Life Lessons from Chess

 Reprinted with permission from Orrin Hudson or besomeone.org

Follow the Masters

 

 

 

 

One of the secrets to becominga successful chess playeris to follow

the masters. Literally.

 

Study exactly what moves chess masters make by looking over the written versions of their matches.

What you learn from the true masters will help you improve your own game.

But donÕt limit yourselfto studying the masters of chess. Whatever you want to do in life, whether it be a sport like basketball, a talent like singing, or a trade like computerrepair, follow the mastersof those skills.

If you want to be as capable as they are, you can!

 

You can learn by example or you can learn by doing. The most successful people learn both ways.

So watch how the people you choose as masters act and listen to what they say. Then take action and do what they do.

Successleaves clues, so look for the clues the mastersleave behind.

 

And if thereÕs someone really famous you want to learn from, even

if you donÕt get to meet them, you can still learn from them.

 

Go to your library or bookstore and see if thereÕs a book by them

or about them. Or look for their biography on TV, on A & E or E!

 

I promise youÕll find somethinginteresting that will shorten your pathto success.

 

 

DonÕt be afraid youÕll lose sight of who you are by copyingsome-

one else. ItÕs not going to happen.

 

When you were born, you knew nothing. You had to learn every- thing you know from other people.

ItÕs the choicesyou made about what you wanted to learn that make you the unique person you are now.

And even when youÕre followingsomeone elseÕs lead, youÕre going toapply what youÕve learned in your own personal way.

One thing that will help you along is to have at least one teacher,

or coach who workswith you toward attaining whatever knowledge or skill you want to have.

Teachers are treasures!

 

As you play chess, youÕll begin to understand the need to find and follow a master. ThatÕs because youÕre going to lose a lot of games!

And thereÕs nothing wrong with that.

In fact, that may be why you picked up this book in the first place. So let me be your first chess coach, and allow me to help you

become a skilled player. Gain from my experience by observing and following the advice in this book.

If you pay attention and follow through, you will be successful.

Birds of a Feather

 

 

 

 

ThereÕs an old saying that goes ÒBirds of a feather flock together.Ó

 

This saying means that similar people are naturallypulled toward each other. And it also means that you become like the people you spend time with.

If you hang out with crooks, thereÕs a good chance youÕll become

a crook yourself. If you hang out with people who are negative and depressing, youÕll become negative and depressing too.

DonÕt let this happen!

 

Take charge of the choices you make when it comes to the people youspend your time with.

ItÕs one of lifeÕs easiest formulas: positive desire brings positive people together and leads to positive results.

If you want to get bettergrades, spend time with otherpeople who do well in school.

If you want to be more outgoing, spendtime with outgoingpeople.

 

What you create for yourself, and for them, is a place of support and encouragement where everybodyhelps each other reach their goals.

I like to put it this way: Spend heavyweight time with heavyweight people, and lightweight time with lightweight people.

Your heavyweight people are the ones who share your dreams and desires, and who want to see you attain them.

 

 

Your lightweight people are the ones who donÕt help you, or who

stand in the way and block your path.

 

You might be wondering what this has to do with chess. Everything!

Chess is playedby those seekingpositive rewards. They want to expand their minds, to learn about themselves, and just to experience the fun and thrills that the game offers.

If youÕre readingthis book, you obviously have at leastsome desire for those things too.

If you want to improve at chess, the only way to do it is to seek out others who play.

They shouldnÕt be too hard to find. In fact, theyÕre all around you.

 

These are the birds youÕre looking for. Get togetherwith them and soar.

Work Within the Rules

 

 

 

 

One of the reasons that human beings are able to live in societies

together is becausemost people choose to follow a set of rules and laws.

 

Rules create order, and order creates a safe environment for people to live, succeed and be happy.

Nobody wants to follow all the rules, all the time. Sometimeswe just want to do what feels good, or what will benefit us, or to avoid an unpleasant responsibility. But if everyone acted this way all the time, we would all lose out in the long run.

We trade our desire to act selfishlyfor the benefits that come from cooperating with others.

For that cooperation to exist, there needs to be a common set of expectations that everyone follows.

