mH Hz mz (Un GARRY | a T KASPAROV : @ | : : i Making the ha from the Board‘In this book, chess is a teacher, and | aim to show it is'a aa Here Grandmaster and World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov shares the powerful secrets of strategy he has learned from dominating the world’s most intellectually Cola Fei euatediayoaset: Ui (ode cise Pll MC colg ao ems es LletLe and emotional skills to navigate life's toughest challenges and maximise success no matter how tough the competition. CUO Ocha Sunt aan Oe ure iti Meter nua tem a Non Cie Conte in Drawing on a wealth of revealing and instructive stories, not only from the most intense and decisive moments of his greatest games, but also from his wide-ranging and perceptive reading, Kasparov reveals the strategic ways of thinking that always give a player — in life as in chess — the edge. We learn about the great figures of the game, and how their contests have shaped chess history; from Capablanca and Alekhine to Bobby Fischer and Kasparov’s nemesis, Vladimir Kramnik. BUC momOM MOS UM meee CCR OUTST mice Cm “Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.” If we trust in our abilities Lom ra SWUM eer Cle Mme tere nel Ia Oral elo ecm Cee MN CILE strategic mind. As Sun-Tzu distilled the secrets of the art of war and Machiavelli unveiled the lessons to be learned from courtly intrigue, Kasparov — a player whose record is likely never to be rivalled - reveals how and why the game of chess is a fitting and powerful teacher of how to be prepared for, and how to win in, even the Girocmee ran settee ours ‘L used to attack because it was the only thing | knew. Now | attack because | know it works best.’ ‘What lifts this book high ... is the extraordinary personality of its author ... the game Kasparov is now playing with President Putin, is for his life’ UM eal ae £8.99 arrow books @ 4 3 9863 ISBN-978-0-095 Front cover photo © Brian Velenchenko oWsc099 | 8 ree eeeegs Teen cite eert Taye uesHOW LIFE IMITATES CHESS Garry Kasparov isthe greatest chess player of our time, world champion at the age of twenty-one and the number one ranked playerin the world forewo decades, longer by many years than any tthe player in the history of organised international competition. He made international frontpage news when, in 1996, he accepted a challenge from IBM to play chess with their Big Blue Computer, a match that was featured in the award-winning documentary Game Over. Kasparov writes a column for the Wall Street Journal on world affairs and lectures widely ro business and academic groups. He treated the Kasparov Foundation to promote charitable activites, and isthe leader of the united Civil Front and a founder of the ‘opposition coalition group “The Other Russia’. He also actively ‘promotes the use of chess as a learning tool in schools through the Kasparoy International Chess Academy. He lives in Moscow.HOW LIFE IMITATES CHESS by GARRY KASPAROV with MIG GREENGARD @ row books‘To my Mother, for lifetime of inspiration and supportTABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ‘The secret of success 1 ‘Amap of the mind 3 PART | I: THE LESSON Personal lessons from the world champion 9 ‘Becoming aware of the process 11 ‘Anatoly Karpov" 13 2: LIFE IMITATES CHESS Chess goes to Hollywood [Non-fiction chess characters 16 ‘The pedigree ofthe Royal Game 16 Sport, art, oF science. Sport, art AND science 18 ‘More chan a metaphor 19 Mikhail Botvinnike 21 3: STRATEGY Success at any speed 22 ‘The future of the decisions you make inthe present 24 Consistency doesn’t contradict adaptability 25 Play your own game 27 ‘You cannot always determine the battlefield 30 A frequently changed strategy isthe same as no strategy 33 Don’t watch the competition more than you watch yourself 34 “Why? turns tactcians into strategists 56 Once you have a strategy, employing it is a matter of desire 37 Strategic battle plan 394: STRATEGY AND TACTICS 41 ‘Tactics must be guided by strategy 43, ‘An ever-expanding example 44 The vicious circle of time trouble 45 Good strategy can fail with bad tactics. 48 Morphy and Steinite 50 5: CALCULATION 55, Calculation must be focused and disciplined 54 Imagination, calculation and my greatest game 56 ‘Man plus machine is stronger than either §7 ‘Tarrasch and Lasker 60 6: TALENT 65 Recognizing the patterns in our lives 64 The power of fantasy. 67 Fantasy can cut through fog 69 Developing the habit of imagination 70 ‘Asking “What if. ..2" 74 Be aware of your routines, then break them 72 Capablanca and Alekhine 74 7: PREPARATION 76 Results are what matter 77 Inspiration vs perspiration 78 Preparation pays off in many ways 79 Turning a game into a science 80 ‘Targeting ourselves for efficiency 82 PART IL 8: MATERIAL, TIME, QUALITY Evaluation trumps calculation 87 Material, che fundamental element 88 Time is money 90 |W both players are happy, can both be right? 9 Long-term versus dynamic factors 94 Putting che elements into action 95 ‘What makes a bad bishop bad? 96‘Compensation and relative value 97 Double-edged evaluation 99 Personal return on investment 100 Perception of quality is quality 101 ‘MTQ on the home front. 