World Chess Championship: Anand - Carlsen: Rest day- 3 "Making of the moves"
Rest day 3: "Making of the moves"
Victories happen, loses are made!
Traditionally, in a chess game - why even any other sport, the cause for the loss is searched, in the 'moves', and the 'shots' that are executed and the betterment is sought within that sphere.
Often, the cause for a loss or a mishit lies in the making of the moves or the making of the shots!
At times, a solitary mistake can trigger an avalanche, if it is not tended to, soon, before the downslide starts.
We shall continue from what we saw yesterday in the article "Loss - a perspective" and I wish to drive through a point through an example.
It will be too early to deal with a live example from this match and hence I go nearly a century back, to simulate a similar instance, for the stakes were some what similar:
a) The styles between the champion and challenger were different: the champion was a fresh water fish and the challenger a deep sea fish (in the present condition though, the roles are reversed).
b) With the hype created by the near invincibility of the champion, the challenger was very hungry, as the victory would taste sweeter.
Let me start by quoting a line by Golombek from his memoir of Capablanca: "The comparative strength of the great players is practically impossible to assess, for their powers are no static entity. It seldom happens that both the players taking part in a match are on the up-grade. The reigning champion in particular is not over-anxious to play a really dangerous rival until forced to do so by circumstances, a human failing, deplorable perhaps, but not restricted to chess."
The first half of the quote above, applies even today, whilst the second half was peculiar to the world championship match conditions that prevailed, prior to 1948. The champion had the prerogative to chose his challenger and at his convenient time, with stringent conditions which bordered on being unjust.
The Cuban world champion was known for his pristine simple chess, which defied the comprehension sphere of most chess masters then and left them gasping and searching for "how and what hit them", every time they encountered him.
His victories were so effortless that it deluded him that he would outclass anyone without any serious preparation.
This 'invincibility' made Capablanca think and propound that it is death of chess - after all he too was human, and not without reasons, God placed this undefinable entity called "mind" in human beings, for without it, they would become god themselves!!
He was a stingy loser and had lost only 24 games over a period of 20 years, with scores of tournament victories, notwithstanding his 'other distractions', prior to the match.
Now we no the reason for his prophesy on chess!
On the other hand, the tiger in Alekhine was really hungry and in contrast to Capablanca, he was looking for this occasion to 'prove to the world'.
The smartest thing that Alekhine did in his preparation for the match was that, he spent considerable time in mastering a similar style of the Cuban Genius - the simple chess. And this he did by restraining his natural flair for serious complications and great proclivity for mind boggling combinations! He was master of attack!
Alekhine knew that Capablanca would avoid, with all his might, to allow the game to take complicated course and therefore, worked and prepared to take on the lion in its own den!
This was unforeseen by Capablanca and became evident in the very first game!
Diagram 1 :Capablanca - Alekhine Position after 16. Rac1?
Capablanca played this incredible move overlooking a simple point that after 16)….Nc2; 17) Rc2 black can take the knight on f4 with his queen 17)….Qf4!
After this, Alekhine clinically executed the moves to win the first game of this historic match and followed it by further simple play.
Diagram 2 :Capablanca - Alekhine Position after 47.Qd7?
How can you explain for this mistake, that too from Capablanca!? Alekhine noted that after the correct 47).Rd7, black has nothing better than giving a perpetual check after, 47)….Qf2+; 48) Kh1 Qa2; 49) Rd8 Rd8; 50) Qd8 Kh7; 51) Qf8 forcing black to give perpetual checks.
One cannot look for chess reasons for these mistakes and error of judgements which happen during a game.
It is not easy to be natural and to rely on one's inherent strengths. Players worry about the various dynamics both on an off the board.
In preparation for the big occasion, too many microscopes are deployed to look for a dent in the opponents armoury and in the process, at time, one may overlook one's own strengths!
The above example of Capablanca - Alekhine match was different though when the great Alekhine's 'lateral thinking' took the reigning champion unawares as he was psychologically looking only to avoid the challengers preference for muddy waters!
Sometimes, such trivia are enough to set of a serious of thoughts in the minds and with the development of the incident or the match, would further deepen and have a huge bearing on the thinking process.
That is what happened in the above referred match and inflicted the first dent in the armoury of the 'Great Cuban mind' - mind you not his game; for these are mind games.
There is a step up to this level, which is seldom thought of: "the mindless games", which is the level at which most genius operate when their are at their prime zone.
This is not recorded in any annals or analysed as even the players themselves will not be able to explain "how" and "what" happened during the play, when they operate in the "zone".
For, when a player is in the "zone" it is the "let go" that is operating and let go happen only when the players manage to switch off their minds and therefore are non existent themselves!!