Chess is the same way. It has rulesso that neitherplayer has an advantage over the other, and so that the game has a structure and a purpose.

Without a set of strictly defined rules, there would be no game at all!

 

YouÕd have a board and chesspieces, with no clear way to deter- mine how to play or how to win.

There will be times when you want your pawn to hop four squares,

or when youÕll wish that your Rook could move diagonally and take out the Knight thatÕs threatening your King.

 

 

But youÕve got to play the game the way itÕs meantto be played.

Otherwise, winning has no value and losing has no meaning.

 

Working within a set of rules makes you smarter and more creative.

It forces you to find answers and solutions when things donÕt line up your way.

Life is really a series of games, all with their own rules and skill requirements.

If you are goingto win the game of life, you have to understand the rules. You have to know the penaltiesassociated with breaking those rules, and the rewards for followingthem.

Every time you make a choice between following a rule, or ignoring

it to do what you want, you are really making a choice between order and disorder.

Try to look at rules and limitations as a test, one that will make youstronger and better if you pass.

Games only work because they have rules. Life is the same way.

When youÕre followingthe rules youÕre doing the right thing for everyone.

PerfectPractice

 

 

 

 

I donÕt believe that the old saying Òpractice makes perfectÓ says

enough. In my experience, real perfectiontakes more than just practice!

It takes practicingin an effective, correct fashion.

 

In other words, practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice

makes perfect.

 

The quality of the time you spend practicing is more important thanthe amount of time you spend practicing.

Even though you need to put in the hours, they have to be hours well spent.

If you sit down at your piano, or at your drawingtable, or your chess board, you canÕt just go through the same simple routine youÕve done a hundred times before and expect to improve.

You need to remind yourselfthat the purposeof practicing is to discover what youÕre doing right, and what youÕre doing wrong.

Practice shouldbe as much a process of thought as a process of actions.

Question yourself.Look at every move you make and determine whether or not itÕs a good move or a bad one.

When you practice chess, or anything else you want to improve at, itÕs really about developingthe right habits and eliminating the wrong ones.

 

 

When your moves are correct, repeat them until they become auto-

matic responsesyou donÕt even have to think about.

 

When your movesare incorrect, see them for what they are: Try to understand why youÕre making mistakesand do your best not to make them again.

Habits donÕt form by themselves, but you can help keep them from forming.

Get to know as many of your own personal habits as you can.

 

Build on the good ones and tear down the bad ones. Then you will be able to practice perfectly.

Watch the Moves

Other People Make

 

 

 

 

In chess, one way to guaranteethat youÕll lose is to ignore what

your opponent is doing.

 

If you tune everything else out and only think about your OWN

moves, youÕre missing half the game!

 

Sure, you can always look to see where the enemy chesspieces are, but you need to go deeper than that.

Watch your opponentÕs moves as they happen and try to get into their heads.

ÒWhat is she up to?Ó ÒWhy did he do that?Ó ÒIs this a trap?Ó

 

TheyÕre not goingto tell you straight out what theyÕre planning, so you have to watch, listen, and figure it out for yourself.

Inspect what you expect!

 

People are the same way when they leave the chessboard.

 

They keep their intentions hidden, they say and do things that arenÕt what they seem on the surface, and they set all sort of tricksand traps.

The unfortunate fact of life is that not everybodyÕs going to be on your side all the time. So pay attention to the moves they make and prepare yourself.

 

 

You canÕt control the wind, but you can set the sails.

 

Even when someone isnÕt competing with or opposingyou, theyÕre goingto have their own reasons for keeping things to themselves.

If someone has hurt feelings,or is afraid, or lonely, they might not alwaysspeak out.

But if youÕre Òwatching their movesÓ you might pick up on these things and be able to help.

It is a kind of generosity; It makes you a more valued companion and strengthens your bonds.

Playing chess leads you to understandand respect the way other people think. You learn to see whatÕs going on behind their eyes.

You have to in order to win!

 

Take that away from your game and into your life. YouÕllbe able to protect yourself from people who arenÕt looking out for you, and be a better friend to the people you care about.

