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Ostrich syndrome and the tale of 3 Grandmasters

I rarely like blog posts, but yours are really helpful!

I rarely like blog posts, but yours are really helpful!

But what could be the reason somepony blunders?

But what could be the reason somepony blunders?

@Lunaisbestprincess said in #3:

But what could be the reason somepony blunders?

It's just hard to move pieces with hooves instead of fingers. But yes, they should practice more. (This is a joke, but if you have a pony that can play chess, I'd pay to see that)

@Lunaisbestprincess said in #3: > But what could be the reason somepony blunders? It's just hard to move pieces with hooves instead of fingers. But yes, they should practice more. (This is a joke, but if you have a pony that can play chess, I'd pay to see that)

While I agree completely that one should avoid the trap of blaming every setback and failure on external factors there's something about this blog post that doesn't really sit well with me. Without addressing it the author points out a perfect example of an equally fatal, yet opposite trap, that of blaming everything on yourself. Both traps are fundamentally the same in the respect that you're attempting to evade the responsibility of taking action to correct the problem by assigning blame and leaving it at that, the only real difference is where the blame is assigned. One example artificially buttresses the ego with falsehoods, while the other crushes it under equally false pretenses. So, when looking for the root cause of a bad showing look at the situation with a very clear objective of correcting the problem in mind. Don't spend so much time asking the why of a failure, rather spend more effort on the how to do better.

While I agree completely that one should avoid the trap of blaming every setback and failure on external factors there's something about this blog post that doesn't really sit well with me. Without addressing it the author points out a perfect example of an equally fatal, yet opposite trap, that of blaming everything on yourself. Both traps are fundamentally the same in the respect that you're attempting to evade the responsibility of taking action to correct the problem by assigning blame and leaving it at that, the only real difference is where the blame is assigned. One example artificially buttresses the ego with falsehoods, while the other crushes it under equally false pretenses. So, when looking for the root cause of a bad showing look at the situation with a very clear objective of correcting the problem in mind. Don't spend so much time asking the why of a failure, rather spend more effort on the how to do better.

Wow! I learned a lot when I was reading this.

Wow! I learned a lot when I was reading this.

" But if someone’s more experienced than you, at least listen to them."
Ok, but experience is not everything in chess. I am quite experienced (aged 53),
but I play much worse compared with 20 or 10 years earlier. Chess is primarily
an ability (you have to see certain things in a limited amount of time). The brain
works slower when you are getting older - and you make more mistakes.
But ok, experience is valuable when you are training younger people, I admit this.

" But if someone’s more experienced than you, at least listen to them." Ok, but experience is not everything in chess. I am quite experienced (aged 53), but I play much worse compared with 20 or 10 years earlier. Chess is primarily an ability (you have to see certain things in a limited amount of time). The brain works slower when you are getting older - and you make more mistakes. But ok, experience is valuable when you are training younger people, I admit this.

Chess is primarily a battle with oneself, as proved by Magnus recently losing to a wristwatch...

Chess is primarily a battle with oneself, as proved by Magnus recently losing to a wristwatch...