03 Jan '22 05:27>5 edits
On Nov 23rd I posted an article here called Thoughts on Losing. (see pg. 2 of chess posts) I assure all of you here these were not my opinions, but the thoughts of a local player in the NW named Mr. Ang. Our local NW chess coaching author responded with an intelligent, but somewhat spacey response in the January edition on NWC to Mr. Ang's views. I won't bore you with all the details. Mr Dubisch summed up his thoughts with this (paraphrased) "When we only care about winning, we're not playing chess anymore- we're playing a game of dominance, instead, we stay as objective as possible, we solve the problem on the board in front of us"
This all sounds great, but how exactly do we do this?
Mr. Ang's approach seems to be (to quote coach Lombardi) "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing!" While Mr. Dubisch's views state "Whether we're winning or losing we enjoy playing the game" I emailed my response to Mr. Dubisch:
I recently read your response to Nobel Ang's article on losing. You're no doubt a much stronger player than I, and normally would not think of taking issue with your views, however my opinion is the truth of the matter lies somewhere between that
of yours and Mr. Ang's. While it's true Mr. Ang's views tend to be primarily about dominance, I would ask: (to expand on a famous football coaches quote) "If winning isn't important, then why do they keep score? Why bother with ratings? Why do they give out prizes? Why not just agree to a draw before the game starts?" Some of this may seem silly, and I do side with your views that "enjoying playing the game" should be of paramount importance, but I would also humbly suggest that the concept of winning and losing has to be at least a little bit important too.
Enjoying playing the game is of primary importance, no doubt, but GM's Carlsen, Ding, Caruana and others don't undergo hundreds of hours of intense mental and physical training, and fly to distant cities to enter tournaments with large cash prizes, world rankings, and rating points on the line, simply to "enjoy playing the game" they can do that in the comfort of their home's, on their computers, (or a local drinking establishment) nor do any of us pay our hard earned euro's (or dollars) travel to distant tournament sites, and for lodging, food, and entry fees simply to do the same.
Enjoying playing the game / Winning and losing: The Zen of chess - a delicate balance
Thoughts?
This all sounds great, but how exactly do we do this?
Mr. Ang's approach seems to be (to quote coach Lombardi) "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing!" While Mr. Dubisch's views state "Whether we're winning or losing we enjoy playing the game" I emailed my response to Mr. Dubisch:
I recently read your response to Nobel Ang's article on losing. You're no doubt a much stronger player than I, and normally would not think of taking issue with your views, however my opinion is the truth of the matter lies somewhere between that
of yours and Mr. Ang's. While it's true Mr. Ang's views tend to be primarily about dominance, I would ask: (to expand on a famous football coaches quote) "If winning isn't important, then why do they keep score? Why bother with ratings? Why do they give out prizes? Why not just agree to a draw before the game starts?" Some of this may seem silly, and I do side with your views that "enjoying playing the game" should be of paramount importance, but I would also humbly suggest that the concept of winning and losing has to be at least a little bit important too.
Enjoying playing the game is of primary importance, no doubt, but GM's Carlsen, Ding, Caruana and others don't undergo hundreds of hours of intense mental and physical training, and fly to distant cities to enter tournaments with large cash prizes, world rankings, and rating points on the line, simply to "enjoy playing the game" they can do that in the comfort of their home's, on their computers, (or a local drinking establishment) nor do any of us pay our hard earned euro's (or dollars) travel to distant tournament sites, and for lodging, food, and entry fees simply to do the same.
Enjoying playing the game / Winning and losing: The Zen of chess - a delicate balance
Thoughts?