Vision / Execution
Learnings from chess and the struggle to work on big goals
I started playing chess regularly during the last couple of months. The last time I played the game regularly was in 2014 (as a college student). My rating on chess.com was 1000+. However, now it has slipped to 560. Does this mean I have become dumber? Or has the IQ of the online Chess community gone up?
Neither. I have become more reckless and impulsive. I noted down the reasons for losing so often these days.
I ignore threats to the Queen and attack impulsively.
Sometimes, I accidentally place the piece in the wrong square, and the game goes downhill afterwards.
I am generally distracted at work while multitasking on the phone during the match.
When the opponent makes a tactical move, I fail to anticipate curveballs.
I fail to follow the basics regarding pawn development and controlling the centre.
These are mostly rookie errors. Most of my mistakes are unforced. I am yet to lose to brilliant gameplay by an opponent. My biggest opponent is my inability to play with my System 2 brain (as explained by Daniel Kahneman).
I’ve adopted Zuck’s ‘move-fast-and-break-things’ philosophy to a game that does not reward that philosophy. I think I’ve realised that one wrong move can break it all. Life may not be designed this way. But some areas of life are this way.
Unlearning this instinct, or calibrating the right instincts to the right scenarios, is a skill that I need to practice. This will take time and effort. I can safely say I’ve done this if I take back my rating to 750. Until then, I have to understand how deeply the impulsive nature has got into my psyche.
The whole point of the Chess game is to win the king. In technical terms, this is called the endgame. Having that vision is common, but how do you execute that? There are certain standard endgames that you can read up online. But reaching that point is quite hard.
You can’t predict the other person’s stupidity or randomness. Several factors can dilute your skill or attention to the game. But the vision to win must enable you to get out of hard places and still win.
The key to winning is not only focus but also skill and tact. The broad framework to win a game of chess is out there. But not everyone can execute it. You might make 50 good moves and end up losing because of just one move.
I can’t blame the gods and ask them to reward me for all my good moves. He/she would probably laugh at me and say I am a fool if I can’t make the 51st move correctly. This goes for anything in life: relationships, career or health.
So, what’s the takeaway from this rant?
Forget all those bad games.
Learn your weak spots and guard against them actively.
Don’t repeat mistakes.
Think five steps ahead.
Calibrate your game as you play without gambling too much.
You’ve got limited time to reach the desired endgame.
That’s it for today. Let’s get back to execution mode.