The Danger in Believing Yourself a Natural Genius
Apr 15, 2024 21:26:14 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Apr 15, 2024 21:26:14 GMT -5
The Danger in Believing Yourself a Natural Genius
Yes, as chess players, we are all greatly impressed when we read about How Paul Morphy and Capablanca played chess successfully without ever studying. No, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being impressed. Most people are when confronted with such a rare talent. After all, most chess players must devote long hours to studying all the intricate facets of the game in order to attain the coveted master level. So seeing reading about how these two players casually played at that level with no previous preparations at all, leaves us all dumbfounded.
So being impressed is natural and poses no real obstacle to our progress. However, the danger does arise in another very insidious way. That is if we begin believing that we also need not study the game because we also are natural geniuses at chess and that sooner or later out innate abilities in chess will suddenly manifest themselves and we will sweep all opposition before us just as Capa and Morphy did.
Now, waiting for that momentous moment can amount to years or maybe decades as we steadfastly refuse to relinquish our precious belief in our own latent genius just waiting to emerge suddenly when the time is just right.
Meanwhile, of course, at the local chess club, we are regularly blundering away pieces, losing easily winnable endgames, screwing up the openings, repeatedly falling for basic tactical traps, and generally making a mess due to our ignorance of basic principles.
Eventually, and mercifully, as in my case, someone might mercifully point out that our losses are due to lack of knowledge of basic tactics. We might finally decide grab a book on tactics, and study, and quickly discover just how abysmally ignorant we had been, and that our idea of being latent chess geniuses, was merely a time-wasting delusion.
Of course, the vast amount of time we had so confidently wasted can never be retrieved. But that is the high price that one must pay for an admiration of a very rare phenomenon which we had fervently hoped would include us.
So being impressed is natural and poses no real obstacle to our progress. However, the danger does arise in another very insidious way. That is if we begin believing that we also need not study the game because we also are natural geniuses at chess and that sooner or later out innate abilities in chess will suddenly manifest themselves and we will sweep all opposition before us just as Capa and Morphy did.
Now, waiting for that momentous moment can amount to years or maybe decades as we steadfastly refuse to relinquish our precious belief in our own latent genius just waiting to emerge suddenly when the time is just right.
Meanwhile, of course, at the local chess club, we are regularly blundering away pieces, losing easily winnable endgames, screwing up the openings, repeatedly falling for basic tactical traps, and generally making a mess due to our ignorance of basic principles.
Eventually, and mercifully, as in my case, someone might mercifully point out that our losses are due to lack of knowledge of basic tactics. We might finally decide grab a book on tactics, and study, and quickly discover just how abysmally ignorant we had been, and that our idea of being latent chess geniuses, was merely a time-wasting delusion.
Of course, the vast amount of time we had so confidently wasted can never be retrieved. But that is the high price that one must pay for an admiration of a very rare phenomenon which we had fervently hoped would include us.