RespectYour Opponents

 

 

 

 

Chess always takes two. Withoutopponents, you wouldnÕt be able

to play at all!

 

Everyone you play chess with gives you a gift.

 

TheyÕre not just putting asidetheir time and energy to play—by sitting down at the table theyÕre showing that they consider you a worthy opponent.

They also give you the opportunity to learn something, maybe many things, and improve yourself over the course of the game.

Competition is everywhere, all the time, especially in todayÕs world. For jobs, for resources, in classrooms,in sports arenas,in more forms, times and places than you can imagine.

YouÕre going to be competing for something or other for your whole life. And one of the best skills you can develop is a healthyrespect for all of your opponents.

Without challenges, we donÕt grow.

 

When other people compete with us, what theyÕre really doing is pushing us to become stronger and better, while at the same time allowing us to see our own strengths and weaknesses.

We come to know ourselvesthrough challengeand competition. For that, our opponentsdeserve our appreciation.

The ability to recognize this is at the heart of sportsmanship.

 

 

Even if you go up againsta rude or unpleasant opponent,he or she

is still doing you a service, whether they know it or not.

 

So ignore them when they brag or insult you. YouÕre going to bene-

fit from the experience of winning or losing to them; if they choose to treat you badly, thatÕs their problem.

Chess may be the purest, most civilized, and rewarding form of competition there is.

When you play, you and your opponentare locked in a match of creativity and mental strength.

In winning, you can become their teacher. In losing, you learn to be humble.

Opponents are not your enemy, in chess, in sports, or wherever they may come from.

They do you the honor of holding up mirrors for you to see your- self, and open doorways to improvement.

Always respect them for that.

V isualize

 

 

 

 

Before you make any move in chess you have to see it in your

mind—you visualize it first.

 

What will this do for me? What might my opponent do in response? What will the board look like when IÕm finished?

You also have to visualizein a larger sense during the game.

 

If you come up with a plan thatÕs goingto take severalmoves to accomplish, you have to see it all, one step at a time, before you make

a move.

 

Everything starts in your mind.

 

If you imagine yourself doing somethingwell, you are more likely toactually achieve that level of skill.

Visualization is a techniquethat is used by successful people in all fields because they know how powerful it is.

If you want to be a master at playing a sport, or an instrument, or chess, take a few minutesevery day to sit quietlyand imagine yourself playing with perfection.

Take anywhere from a few minutesto an hour, make yourself com- fortable, and visualize.

See, hear, taste, smell and feel how you want to be. Imagine it as vividly and with as much detail as you can.

 

 

The stronger your thoughts are, the more likely they are to become

real. This is not just daydreaming.ItÕs as important as practice.

 

You will be amazed at your results.

 

I donÕt know of a better way to improve at visualization than by playing chess.

ItÕs a game that forces you to see things before they happen and to make both long-term and short-term plans.

And when those plans work out, it increases your confidence at visualizing.

When you have to change your plan from what you pictured, or even when it doesnÕt work out at all, you have an opportunity to stop, look, and learn why your plan failed.

Either way, you become better prepared for your next task, at the chessboard or in life.

Know Your Strengths and Weaknesses

 

 

 

 

One of our purposesin life is to discoverwhere we have skill and

where we lack it.

 

Sometimes we have to work hard and only become good at some- thing after years of experience.

Other times we are shocked to discover a hidden talent we never knew we had.

Without a doubt, though, every person will naturally be pulled towards certain activitiesand away from others.

ItÕs hard to develop as a person without a sense of which is which.

 

Without knowing our strengths, how can we seize their potential and make the most of them?

Without knowingour weaknesses, how can we practice and improve upon them?

Having that knowledgeis one of the keys to successand happiness.

 

Chess is wonderful exercise for discovering yourselfin that way. Playingit calls on so many different kinds of skills, and strongly reflects your personality.

If you watch yourselfclosely, a single game can tell you a lot and answer many questions: Am I the sort of person to take risks or am

 

 

I cautious? Do I plan well, or do I rush into things unprepared? Am I

good at noticing opportunities and taking them? Can I think my way out of difficult problems? Can I get my chesspieces to work as a team,

or do I focus too much on individuals? Do I lose my temper when things donÕt go my way, or am I gracious and patient in defeat?