Federer could never explain how his racket whipped the unbelievable passing shots and delicate cross court placements and even how his limbs acted in-spite of him! If he was able to, then he would not have executed those shots and they would have got reduced to what the mortals play!
"Every act of creation is first a fine art of destruction" said Picasso and the destruction that he means is the mind.
Destroy and annihilate the mind, the art will emerge!
If Anand can succeeding in forgetting that the match had reached half way through and if he can make it possible for him to think that today is the first game, then the moves might flow!
It is not that Carlsen has succeeded in steering the game to simple terrains for his liking; rather Anand himself, for reasons best known to him, is looking for simplifications…barring a couple of incidents in the match, thus far.
Minding the results, minding the play, minding the opening choices, minding the resulting positions from opening; minding the endgames that was played, will not help.
Not minding all the above would! These are times for soul searching and it should be searched solely!
"A greater part of the game is played in the mind before you set foot on the field, so in that period you should ensure that you put the right images and thoughts in your mind. Players would be better served if they spend some of their preparation time sitting quietly in the dressing room calming their minds, discussing key priorities, thinking about their strategy and play of action, and mentally rehearsing their mission and basic skills. Visualisation helps a player to concentrate and programmes the mind for action. It then becomes a natural progression from thinking to doing. Winning the inner game is the key to winning the outer game." - Rudi V.Webster
If one cannot do this, the best to do is to look for a "forget pill" which would make them forget the past!
The forget pill is nothing but the true understanding of the ultimate:
What will happen if the game is lost?
What will happen if the match is lost?
Will the world become any different?
Will the living become any different?
The world will still move on, people will forget, the players will forget. After all, everyone has their lives to live, 'worries to face'! These are the distractions one indulges.
But for the two sitting inside the cubicle: the world around has made them 'believe' that they are "very very special" and that they could sense the breathing down their neck, or so!?
One wonders whether they get a feeling of being inside a pressure cooker!?
Somewhere I read that man always wants to be something else: the status quo or the current is not acceptable for him!
It is the question of "acceptance" not only of the self, but every unfolding moment!
The despondency in the faces, after the loss (forget the master who is playing the game!) makes one wonder, why!?
After all this is just a game! Imagine those who fight it out in war, the loss there is much more dearer - they become extinct! Yet, they fight it out, with great enthusiasm!
We are not privy to the unfurling, yet the flower blossoms!
We are not privy to the genesis of love, yet love blooms and blush!
Come on Vishy, make a match out of it!
Victories happen, loses are made!
Traditionally, in a chess game - why even any other sport, the cause for the loss is searched, in the 'moves', and the 'shots' that are executed and the betterment is sought within that sphere.
Often, the cause for a loss or a mishit lies in the making of the moves or the making of the shots!
At times, a solitary mistake can trigger an avalanche, if it is not tended to, soon, before the downslide starts.
We shall continue from what we saw yesterday in the article "Loss - a perspective" and I wish to drive through a point through an example.
It will be too early to deal with a live example from this match and hence I go nearly a century back, to simulate a similar instance, for the stakes were some what similar:
a) The styles between the champion and challenger were different: the champion was a fresh water fish and the challenger a deep sea fish (in the present condition though, the roles are reversed).
b) With the hype created by the near invincibility of the champion, the challenger was very hungry, as the victory would taste sweeter.
Let me start by quoting a line by Golombek from his memoir of Capablanca: "The comparative strength of the great players is practically impossible to assess, for their powers are no static entity. It seldom happens that both the players taking part in a match are on the up-grade. The reigning champion in particular is not over-anxious to play a really dangerous rival until forced to do so by circumstances, a human failing, deplorable perhaps, but not restricted to chess."
The first half of the quote above, applies even today, whilst the second half was peculiar to the world championship match conditions that prevailed, prior to 1948. The champion had the prerogative to chose his challenger and at his convenient time, with stringent conditions which bordered on being unjust.
The Cuban world champion was known for his pristine simple chess, which defied the comprehension sphere of most chess masters then and left them gasping and searching for "how and what hit them", every time they encountered him.
His victories were so effortless that it deluded him that he would outclass anyone without any serious preparation.
This 'invincibility' made Capablanca think and propound that it is death of chess - after all he too was human, and not without reasons, God placed this undefinable entity called "mind" in human beings, for without it, they would become god themselves!!
He was a stingy loser and had lost only 24 games over a period of 20 years, with scores of tournament victories, notwithstanding his 'other distractions', prior to the match.
Now we no the reason for his prophesy on chess!
On the other hand, the tiger in Alekhine was really hungry and in contrast to Capablanca, he was looking for this occasion to 'prove to the world'.
