How to Think Like a Champion - Improve Your Mental Game

The creator of game theory, John Nash, was once asked, "What is the most complex game? Chess, perhaps?"

His response shocked the interviewer.

He replied [I'm paraphrasing], "Chess isn't a game. Games require missing information. 

There are no secrets on the chessboard. Therefore, chess is a calculation, not a game."

If chess isn't a game, we must stop treating it like one.

You may not know the correct move in every situation (even Magnus Carlsen makes errors). 
However, you can continuously improve your process to give yourself the best odds of finding it in each case.

The author of The Art of War, Sun Tzu, once said,

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained, you will also suffer a defeat.

If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

My brother plays disc golf in national collegiate tournaments and travels to different states regularly to compete. 

I talked to him the other day about his mental process and preparation.

When I asked him about how he could improve from here, he didn't hesitate.

Instantly, he recited each area where his game needed the most work with distances, percentages, and historical play data.

The thing is, this isn't the first time this has happened.

Analyzing his potential areas for improvement is a consistent part of his process and an important reason why he's gone from amateur, to the champion of tournaments with hundreds of participants, to event organizer, to where he is today.

How does this relate to chess?

Unless you can beat the world's most powerful chess engines every time, you make mistakes. 

You can do what most players do.

Pat yourself on the back for winning a game disregarding the mistakes you made. Come up with some excuse (the lies we tell ourselves) as to why you lost that have no relation to your poor decisions, and move on with your day.

Or you could choose to do something weak players rarely dare to attempt.

Look honestly in the mirror and say, "This is where I messed up. Do I make mistakes in this part of my game regularly? This is an opportunity to grow and become better than I was yesterday. Something needs to change."

So be brutally honest with yourself. Don't put yourself down when you make errors, but never forget that you must take consistent, radical action to get significantly better results.

Of course, knowing your mistakes isn't enough. If you aren't looking at the other side of the board, you're missing information and treating chess like a game.

Even when you win, you're losing because you're missing at least half of the process champions account for in every move they make.

My favorite quote from Muhammad Ali is,

"Champions aren't made in gyms.

Champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision.
They have to have last-minute stamina. They have to be a little faster.

They have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill."

You may not have the skill today, but if you have the will and the consistent dedication to doing whatever it takes to improve one step at a time, you're already on the path to becoming one of the greats!

Until next time, keep improving, keep learning, and most of all, enjoy every moment!

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You can catch up on previous and new posts here if you want to see more concrete ways to improve your game.