The key to improving at chess is to try your very hardest each game you play. Th e rest is details. The reason why serious tournament players tend to improve faster than casual pla yers is simply because they are trying harder during each game that they play. Whenever we make real effort at something, our brain forms connections, like pat hways between neurons. The analogy is something like this -- imagine a pathfinde r in a thick forest cutting away underbrush with a machete. The harder he works, the more plentiful his paths through the bush will be. And the more clear these paths will be. If he works really hard, he soon has a whole network of crisscro ssing paths through this dense forest. Meaning, he can find his way around quick er and more efficiently. The higher brain functions needed for efficiency in chess work in a similar fash ion. These brain functions require pathways, neuron-connections, to be establish ed, much like those needed for learning a foreign language. These pathways or co nnections cannot be established if the effort is not applied to creating them. So-called "genius" is really nothing but 90% perspiration, and 10% ins piration. As Fischer once remarked, "effective tactics in chess flow from a sound position". The "sound position" arises from the 90% perspi ration, that is, the hard work applied to creating the brain connections that co me from practice. The harder we try to think through each position, calculating as far as we can see and pushing ourselves to see further each time, the more br ain connections needed for that type of calculating are being formed, and the ea sier it will be to calculate that far next time. The strongest chess masters all worked their butts off to get where they are. As the great philosopher Gurdjieff once said, "nothing is possible in life wi thout aim and effort." He also said, "if you can do one thing well, yo u can do anything well." So the neat thing about grasping the cause and eff ect relationship between sincerity of effort and improvement at chess, is how it shows us a golden key to success at anything in life.
The key to improving at chess is to try your very hardest each
game you play. The rest is details.The reason why serious
tournament players tend to improve faster than casual players is
simply because they are trying harder during each game that they
play.Whenever we make real effort at something, our brain forms
connections, like pathways between neurons. The analogy is
something like this -- imagine a pathfinder in a thick forest
cutting away underbrush with a machete. The harder he works, the
more plentiful his paths through the bush will be. And the more
clear these paths will be. If he works really hard, he soon has a
whole network of crisscrossing paths through this dense forest.
Meaning, he can find his way around quicker and more
efficiently.The higher brain functions needed for efficiency in
chess work in a similar fashion. These brain functions require
pathways, neuron-connections, to be established, much like those
needed for learning a foreign language. These pathways or
connections cannot be established if the effort is not applied to
creating them.So-called "genius" is really nothing but 90%
perspiration, and 10% inspiration. As Fischer once remarked,
"effective tactics in chess flow from a sound position". The "sound
position" arises from the 90% perspiration, that is, the hard work
applied to creating the brain connections that come from practice.
The harder we try to think through each position, calculating as
far as we can see and pushing ourselves to see further each time,
the more brain connections needed for that type of calculating are
being formed, and the easier it will be to calculate that far next
time.The strongest chess masters all worked their butts off to get
where they are. As the great philosopher Gurdjieff once said,
"nothing is possible in life without aim and effort." He also said,
"if you can do one thing well, you can do anything well." So the
neat thing about grasping the cause and effect relationship between
sincerity of effort and improvement at chess, is how it shows us a
golden key to success at anything in life.
