CHESS AND LEADERSHIP
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
"If a ruler does not understand chess, how can he rule over a kingdom?" - Sasanian king, Khosrau II (reigned 590-628 AD)
Tell me, what is the oldest game of skill that existed on earth, very popular and still played around the world? And what does Peter the Great, Lincoln, Lenin, Marx, Rousseau, Voltaire and Napoleon have in common? Yes, that ancient is chess and these historical figures were all chess enthusiasts. According to a legend, Ravana's consort Mandodari invented this royal game of war as an alternative to bloody wars. Chess is just a piece of wood, but its influence on human mind and imagination is so great that even historical figures find time to play chess. Today, millions of people are chess devotees. In Russia alone, chess became part of the student's curriculum.
I was in my cub scout days when I learned to play chess. This game persuaded me to develop and sharpen my intellectual skills. Ms. Mila Emperado, National Women's master, founder and president of the Metropolitan Chess Club, once said, "Ang batang mahusay sa chess ay magaling din sa klase. At lamang siya sa kapwa mag-aaral na hindi pa marunong ng chess." Emperado is the organizer of the Milo Checkmate (Chess Clinic to Equip in Opening, Mastery of Analysis in Middlegame and Techniques in Endgame). Fourteen-year-old Filipino World Chess champion NM Mark Paragua, who has just recently won the World Rapid Chess Tournament in Paris, France for 14-years-old-and-under category, was a student of Milo Checkmate.
"Chess is life," according to GM Eugene Torre, Asia's first grandmaster. We may interpret it this way: "Life is like a chess game." Problems, like chess puzzles, are part of life. Sometimes you win in one area of your life; sometimes you lose. Sometimes we encounter personal problems that almost kill us or break our hearts, but let's accept it. There's always a new life as there's always a new game."
A chessplayer's strength lies in his clear rational thinking, right approach, logic, knowledge and the ability not to make a mistake. His powers of vision, attentiveness, common sense and imagination are what make him stronger than others. Psychologists even found out that chessplayers possess higher spatial ability than others with comparable intelligence level. They also possess grater physical endurance and the capacity to endure pain and frustrations.
Chess is very useful for studying complex and conflicting situations. It helps us in developing our decision-making skills, ability and patience. Chess also makes our central nervous system active and develops positive emotional reactions. It is also a good training for those engaged in challenging tasks and intellectual pursuits. A chessplayer requires making a decisive move in a very complex situation and under time pressure. This is what is necessary from people in many professions.
Chess, Leadership and the Art of War
Many people wonder why some writers use chess as analogy in their documents and articles. Chess is a brilliant example in articulating a point. Such is the work of Larry Perez Jr., which appeared in the BMP's September 1998 issue of Tambuli magazine. In his article "Ala-Berde, Ala-Tsamba", he wrote: "Sa welga, gaya ng lahat ng pakikibaka, kailangan ang husay ng utak para sa taktika at hindi lamang lakas ng loob. Kahit sa boksing, kailangan ng talas ng isip, hindi lang lakas ng bisig. Laluna sa makauring pakikibaka na mas gaya ng chess na ang nananalo ay di ang basta na lamang sulong ng sulong ng piyesa. Ang nananalo ay yaong malalim na nagkukwenta ng bawat galaw, na handa pa ngang magsakripisyo ng piyesa para lamang makakuha ng bentaheng posisyon tungo sa ultimong tagumpay." Perez has equated chess to war and management and clearly emphasized its importance to leadership. In other words, chess means leadership. Chess means being capable to manage different situations, such as war.
