mindset was really important for me throughout my entire tournament. After earning a score of 2/2 in the first two games, I had to face the top-rated seed who had a USCF rating above 2200. Instead of stressing about winning the game, I just focused on playing my best chess. I was able to emerge with a winning position, but he found a good resource to end the game in a perpetual check and thus a draw.
After this key round, instead of getting mad at myself, I just calmly focused on playing my best chess for the next rounds. I was able to win my next two games, and with a little bit of luck as well, win the entire tournament with a clear first-place finish!
This tournament was a great experience, and I am very grateful to OSCF for organizing it every year. I would like to thank the amazing chess community in Oregon and the many organizations that promote chess for young players in Oregon. I’ve found a lifelong hobby with chess, and I look forward to continuing to give back to the amazing Oregon chess community by volunteering at Puddletown Chess. Constantly growing as a player has helped me to become a better coach, and I look forward to being able to implement more of the chess knowledge I’ve learned as a competitive player in my future classes. Puddletown Chess puts in a lot of effort and does a great job introducing the game of chess in a comprehensive and structured way, and I look forward to seeing the chess community in Oregon constantly growing in the future.
Final Thought
What stands out most here isn’t just the result, it’s the mindset. Focusing on the process. Staying calm under pressure. Continuing after setbacks. That’s the kind of thinking that wins tournaments, but more importantly, it’s the kind that builds long-term growth.
Huge congratulations to Hayul; we’re all cheering you on for Denker this summer.
