How Life Imitates Chess

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Chess is a unique cognitive nexus, a place where art and science come together in the human mind and are then refined and improved by experience. Long-term success is impossible if you let your heat-of-the-moment reactions trump careful planning.” I find Kasparov overtly sympathetic, as he is quite conscious of his quirks and idiosyncrasies, stating open-handed his shortcomings, his failures both in chess and in life, against Anatoly Karpov, against Tigran Petrossian, against Veselin Topalov, his defeat against a small child in a real-time strategy videogame. It is a friendly, soulful introduction to his life and what realizations he chanced on.

To that effect, Kasparov makes it a point to go into why constant self-analysis is essential not only to survive in the world, but in fact to thrive. Self-awareness and peak performance go hand in hand, as some of you may know. Because of this Kasparov urges everyone to become conscious of their individual inherent decision making process and strive to polish it to become wiser. Crisis is a point when questions cannot be answered. Crises are periods of uncertainity and of inevitable sacrifice. With time we become more aware of approaching of the crisis points. I learned one thing in politics. I don't have to make a decision, until I have to." - Margaret Thatcher

Reviews

Chess clearly shows us the power of “Why?” Every move has a consequence; every move either fits into your strategy or it doesn’t. If you aren’t questioning your moves consistently, you will lose to the player who is playing with a coherent plan. Self-awareness is essential to being able to combine your knowledge, experience, and talent to reach your peak performance. Few people ever perform this sort of analysis. Every decision stems from an internal process, whether at the chessboard, in the White House, in the boardroom, or at the kitchen table. The subject matter of those decisions will be different, but the process can be very similar. Kasparov left professional chess in 2005, and went into politics. It is dangerous to be in opposition to Putin in Russia. However, he does not feel intimidated by other politicians, because he spent his entire life under an intense spotlight. I would speculate that because great chess players are adulated in Russia, Kasparov is somewhat protected against overt aggression in his political career. In plainspeak, if you’re looking for a book that delves into Chess, Life, Business, while also searching for gems of wisdom that may help you become a sharper, stronger, and more intuitive individual, but also dives into the importance of quality actions via precise decision making, then ruminate upon this book. The book contains many interesting facts about chess and the person Garry Kasparov and his famous work ethic*. It is rich in ideas, quotes and connections - however I soon got bored, since neither life nor chess is ALL about winning or being remembered!

That Kasparov knows he is a genius is also not in doubt. He retired from chess not to spend more time his family, nor even to be President of Russia, but to change the infrastructure of Russian politics. His failure, so far, to have pulled this one off has left him spare time, some of which he uses to lecture chief executives about the antics of other CEOs. Questioning yourself must become a habit, a strong habit that overcomes your overconfidence and dejection. This book felt very much like a fireside chat. It was both personal and wide-ranging, with plenty of anecdotes which, for the most part, were excellent examples to illustrate his points. Better still, for all his unquestionable genius, Kasparov remains humble and self-effacing, quite happy to tell a joke at his own expense.I believe it’s essential to push the boundaries and constantly widen the angle of the lens we use to view the world.”