Theoretically, Sasanian king Khosrau II was right when he said that the ruler should understand chess to rule. Relatively, this means that managing a kingdom, a country or an organization is like managing an army in the battle field. Meaning, you should know your subjects and your opponents. many kingdoms, country or organization has collapsed because of poor planning and management. Chess is no different from war, where poor planning can lead to the loss of men, equipment and the battle itself. Sun Tzu, ancient Chinese military tactician, discussed this in his treatise "The Art of War" which appeared in its first chapter: "War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life and death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied." Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote "The Prince" (which in modern times can be translated as "The Leader"), clearly pointed out: "The neglect of the art of war is the main cause for the loss of the prince's state, while a proficiency in
it often enable a prince to acquire one." He further added, "A prince who is not master of the art of warfare can't be respected by his soldiers, nor can he depend upon them. He lacks the essentials that a commander of troops should possess. Therefore, the practice of warfare should always be uppermost in a prince's thought." Machiavelli advised, "A prince should read history and study the actions of eminent men. He should observe how distinguished men behave in battle and should examine the causes of their victories and defeats, so that he may imitate the former and avoid the latter." Likewise, chessplayers should study the games of the masters, scrutinize their brilliant methods of attacks and defenses, and analyze the ideas behind each chess opening repertoire to improve their games.
Pandolfini discussed in his book "The ABCs of Chess" similar principles concerning war, such as the following: (a) Develop purposefully, and not just for development's sake. Make sure every move has a purpose; (b) If you know your opponent's style, take advantage of it; (c) attack in numbers. Don't rely in just one or two pieces; (d) Seize the initiative; (e) Never play a risky move, hoping your opponent will overlook your threat; (f) Seize open lines; (g) Use the analytic method; first evaluate the position, then ask pertinent questions about your analysis. One book (which the title I cannot remember) has this passage: "Grandmasters always go for the kill if they spotted their opponent's weaknesses."
An impressive checkmate from Philidor defense (my favorite) can best illustrate the art of war: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4 4. Nc3 h6 5. Nxe5! Bxd1 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5 mate. Black's fifth move is a blunder. He probably thought he can gain tactical advantage by capturing his enemy's most powerful piece, the queen. With a clear foresight and analysis, White sacrificed his queen to win the game. He calculated precisely his win in just three moves. On the other hand, Black lost the initiative when he prematurely captured the queen without analyzing his moves.
You may wonder why Black did not think several times why White captured the pawn in e5, thus exposing the White's queen. Black did not even notice that White's fifth move was not a blunder but a trick to gain tactical advantage. A grand deception! Both of their fifth move is a very critical moment of decision. White's fifth move was brilliant, while Black's fifth move was a disaster. Because of Black's greediness for power and profit, he loss the game easily. Black's loss in the early stage of the game (only 7 moves) is a clear example of immaturity, lack of leadership traits, and poor management skills. In this game, White masterfully displayed his great skill and foreknowledge of the art of war.
The popularity of chess sometimes made government and military tacticians use chess terms, such as stalemate and blunder, in their undertakings. One army even used the term "strategic stalemate" to describe a certain stage of their war program. German master Richard Teichmann described chess as "ninety-nine percent tactics". This means that it leaves one percent for strategy. He emphasized the importance of tactical play. Meaning, all your careful strategic planning can be ruined by one tactical shot. This also validated what Sun Tzu has written almost two thousand years ago: "When the army engages in protracted campaigns, the resources of the state will not suffice. For there has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited." Likewise in chess, tactical play should be given much importance than strategy. Meaning, be flexible to the winds of change, because a blueprint for conducting war does not ensure victory.
Chess and Industrial Revolution
Chess, considered to be the model of artificial intelligence, played a major role in the modern Industrial Revolution. Computer scientists, in their quest to invent thinking machines, developed chess computer programs to test the human mind. They want to know the development and technological advancement of the latest machines or computers to be used in industries and other future researches. They used chess as the model fro decision-making processes, for investigating machine intelligence and expert systems. Scientists conclude, "If computers cannot even solve a decision-making problem in the realm of perfect knowledge like chess, then how can we be sure that computers make better decisions than humans in other complex domains - especially in those where rules are ill-defined or areas exhibiting high levels of uncertainty." (Chess Asia, Vol. 12, No. 1, P. 5) The best way to test the intellectual capacity of machines is to challenge humanity's best representative, World Champion Gary Kasparov.