Play enoughgames and youÕllbe able to answer thesequestions and others.

ThatÕs the first step.

 

The next is to try and improve in the areas that need work.

 

DonÕt beat yourselfup just becauseyouÕre not good at every aspect of the game, even MOST of them.

If you lose 50 games in a row but you make some brilliantmoves in each one, you obviouslyhave something to work with.

ItÕs just a matter of figuring out what you do well and what you do poorly.

Finding your place in the world, deciding what you want to do with your life,is going to depend on how clearlyyou see yourself. And an accurate picture comes through knowledge of your strengths and weaknesses.

Playing chess will help you learn to test them.

Go the Extra Mile

 

 

 

 

Playing chess, and playing it well, calls upon you to be self-

demandingover and over again.

 

Learning how to play the game is easy, but pushing yourself to actu- ally becomingskilled is somethingmore. It takes time and discipline and a lot of hard work.

And even if you get to the point of beatingevery world champion alive, thereÕs always going to be a higher level to aim for.

Losing gameswill make you hungry for rematches; a chance to try again and come out the winner this time.

And thereÕs nothing like the feeling of failing, going back to learn more, then making a successful comeback.

ItÕs addictive!YouÕll learn to stay hungry no matter what youÕre doing.

 

Former NBA superstar Julius ÒDr. JÓ Irving once remarked ÒI demand more of myself than anyone else can ever expect.Ó

There is a common thread among people who live by a similar ideal: they tend to be the most successful individuals in their fields.

You can only go as far in this world as you demand yourselfto go.

 

Even winningshouldnÕt be enough. Be stronger than you believe you can be. Do a little more than you did the last time.

There will alwaysbe parents or teachersor bosses around who will push you to do your best. But theyÕll neverbe able to push you as hard

as you can push yourself.

 

 

What they think is your best may be far less than your real potential.

 

Only you can discoverthat. So if the coach tells you to run 5 laps, seeif you can run 6 or 7. Live this way and you will be rewarded again and again.

One thing is certain when you go the extra mile: there are never anytraffic jams or speeding tickets!

Always Look For a Better Move

 

 

 

 

Emmanuel Lasker, a former World Champion used to say ÒIf you

see a good move, donÕt make it. ThereÕs always a better move to make.Ó

 

In chess and in life we must make hundreds of decisions every day. ÒWhat should I eat for breakfast?Ó, ÒIÕm going to watch TV and do my homework laterÓ, ÒShould I capture that Bishop with my Rook?Ó

The problem is that we often act before weÕve even thought about ouroptions. Sometimes we donÕt even realize that we HAVE options!

You create your life through an unendingseries of choices.Some things are beyond your control, but the best way to take charge of your lifeis to accept the fact that you ARE the one in charge!

Realizing that is the first step. The next is to make the best choices that you can.

Always give yourself the time and the patienceto look for more than one option.

A chess game can unfold in tens of thousandsof different ways.

 

In the first move, your choices are limited. But 10 moves deep, there are hundreds of possibilities!

When you begin to see that the easiest or most obvious moves arenÕt always the best ones, youÕll have taken a huge step in your development

as a player.

 

 

Sure, you could take his Bishop with your Rook, and it would be

a good move.

 

But wait. Stop and look at it all from a different angle. ThatÕs not the only play to make.

You could also set a trap for him. Come up with a more compli- cated scheme that will eventually win you much more than just his Rook.

Once you start looking more deeply into your chess optionsand youÕll benefit from those extra few moments of thought.

Start looking more deeply into your life options, too. Creative decision-making will take you to places you never dreamed.Develop that creativityby always looking for as many options as you can.

Every Action Has a Conseq uence

 

 

 

 

In chess, every move you make influences another move - the one

your opponent will make in response.

 

His move will then influence YOUR next move, your next will influence his, and so on.

The effects of any and every move you make are going to echo, in some way or another, all the way to the end of the game.

A single move is a lot more than it may seem.

