The Laboratory | Forum

Is self-control a significant factor in chess improvement?

I would say, yes definitely, in that self-control is a subset of discipline. In my work as a psychologist, one of the first things I would do with a new client is teach them chess. In doing so, I could pinpoint causes of problems that arise in the classroom. (If a child has a self-control problem, chess will bring it to the surface.) And then I tell them the story a bout the two monkeys. The young monkey says to the old monkey, with great excitement, "Hey the bananas are ripe, lets climb up a tree real fast, and eat a banana." The old money, with a wise sort of calmness, says, "No, let's climb up very slowly and eat them all." When we go for the easy wins and set traps that only work if the opponent makes a mistake, whenever, for any reason, we choose not to do the best move, then we need to think like the old monkey.