Intelligence trap.

I was just thinking that today may be a good day for quiet reflection but then I got the calling to write this.

It is unfortunate that the most intelligent among us may not always lead successful lives. In fact to me the more intelligent you are the more difficult it is to do that. The road to success is not easy and it is very very easy to get lost. And it seems to me that the more intelligent you are the better you are at losing your way. That is why so few make it, despite their intelligence (or maybe because of their intelligence).

When I talk to our National Junior players I marvel at their inventiveness at finding excuses. My son included. So many compelling "reasons" not to do the work but wanting the prize at the same time. In the first place it is not easy to reason with highly intelligent people as they can find so many inventive ways to run away, so many "intelligent" excuses.

In chess we find some of the most intelligent people in our country. But there is more. When I started attending chess tournaments I noticed that the pressure to win is akin to the highest level of pressurised negotiations I have ever been involved with in my business life. But in chess it starts at such a young age. So I've been observing. Are they equipped to handle this level of pressure without the right guidance & preparation? I don't know many adults who can.

Of course I am not talking about hobbyists. I am talking about those that are going for the titles, the medals. I think the combined forces of high intelligence added to unresolved imagined fears is a potent mix for damage.

So are we managing our most gifted minds properly? What are the results telling us? I call this the intelligence trap. And I wrote about it here.

Selected games from Dragon Thematic

Here.

The teachers understand this.

You walk into a classroom and you see two groups of boys/girls. One group is serious about trying to improve, working hard. The other group just makes trouble, they are hell bent on self sabotage although some of them are very smart.

Which group would you focus your attention on Cikgu? This is also human nature. We cant help but to want to help those who are helping themselves.

This works the same for the sponsors. They cant help but to want to help those who are helping themselves. When they see a serious group trying hard to succeed they will want to help. They are in the business world. They understand plans, teamwork, the will to succeed. They understand sacrifice. They understand this other side of human nature.

But which side of human nature will they see when they come to our chess community? The self destructive side or the other one?

Photos from the Dragon Thematic

Here.

A possible answer to MASUM post.

Ref: Here.

Teach them to work through their fears till they reach the answers ie competitor analysis. Fear can shut down the mind and put any technical knowledge outside their reach. Fear also affects decisions and chess is about making decisions. Fear is also the enemy of ideas and chess is about ideas. And as I have said before, the source of fear is the ego. Read this too to see if you agree. Here.

Note: This is what I said at the last FGM Thematics. There is no pressure if you are playing against a known technically inferior player. The perception of fear begins when we meet our equals and above, when we think we can lose. Then the use of competitor analysis helps us to ground ourselves and choose and prepare the weapon that gives us the best chance. And so we fight with realistic expectations. A lessening of fear. A winning edge?

There is little fear in most of our U12 and so they can fight well. After that age more and more fear creeps in and that eventually cripples their game. If that is the case we need to examine fear and its causes. And in chess, I have stated that most of our fears are imaginary. Does this make any sense?

Ideas on how to be GM.

Read this.

Today's Contemplation.

Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I shall have the belief that I can do it. I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I may not have it at the beginning.

-- Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948)

Stories from the Thematics.

Go here.

Today's Contemplation.

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.

-- Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens] (1835-1910)

Che Hassan is Dragon Master.

More pictures, games and stories to follow. Here.