 

Sometimes the effects are big, sometimes small, sometimes good, andsometimes bad. Sometimesyou feel them right away, sometimes you donÕt feel them until 20 moves have gone by.

But one way or another, your actionsare going to come back and havean effect on you.

Thinkingabout a chess game this way can be a little scary.

 

It makes your responsibility seem huge every time itÕs your turn, even if you do something as simple as starting the game by pushing your pawn forward to e4.

But thereÕs no getting away from it - that move will affect the entire game.You make it knowingthat it givesyou a better chance than other moves you might choose.

 

 

What if you had moved your f pawn up two squares instead?

 

This is a poor choice.YouÕre probably going to feel the effects quickly, and theyÕre not going to be good.

Positive actions, good moves, will eventually lead to positive out- comes. Negative actions or bad moves, will eventually lead to negative outcomes.

Either way there will always be some effect.

 

What you will notice as you play chess and review your games is that you can often point to one key move that changed everything.

It didnÕt seem like much at the time, but it endedup making all the difference.

Start looking at your life choices the same way. Every action you take, or fail to take, is going to affect you.

Choose your actions carefully, and do your best to make sure that your choices are positiveones. Sooner or later, you will feel the effects.

The Right Move

at the Right Time

 

 

 

 

Life often gives us wonderful opportunities, but we donÕt take

advantageof them until itÕs too late.

 

Other times we get ourselves into trouble by doing or saying something when we shouldnÕt; when waitingor not acting would be a much better choice.

Knowing what moves to make isnÕt enough.You have to know when to make them.

The more you play chess, the more you understand how important thisis.

A player who makes big moves too early or too late will lose con- trol of the game.

A better playerwill let each specific situation guide her. There will

be times when capturing your opponentÕs Knight is a great move, but

it would have been a terrible mistake just one move ago!

 

ItÕs the same move, just made at a different time and underdifferent circumstances.

If your timing is off, everything can fall apart.

 

DonÕt get discouraged if you feel like your moves are smart, but theyend up costing you material (or even the whole game).

 

 

You may have been on to something, but timing is always part of

the bigger picture.

 

Sometimes itÕs not that your moves that are bad, but the point at which you choose to make them.

Once you recognizethis in your chess games,you will recognize it in your life.

Decidingwhat to do is only half the process.

 

Deciding when is the rest.

Think Strategically

 

 

 

 

The most successful people in the world all have somethingvery

simple in common: they plan. They would not be successful if they didnÕt.

ItÕs never enough just to want something. You have to move your- self toward your goals a step at a time.

Your plan is your path. Without it you have nothing to stand on.

If you have nothingto stand on, how can you expect to get where you want to be?

ÒStrategyÓ is how you plan in a chess game. Your goal is to win, and itÕll be a lot harder to win if you have no strategy.

It doesnÕt need to be perfect. It doesnÕt need to be complete. And you can change it as the game goes on.

But you should always try to come up with some direction to fol- low during the game.

Otherwise youÕre going to wander aimlessly, hoping that things will work themselvesout.

If you find yourselflosing a lot of games, maybe this is your problem.

 

If you continue to do what youÕve alwaysdone, youÕre going to get what youÕve always got.

Break out of your routineand think. See if you can come up with

a new way to play.

 

 

Take charge by making a plan!

 

LetÕs say that youÕre playing againstan opponent who you know hasa bad habit of leaving his King unprotected.

This is where planning comes in.

 

Focus your strategy around his weakness.Take advantage of it by moving your pieces around in a way that will be good for you, and bad for him.

Or you can base your strategy around your own strengths. For example, you know that you play better when there are less pieces on the board.

So your strategy for the game should be to try to exchangeas many pieces as possible, as soon as possible.

The bottom line is that a strategy, a plan, gives you control. Control leadsto confidence. And confidence leads to success.

As long as you buildyour strategy around your own abilities, or around the weaknesses of whatever it is youÕre up against, you will be shapingthe outcome in your favor.

Learn From Losing

 

 

 

 

Losing never feels good.

 

But what many people donÕt understand is that it doesnÕt have to be a bad feeling either.

The effect that losing has on you depends on your attitude.