The smartest thing that Alekhine did in his preparation for the match was that, he spent considerable time in mastering a similar style of the Cuban Genius - the simple chess. And this he did by restraining his natural flair for serious complications and great proclivity for mind boggling combinations! He was master of attack!
Alekhine knew that Capablanca would avoid, with all his might, to allow the game to take complicated course and therefore, worked and prepared to take on the lion in its own den!
This was unforeseen by Capablanca and became evident in the very first game!
Diagram 1 :Capablanca - Alekhine Position after 16. Rac1?
Capablanca played this incredible move overlooking a simple point that after 16)….Nc2; 17) Rc2 black can take the knight on f4 with his queen 17)….Qf4!
After this, Alekhine clinically executed the moves to win the first game of this historic match and followed it by further simple play.
Diagram 2 :Capablanca - Alekhine Position after 47.Qd7?
How can you explain for this mistake, that too from Capablanca!? Alekhine noted that after the correct 47).Rd7, black has nothing better than giving a perpetual check after, 47)….Qf2+; 48) Kh1 Qa2; 49) Rd8 Rd8; 50) Qd8 Kh7; 51) Qf8 forcing black to give perpetual checks.
One cannot look for chess reasons for these mistakes and error of judgements which happen during a game.
It is not easy to be natural and to rely on one's inherent strengths. Players worry about the various dynamics both on an off the board.
In preparation for the big occasion, too many microscopes are deployed to look for a dent in the opponents armoury and in the process, at time, one may overlook one's own strengths!
The above example of Capablanca - Alekhine match was different though when the great Alekhine's 'lateral thinking' took the reigning champion unawares as he was psychologically looking only to avoid the challengers preference for muddy waters!
Sometimes, such trivia are enough to set of a serious of thoughts in the minds and with the development of the incident or the match, would further deepen and have a huge bearing on the thinking process.
That is what happened in the above referred match and inflicted the first dent in the armoury of the 'Great Cuban mind' - mind you not his game; for these are mind games.
There is a step up to this level, which is seldom thought of: "the mindless games", which is the level at which most genius operate when their are at their prime zone.
This is not recorded in any annals or analysed as even the players themselves will not be able to explain "how" and "what" happened during the play, when they operate in the "zone".
For, when a player is in the "zone" it is the "let go" that is operating and let go happen only when the players manage to switch off their minds and therefore are non existent themselves!!
Federer could never explain how his racket whipped the unbelievable passing shots and delicate cross court placements and even how his limbs acted in-spite of him! If he was able to, then he would not have executed those shots and they would have got reduced to what the mortals play!
"Every act of creation is first a fine art of destruction" said Picasso and the destruction that he means is the mind.
Destroy and annihilate the mind, the art will emerge!
If Anand can succeeding in forgetting that the match had reached half way through and if he can make it possible for him to think that today is the first game, then the moves might flow!
It is not that Carlsen has succeeded in steering the game to simple terrains for his liking; rather Anand himself, for reasons best known to him, is looking for simplifications…barring a couple of incidents in the match, thus far.
Minding the results, minding the play, minding the opening choices, minding the resulting positions from opening; minding the endgames that was played, will not help.
Not minding all the above would! These are times for soul searching and it should be searched solely!
"A greater part of the game is played in the mind before you set foot on the field, so in that period you should ensure that you put the right images and thoughts in your mind. Players would be better served if they spend some of their preparation time sitting quietly in the dressing room calming their minds, discussing key priorities, thinking about their strategy and play of action, and mentally rehearsing their mission and basic skills. Visualisation helps a player to concentrate and programmes the mind for action. It then becomes a natural progression from thinking to doing. Winning the inner game is the key to winning the outer game." - Rudi V.Webster
If one cannot do this, the best to do is to look for a "forget pill" which would make them forget the past!
The forget pill is nothing but the true understanding of the ultimate:
What will happen if the game is lost?
What will happen if the match is lost?
Will the world become any different?
Will the living become any different?
The world will still move on, people will forget, the players will forget. After all, everyone has their lives to live, 'worries to face'! These are the distractions one indulges.
But for the two sitting inside the cubicle: the world around has made them 'believe' that they are "very very special" and that they could sense the breathing down their neck, or so!?
One wonders whether they get a feeling of being inside a pressure cooker!?
Somewhere I read that man always wants to be something else: the status quo or the current is not acceptable for him!
It is the question of "acceptance" not only of the self, but every unfolding moment!
The despondency in the faces, after the loss (forget the master who is playing the game!) makes one wonder, why!?
After all this is just a game! Imagine those who fight it out in war, the loss there is much more dearer - they become extinct! Yet, they fight it out, with great enthusiasm!
We are not privy to the unfurling, yet the flower blossoms!
We are not privy to the genesis of love, yet love blooms and blush!
Come on Vishy, make a match out of it!
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