On February 1996, the world saw how Kasparov crushed the IBM-designed super computer Deep Blue with a convincing 4-2 victory in their six-game championship match. Deep Blue was the predecessor of Deep Thought, the most powerful chess computer program in the late 80s, which Kasparov defeated in 1989. Kasparov said before the match with Deep Blue that "he will try to defend the dignity of the human race". He believed it was his duty to assert and uphold human intellectual supremacy over machines. This man versus machine match also marked the 50th anniversary of the first real computer, ENIAC. In 1997, Deep Blue retaliated and defeated Kasparov. This revolution in technology marked the importance of chess in modern scientific discovery. And this technological development may transform our lives in the near future. It might even change the course of history. Remember the sci-fi movie "Terminator" where thinking machines revolted against the human race?
On Improving Your Chess
Chess requires two people to play, but you can play it alone. How? By studying and analyzing the games of the masters, most especially attacking players like Tal, Alekhine, Fischer, Topalov and Kasparov, and defensive players such as Anatoly Karpov; studying different types of opening repertoire, the middlegame and the endgame; analyzing tactics in open and closed games; scrutinizing brilliant methods of attacks and defenses; and solving different puzzles. These will help develop, not only your chess power, but your sills and ability that you can apply in your day-to-day activities. If you like, you can also play blindfold chess to develop your visualizing skills. Although there are five known types of recording moves, study the most popular: the old-English notation and the algebraic. Throughout our articles in chess, we will use the algebraic notation.
I prefer two simple puzzles for you to solve. (1) W: Ka6, Bh4, Nb8, c2, d2; B: Kd5, a3, d4; White to play and win. (2) W: Ke1, Rf1, Rh1, Ng3; B: Kg2; White to play and mate in three. Answering these compose problems were invented for both entertainment and deep thinking. Hope you enjoy the game. But always remember: "Every move maybe your last!" If you wish to answer these puzzles honestly, please refrain from looking at the answers. Anyway, for our convenience, we printed the answers here: (1) 1. Nc6 Kxc6 2. Bf6 Kd5 3. d3 a2 4. c4+ Kc5 5. Kb7 a1-Q 6. Be7 mate; (2) 1. Rf4 Kxg3 2. 0-0 Kh3 3. Rf3 mate.
- Sanlakas office, 1998
by Gregorio V. Bituin Jr.
"If a ruler does not understand chess, how can he rule over a kingdom?" - Sasanian king, Khosrau II (reigned 590-628 AD)
Tell me, what is the oldest game of skill that existed on earth, very popular and still played around the world? And what does Peter the Great, Lincoln, Lenin, Marx, Rousseau, Voltaire and Napoleon have in common? Yes, that ancient is chess and these historical figures were all chess enthusiasts. According to a legend, Ravana's consort Mandodari invented this royal game of war as an alternative to bloody wars. Chess is just a piece of wood, but its influence on human mind and imagination is so great that even historical figures find time to play chess. Today, millions of people are chess devotees. In Russia alone, chess became part of the student's curriculum.
I was in my cub scout days when I learned to play chess. This game persuaded me to develop and sharpen my intellectual skills. Ms. Mila Emperado, National Women's master, founder and president of the Metropolitan Chess Club, once said, "Ang batang mahusay sa chess ay magaling din sa klase. At lamang siya sa kapwa mag-aaral na hindi pa marunong ng chess." Emperado is the organizer of the Milo Checkmate (Chess Clinic to Equip in Opening, Mastery of Analysis in Middlegame and Techniques in Endgame). Fourteen-year-old Filipino World Chess champion NM Mark Paragua, who has just recently won the World Rapid Chess Tournament in Paris, France for 14-years-old-and-under category, was a student of Milo Checkmate.
"Chess is life," according to GM Eugene Torre, Asia's first grandmaster. We may interpret it this way: "Life is like a chess game." Problems, like chess puzzles, are part of life. Sometimes you win in one area of your life; sometimes you lose. Sometimes we encounter personal problems that almost kill us or break our hearts, but let's accept it. There's always a new life as there's always a new game."
A chessplayer's strength lies in his clear rational thinking, right approach, logic, knowledge and the ability not to make a mistake. His powers of vision, attentiveness, common sense and imagination are what make him stronger than others. Psychologists even found out that chessplayers possess higher spatial ability than others with comparable intelligence level. They also possess grater physical endurance and the capacity to endure pain and frustrations.