 

Attitude is the scale you use to weigh the eventsthat you experience.

If your scale is out of balance,all of your measurements will be off!

 

Approach every chess game as a lesson first, and a contest second. YouÕre trying to win of course,but more importantly youÕre trying to learn.

Start looking at it this way and I guarantee that you will play better, and happier. ThereÕs no way youÕre going to win every time, and it doesnÕt make sense to expect to.

As long as you can walk away from the game having learnedor discovered something new, even if it seems small and unimportant, then playing was worthwhile.

It doesnÕt matter whether you won or lost.

 

I tell my students that anybody who loses a thousand chess games willbe a master. That might sound strange, but itÕs true.

You will learn a lot more from losing than you will from winning, as long as you examineyour games and look for why and how it happened.

 

 

If you do that, then you will become more knowledgeable with

every loss.

 

Approach your whole life this way. Your failures and losses are really just opportunitiesin disguise—opportunitiesto learn, grow, and improve.

So donÕt fear them.

 

ItÕs better to lose and learn somethingthan to win and learn nothing.

RecognizePatterns

 

 

 

 

A good chess playerwill be able to look at many different board

positions and know exactly what to do, without even having to stop and think about it.

Why? The reason is simple. He has played many games, and been

in the same situationmany times. He may make different mistakes from one game to the next, but eventually he figures out the right move.

And from that day on he makes the right move every time.

 

As you improve at chess, you too will come to see board positionsthe same way. You will learn to recognizepatterns - not the shapes created by the setting of the chesspieces, but what theirplacement actually means

to the game.

 

You will be able to walk up to a game in progress and know which player has a stronger position,what moves were made before you got there, and what moves the players are likely to make next.

And when you play, noticingthe patterns that youÕve seen before will help to make your decisions and judgements faster and easier.

A lot of the game will become automatic. When you make a move, youÕll already know what your opponent will do and what you will do afterthat.

You may have seen chess playerswho seem to move at lightning speed, and youÕve wondered how they can think so fast.

 

 

The answer is, theyÕre not thinking.

 

They donÕt need to anymore. TheyÕveplayed so many games that the moves have become habit. They have paid their dues through years of experience.

At other points in the game they WILL have to stop and think. These are the moments that theyÕre really playing for.

Patterns are everywhere in life. There are patternsin music, in stories,

in sports games, in the way two friends talk to one another.

 

If you pay attentionto these patterns,you can learn their rhythm and know how to best fit your actions to the pattern.

And just like the lightning quick chess master, you will know exactly what to do and what to say, blazing along confidently and blowing away everyone around you with what seems like a magical ability.

Use All Your Resources

 

 

 

 

You start the game with 16 chesspieces. Any one of them might be

your ticket to winning. Each of your pawns, Knights, Rooks, Bishops, and the Queen has the chance to be the hero of the day.

Everything depends on how the game unfolds. It would be a mis- taketo see any of them as unnecessary, or to neglect the opportunities that they can present at the right time and place.

Beginners often underestimate the importance of pawns. But an expert knows that the winner is going to be the one who constantly examines everything he has available, especially his pawns, and uses all of his material to maximum effect.

Life works the same way. You have to make the most of whatÕs available to you.

Whateveryou want to do, thereÕs a whole world of help out there

if you know where and how to look.

 

Sometimes itÕs teachers, who show us how to do thingsand explain how they work. Our friends and family are a gold mine of advice and encouragement. They connectus to an even bigger pool of people who can play a role in helping us achieve our goals.

The Internet is a vast ocean of information where you can find practically anything.

Then there are books, which may be the greatest resource of all. The powerand potential in a library is more incredible than you can imagine.

 

 

Being able to take maximum advantageof available resources is a

skill. Some people are better at it than others.

 

Chess is a great way to get better. You learn how to work with what

is sometimes a limited set of tools.

 

And once you start forcing checkmates with nothing but your pawns

(it can be done!) you will begin to see that success doesnÕt always go

to the richest, smartest, or luckiest person.In fact, oftennone of those things will be of any help to you at all.