103 Mikbail Tal x05 9: EXCHANGES AND IMBALANCES Freezing the game 106 “The search for compensation 108 ‘The laws of thermodynamics, chess and quality of life 109 Strategy on the browser batlefield 110 All change comes at a cost 112 Over-extending our reach 113 Static factors and choosing our evils 115 etrosian and Spassky 118 10: INNOVATION ‘Originality is hard work 120 Raising our innovation index 121 ‘The power of novelty 122 Taming a tiger 124 Innovation alone doesn’t equal success 125 imitator to innovator 127 sof evolution 128 Understanding che implications of inventions 130 ‘And a child shall lead us 131 ‘Computers developing a human game 133 eas reflect society 134 Fear of change is worse chan changing too fast 136 ‘The courage to let go. 139 Sir Winston Chuachill 140 Il: PHASES OF THE GAME Know why we make each move we make 142 Improving the product 145 Artis born from creative conflict 146 Make sure a good peace follows a good war 147 Eliminating phase bias 149 Don’t bring a knife o a gunfight 150Bobby Fischer 152 12: THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS 154 ‘The development of a sceptic 155 Process versus content 156 How much information is too much? 157 Candidate moves and pruning the decision tree 159) Flexing our intuition x60 The Hypermodernists 163 13: THE ATTACKERS ADVANTAGE 166 Stoking the competitive fires 167 ‘The initiative rarely rings twice 168 ‘An attacker by choice 170 ‘The threat is stronger than the execution 171 ‘A word for the defence 172 Risking success. 173 Boldness has magic 175 PART IIL 14: QUESTION SUCCESS Success i the enemy of furure success 179 ‘The gravity of past success 179 ‘Competition and anti-complacency tactics. 181 Finding and fixing the flaws 183 Vladimir Kramnik 87 15: THE INNER GAME 1 hame can be won before you get to the board 189 “The storm before the calm 190 1 cou want to be taken seriously, rake yourself seriously 199 Don'e get distracted while trying to distract 194 The importance of taking control 196 Breaking the spell of pressure 197 ‘Staying objective when the chips are down 198 ‘When our best isn't good enough 199 Pretenders tothe crown and fatal flaws 200 senders to the throne (Chigorin, Rubinstein, Keres,16: MAN, WOMAN, MACHINE Contradicting ourselves 207 ‘The difference berween better and different. 209 Creating a universal style 210 Is greatness born or bred? 212 Ener the machines. 214 Ifyou can't beat 'em, join "em 216 Staying ou of the comfort zone 218 ‘Computer Chess 222 17: THE BIG PICTURE We have tose the whole board 225 Making the connections 236 The pros and cons of specialization 227 Global thinking and global war 238 Playing the whole board 230 The fightin Russia today 235 18: INTUITION ‘We know more than we understand 257 Intuition versus analysis 238 How long is long enough? 240 ‘The perils of ignoring a trend 241 19; CRISIS POINT 243 isis in Seville, a case study 245 Detecting a crisis before i's a crisis 246 Must-win strategy 247 Complexity, forks, blurriness and stakes 249 Errors on both sides 252 Learning from a crisis 254 Keeping a grip on the title 257 EPILOGUES 260 GLOSSARY 268INTRODUCTION The secret of success ‘As a teenage chess star in the chess-mad Soviet Union I became ‘sed t0 interviews and public speaking at a very young age. Apart tm occasional questions about hobbies and girl, these early werviews focused solely on my chess career. Then in 1985 1 rcume world champion at the age of twenty-two, the youngest und from chen on the type of questions I received changed matically. Instead of wanting t0 know about games and sive moves ahead did I see? What went on in my mind during 3 sean? Did [havea photographic memory? What did I eat? What Ido every night before going to sleep? In short, what were the sets af my suecess? le didn't take long for me to realize that my audiences were lrappinted with my answers I worked hard because my mother ‘ght me to. How many moves ahead I saw depended on the rsston. During a game I tried to recall my preparation and t0 A variations. My memory was good, but not photographic. ' womully ate a heavy lunch of smoked salmon, steak and tonic snes before each game. (Sadly, when I hit my late thirties my lsh al wainer mandated this ‘dit’ co become a thing ofthe past.) rh before going to bed I brushed my teeth. Not exactly ye msterial erynne seemed to be looking for 2 precise method, a 11 tovipe they could follow to achieve great results every ow Lanous writers are asked about what type of paper and pen Huy se, ava eee tools were responsible for their writing. Such i ¢ miss the point that we are al one ofa kind, the hullions of elements and transformations running fromcour DNA to this afternoon. We each build our own wnigue formula for making decisions. Our goal isto make the best of his formula, to identity it evaluate its performance and find ways 0 improve it “Tis book describes how my own formula developed, both how I viewed the process atthe time and now looking back with the benefit of hindsight. Along the way I will look back atthe many people who contributed to that development, direc and indirectly. The inspirational ames of Alexander Alekhine, my fst chess her, find a place alongside Sir Winston Churchil, whose words and books I sill ura to regularly. From these and other examples [hope you wil gain insight into your own development asa decision-maker and into how to encourage further growth. This will require great honesty in your evaluation of yourself and of how well you have fulfilled your potential. There are no quick fixes and this nota book of tips and tricks. This is a book about self-awareness and challenge, about how to challenge ourselves and others so we an leara how to make the best possible decisions. “The idea for this book came when I realized that instead of coming up with clever answers for the eternal ‘What's going on in your head?" questions it would be more intersting for me to actually find out. But the life ofa chess profesional, with its rigorous calendar of rave, play and preparation, did not allow re much time for philosophical -as opposed to practical ~intro- spection. When I retired from chess in March 2005 finally gained the time and perspective to look back on my experiences and attempt o share them in a useful way “This would bea very diferent book had I completed it before my dramati career shift from chess to politics. First, I acede time {0 absorb the lessons my life in chess had taught me. Second, my new experiences are forcing me to look at who Lam and what Lam capable of. Being passionate about advocating for democracy isn't enough. To build coalitions and organize conferences requites me to apply my strategic vision and other ches killin entirely new ways. After twenty-five yeas in a comfort zone of expertise Ihave to analyse my abilities in order to build and rebuild myself for these new challenges.