Chess is very useful for studying complex and conflicting situations. It helps us in developing our decision-making skills, ability and patience. Chess also makes our central nervous system active and develops positive emotional reactions. It is also a good training for those engaged in challenging tasks and intellectual pursuits. A chessplayer requires making a decisive move in a very complex situation and under time pressure. This is what is necessary from people in many professions.
Chess, Leadership and the Art of War
Many people wonder why some writers use chess as analogy in their documents and articles. Chess is a brilliant example in articulating a point. Such is the work of Larry Perez Jr., which appeared in the BMP's September 1998 issue of Tambuli magazine. In his article "Ala-Berde, Ala-Tsamba", he wrote: "Sa welga, gaya ng lahat ng pakikibaka, kailangan ang husay ng utak para sa taktika at hindi lamang lakas ng loob. Kahit sa boksing, kailangan ng talas ng isip, hindi lang lakas ng bisig. Laluna sa makauring pakikibaka na mas gaya ng chess na ang nananalo ay di ang basta na lamang sulong ng sulong ng piyesa. Ang nananalo ay yaong malalim na nagkukwenta ng bawat galaw, na handa pa ngang magsakripisyo ng piyesa para lamang makakuha ng bentaheng posisyon tungo sa ultimong tagumpay." Perez has equated chess to war and management and clearly emphasized its importance to leadership. In other words, chess means leadership. Chess means being capable to manage different situations, such as war.
Theoretically, Sasanian king Khosrau II was right when he said that the ruler should understand chess to rule. Relatively, this means that managing a kingdom, a country or an organization is like managing an army in the battle field. Meaning, you should know your subjects and your opponents. many kingdoms, country or organization has collapsed because of poor planning and management. Chess is no different from war, where poor planning can lead to the loss of men, equipment and the battle itself. Sun Tzu, ancient Chinese military tactician, discussed this in his treatise "The Art of War" which appeared in its first chapter: "War is a matter of vital importance to the State; the province of life and death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied." Niccolo Machiavelli, who wrote "The Prince" (which in modern times can be translated as "The Leader"), clearly pointed out: "The neglect of the art of war is the main cause for the loss of the prince's state, while a proficiency in
it often enable a prince to acquire one." He further added, "A prince who is not master of the art of warfare can't be respected by his soldiers, nor can he depend upon them. He lacks the essentials that a commander of troops should possess. Therefore, the practice of warfare should always be uppermost in a prince's thought." Machiavelli advised, "A prince should read history and study the actions of eminent men. He should observe how distinguished men behave in battle and should examine the causes of their victories and defeats, so that he may imitate the former and avoid the latter." Likewise, chessplayers should study the games of the masters, scrutinize their brilliant methods of attacks and defenses, and analyze the ideas behind each chess opening repertoire to improve their games.
Pandolfini discussed in his book "The ABCs of Chess" similar principles concerning war, such as the following: (a) Develop purposefully, and not just for development's sake. Make sure every move has a purpose; (b) If you know your opponent's style, take advantage of it; (c) attack in numbers. Don't rely in just one or two pieces; (d) Seize the initiative; (e) Never play a risky move, hoping your opponent will overlook your threat; (f) Seize open lines; (g) Use the analytic method; first evaluate the position, then ask pertinent questions about your analysis. One book (which the title I cannot remember) has this passage: "Grandmasters always go for the kill if they spotted their opponent's weaknesses."
An impressive checkmate from Philidor defense (my favorite) can best illustrate the art of war: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Bg4 4. Nc3 h6 5. Nxe5! Bxd1 6. Bxf7+ Ke7 7. Nd5 mate. Black's fifth move is a blunder. He probably thought he can gain tactical advantage by capturing his enemy's most powerful piece, the queen. With a clear foresight and analysis, White sacrificed his queen to win the game. He calculated precisely his win in just three moves. On the other hand, Black lost the initiative when he prematurely captured the queen without analyzing his moves.