ItÕs much more important to be able to look at what you have avail- able to you, stop, think, and figure out how to make the best use of it.

Work Together

 

 

 

 

Rooks can only move up and down, side to side; Bishops only in

diagonals. But put them together as a team and suddenlythe Rook and theBishop can go anywhere together. They combinetheir strengths, and pick up the slack for each others weaknesses.

Together they become more powerful than they are on their own.

 

Your chess resultsdepend on how well you can make your chess- pieces work as a group.

Look at them as a group united by a common goal.

 

If you look at them as individuals working by themselves, youÕre going to be in trouble.

Try to beat an opponentÕs entire army with just your Queen—youÕll see what I mean. You might make a few captures, but with nobody to help her, she canÕt make effective attacks or defenses.

The same idea appliesanytime you work in a group, even if the group is only two people.

Each member will bring their own individual strengths, abilities, and knowledge to the job.

The more tightly, cooperatively, and efficiently the group works together, the more likely their combinedskills will add up, and the more likely that theyÕll cover each otherÕs weaknesses.

 

 

ItÕs not enough to make sure every group member is doing some-

thing. Make sure theyÕre all doing what theyÕre best at.

 

Life will put you into groups over and over again—in school,at work, with friends and family.

One of the rewards of chess is that it will teach you to be a good manager. YouÕll learnhow to divide the work among individuals to get the best results possible.

Watch your games for opportunitiesto get your chesspieces working

as a team. Look for those same kinds of opportunitiesin your daily life.

Concentrate

 

 

 

 

Albert Einstein was one of the smartest people who ever lived. His

life was full of incredible achievements, and not just because of his high IQ.

The other secret to his success was his remarkable abilityto con- centrate and stay focused.

Concentration is one of the keys to doing anything well. It will make you sharply aware of the reality of what is happening, right here and right now. It will quiet your feelings,open all your senses, and keepyou balanced and relaxed.

You need all of these characteristics to win at chess.

 

But being able to concentrate requires a lot of training.So work on

it every time you play.

 

The first step is to be patient and calm. You canÕt think clearly otherwise.

Turn off the chattering of your mind and pay no attentionto the world outside the board.

Take a deep breath. For now, let the chess game be the only thing thatexists.

DonÕt rush. Just pay attentionto everything thatÕs happening. Let the game reveal itself to you little by little.

 

 

Once itÕs underway, watch your opponent. Take the time to think

about what she is doing, and why.

 

Above all, donÕt become anxious or impatient. One of the most common mistakes inexperienced players make is to bring out their big pieces too early.

TheyÕre playing with their feelings,not purely with their thoughts and observations.

DonÕt let fear, doubt, suspicion, or anger influence your moves. There may be momentsin the game where you feel these things,but shake them off and regain your focus.

Distraction is what keepsus from finishing what we start, from suc- ceeding, or from even attempting new achievements in the first place.

You canÕt expect to learn perfect concentration overnight, but try to create moments of intense focus as often as you can.

Whether youÕre trying to win a game of chess or solve a math problem, youÕll find yourselfgetting it done faster and better than you ever thought possible.

Take Risks

 

 

 

 

Good chess is about making bold moves.

 

You wonÕt do as well if you just play a safe, cautious game every time. Play unpredictably and aggressively, and most of all creatively.

Always look for that brilliant moment where you can take a daring risk that your opponent wonÕt expect.

You need practicebefore you see those opportunities,but these are the moves that make chess a blast to play. So donÕt let them pass you by.

Risk is exciting, and excitement is one of the reasonsyouÕre playing in the first place.

One of the most important risks you will learnis sacrificing chess- pieces.

Intentionally giving up material in a game is a scary move. But many times itÕs exactly what you need, even though it can be hard to accept.

It takes courage and heart to give something up in an attempt to get something greater in return.Many people would rather play it safe,

to hold on to what they have, to only go with sure things.

 

The fact is, I rarely play a chess game where I donÕt sacrifice at least

a few points worth of material.

It could be a few pawns, a Knight,even a Rook if the timingis right. Sometimes I do it to set a trap, sometimes just to get my pieces

where I want them. But what I know for sure is that sacrificing is part

of winning.