‘A map of the mind » uy sixth birthday [woke upto find the best present [have ever, veel, Next to my bed was an enormous globe - Thad to rub my ake sure it was real Thad always been fascinated by maps ‘oul yewgeaphy, and my favourite childhood stories were those in ‘sku my father would recount the voyages of Marco Polo, -tnubus and Magellan. It started with my father reading t0 me vin Stcfan Zweig's Conqueror of the Seas: The Story of ‘tan. Now our favourite game became tracing the journeys of ‘cat explorers across the globe. Iv wasn’t long before I knew the capitals of all the world’s ‘ens their populations, and everything else I could find out. Vi-w-teal-ife rales of adventure fascinated me more than any fairy ‘sts caukd, While we dida’t focus on the terrible hardships sea 1 malved in the past, | knew it must have taken incredible sara to be the frst to make such a journey. These stories fired ose sense of pioneer spirit. I wanted to blaze new trails, even st point in my life that meant little more than taking a new vs the walk home. And throughout my chess career I sought 1 new challenges, looking for things no one had done before. The time of great explorers and emperors has passed, but swcstill afew precious territories to discover. We can explore ws boundaries and the boundaries of our lives. We can also lop others do the same, perhaps by giving a child a globe, or the stl age equivalen, for his birthday. Huving a personalized map is essential, and this book can JMy chart the stages of observation and analysis that go that map. To exaggerate only slightly, the lowest ‘amon denominator is useless. No advantage, no improvement, ww found in what is obvious, or identical, for everyone. We wot look higher and dig deeper, move beyond the basic and ‘sal. In eheory, anyone can learn to play chess in half an hour ihe rules are of course the same for every man, woman and Iukl_ When we fist step beyond the rules, however, leaving that val level where we are concerned only with making legal moves, wan eo form the patterns that distinguish us from everyone os sl fas ever pushed a pawn. Acquired patterns and the logic to employ them combine ‘euh sour inherent qualities to create a unique decision-maker. ‘rence and knowledge are focused through the prism of talent, M hewhich itself can be pushed, pulled and cultivated. This mix isthe source of intuition, an absolurely unique tool for each of us. Here wwe begin to see the influence of individual psychology and our emotional make-up expressed in ovr decisions - what we call style ina chess player. Chess is an ideal instrument for examining these influences because to excel a the game we are forced to analyse the decisions we make and how we arrived at those decisions. Ths is what my questioners really needed instead of information about my trivial habits self-investigation ‘We cannot pick and choose which style we would prefer for ourselves. I's not generic software we download and install. We ‘must instead recognize what works best for us and then, through challenge and tral, develop our own method. What am I lacking? ‘What are my strengths? What type of challenges do I tend to avoi sand why? The method for success is a secret because itcan only be discovered by analysing our own decisions. Better decision-making cannot be taught, but it can be self-taught. There is what a firse appears to be a contradiction in what I hhave described. We must become conscious of our decision- skin processes and with practice they will improve our intuitive = unconscious — performance. This unnatural behaviour is cesquired because as adults we have already formed our patterns, rood and bad. To correct the bad and enhance the good we must take an active role in becoming more self-aware. ‘This book artemprs to use anecdotes and analysis to open the doors to that awareness. Part I looks at the fundamental agredients, the essential abilities and skills that go into making @ decision. Strategy, calculation, preparation ~ we must understand these essentials and sce them in ourselves. Part Ili the evaluation and analysis phase. What changes are needed and why? Here we see the methods and benefits of our selF-invesigation. Part IIL examines the subtle ways we combine all of these things to improve our performance. Psychology and intuition affect every aspect of our decisions and our results. We must develop our ability to see the big picture and deal with, and lear from, crises. Such decisive moments are turning points ~ every time we select a fork in the road knowing we won't be able to backtrack. ‘We live for these moments and in tuen they define our lives. We learn who we are and what truly matters tous. The ‘secre’ then is to pursue these challenges instead of avoiding them. This is the only way to discover and to exploit all our gifts. Developing our