You may wonder why Black did not think several times why White captured the pawn in e5, thus exposing the White's queen. Black did not even notice that White's fifth move was not a blunder but a trick to gain tactical advantage. A grand deception! Both of their fifth move is a very critical moment of decision. White's fifth move was brilliant, while Black's fifth move was a disaster. Because of Black's greediness for power and profit, he loss the game easily. Black's loss in the early stage of the game (only 7 moves) is a clear example of immaturity, lack of leadership traits, and poor management skills. In this game, White masterfully displayed his great skill and foreknowledge of the art of war.
The popularity of chess sometimes made government and military tacticians use chess terms, such as stalemate and blunder, in their undertakings. One army even used the term "strategic stalemate" to describe a certain stage of their war program. German master Richard Teichmann described chess as "ninety-nine percent tactics". This means that it leaves one percent for strategy. He emphasized the importance of tactical play. Meaning, all your careful strategic planning can be ruined by one tactical shot. This also validated what Sun Tzu has written almost two thousand years ago: "When the army engages in protracted campaigns, the resources of the state will not suffice. For there has never been a protracted war from which a country has benefited." Likewise in chess, tactical play should be given much importance than strategy. Meaning, be flexible to the winds of change, because a blueprint for conducting war does not ensure victory.
Chess and Industrial Revolution
Chess, considered to be the model of artificial intelligence, played a major role in the modern Industrial Revolution. Computer scientists, in their quest to invent thinking machines, developed chess computer programs to test the human mind. They want to know the development and technological advancement of the latest machines or computers to be used in industries and other future researches. They used chess as the model fro decision-making processes, for investigating machine intelligence and expert systems. Scientists conclude, "If computers cannot even solve a decision-making problem in the realm of perfect knowledge like chess, then how can we be sure that computers make better decisions than humans in other complex domains - especially in those where rules are ill-defined or areas exhibiting high levels of uncertainty." (Chess Asia, Vol. 12, No. 1, P. 5) The best way to test the intellectual capacity of machines is to challenge humanity's best representative, World Champion Gary Kasparov.
On February 1996, the world saw how Kasparov crushed the IBM-designed super computer Deep Blue with a convincing 4-2 victory in their six-game championship match. Deep Blue was the predecessor of Deep Thought, the most powerful chess computer program in the late 80s, which Kasparov defeated in 1989. Kasparov said before the match with Deep Blue that "he will try to defend the dignity of the human race". He believed it was his duty to assert and uphold human intellectual supremacy over machines. This man versus machine match also marked the 50th anniversary of the first real computer, ENIAC. In 1997, Deep Blue retaliated and defeated Kasparov. This revolution in technology marked the importance of chess in modern scientific discovery. And this technological development may transform our lives in the near future. It might even change the course of history. Remember the sci-fi movie "Terminator" where thinking machines revolted against the human race?
On Improving Your Chess
Chess requires two people to play, but you can play it alone. How? By studying and analyzing the games of the masters, most especially attacking players like Tal, Alekhine, Fischer, Topalov and Kasparov, and defensive players such as Anatoly Karpov; studying different types of opening repertoire, the middlegame and the endgame; analyzing tactics in open and closed games; scrutinizing brilliant methods of attacks and defenses; and solving different puzzles. These will help develop, not only your chess power, but your sills and ability that you can apply in your day-to-day activities. If you like, you can also play blindfold chess to develop your visualizing skills. Although there are five known types of recording moves, study the most popular: the old-English notation and the algebraic. Throughout our articles in chess, we will use the algebraic notation.
I prefer two simple puzzles for you to solve. (1) W: Ka6, Bh4, Nb8, c2, d2; B: Kd5, a3, d4; White to play and win. (2) W: Ke1, Rf1, Rh1, Ng3; B: Kg2; White to play and mate in three. Answering these compose problems were invented for both entertainment and deep thinking. Hope you enjoy the game. But always remember: "Every move maybe your last!" If you wish to answer these puzzles honestly, please refrain from looking at the answers. Anyway, for our convenience, we printed the answers here: (1) 1. Nc6 Kxc6 2. Bf6 Kd5 3. d3 a2 4. c4+ Kc5 5. Kb7 a1-Q 6. Be7 mate; (2) 1. Rf4 Kxg3 2. 0-0 Kh3 3. Rf3 mate.
- Sanlakas office, 1998
No comments:
Post a Comment