 

 

You have to take big risks in order to get big rewards. You canÕt win

everything without giving up something.

 

This doesnÕt mean that you should be reckless.Good risk-taking means knowing the difference between the smart risks and the unwiseones.

But in the end, the people who achieve the most in the world are the ones who put themselves out there at the right time and take big chances.

Failure is always a possibility. Past failures often keep us from acting when we should.

But sooner or later, a chancey move will lead to victory, and the failures of the past will be forgotten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

23

Down, But Never Out

 

 

 

 

Your opponent is ahead of you by three pieces. He is in position to

attack your King. You feel like it could all end any second.

So what do you do? ThatÕs up to you to figure out. But what you

DONÕT do is quit!

Since I started playingchess, I have seen some amazing comebacks. Players with seemingly no hope of winning at all suddenly roar back from almost nothing to get a miracle victory.

It doesnÕt just happen in the movies. IÕve seen it, and IÕve done it myself.

The players who can do this all have somethingin common: they

believe that they can do it.

Then there are playerswho, in a similar situation, are sure they willlose but continue to play on anyway.

Their focus drains away and they make mistakes, letting themselves fall deeper into the hole until they are defeated.

What theseplayers donÕt realizeis that they didnÕt lose becausethey couldnÕt win. They lost because they stopped lookingfor a way to win.

If you stumble, it doesnÕt matter. Stand up, brush yourself off, and move forward. Regain your focus and try again.

Give yourself a chance to make up for your mistake, whateverit

is. DonÕt put any more thoughtor energy into what you did wrong, anddonÕt convince yourself that you are beaten.

One Move at a Time

 

 

Put it out of your mind, as if it never happened.

 

Forget about how bad things are right now. Envisionthem the way you want them to be, and figure out what needs to be done to get there.

Live your life with that attitude.

 

Giving up is never an option. ThereÕs a way to dig yourself out of any hole.

ItÕs never over until checkmate.

 

 

 

Bonus Life Lesson:

(because you should always give people more than they expect!)

 

Think Outside the Box

 

 

 

How many squares are there on a chessboard?

If you said 64, youÕre missing some. YouÕre actually missing most of them!

The truth is that the chessboard has 204 squares. There are 64 that everyone can see. They stand out obviously, separated by dark and light. But there are 140 more squares that you have to visualize in your mind. Not everyone sees those.

Where are the other squares?

The board itself is actually one big square—8 squares wide,

8 squares tall. There are many smaller squares within it.

In this diagram, IÕve drawn an outline around a 4 by 4 square,

a 3 by 3 square, a 2 by 2 square, and one normal 1 by 1 square.

Now that you know what to look for, you will start to see for yourself these dozens and dozens ofÒinvisibleÓ squares within the chessboard.

The 64 standard squares are easy to see because they are clearly outlined. The rest arenÕt so obvious, yet they are right in front of you.

In life, many things lie in plain view but we fail to see them- nonetheless. The work is done for us when we have a guide or an outline

to lead the way, but the mark of a great mind is the abilityto recognize the Òinvisible squaresÓ in the world.

 

 

25

One Move at a Time

 

 

Isaac Newton began to develop his ideas on gravity after watching

an apple fall from a tree one day. It was a simple,everyday event, but the fall of that apple led him to brilliant, world-changing theories about the forces of nature. Ideas nobody else had ever considered before.

Just one example,but you get the idea. Learn to see whatÕs hidden right before your eyes—the things that other people might miss—and you may end up changing the world too.

 

IIIIII I

 

HereÕs a mental exercise for you to try. See if you can find all 204 squares on the chess board. You already know the 64 1-by-1 squares, plusthe one big 8-by-8 square (the board itself). To get you started finding more, IÕll show you all 49 of the 2-by-2 squares:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are 90 squares left. HereÕs a list showinghow many squares of each size there are:

1-by-1 = 64 2-by-2 = 49 3-by-3 = 36 4-by-4 = 25

5-by-5 = 16 6-by-6 = 9 7-by-7 = 4 8-by-8 = 1

——————— Total = 204

Can you find the rest?