Very instructive indeed!
The Shkolya Method
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Credit to Daniel Naroditsky - I will share parts of his article "3 Fun Chess Stories" here for you guys to enjoy!
The Shkolya Method
When I was seven years old, my first coach imbued me with an appreciation for the psychological side of chess. "Chess is played on and off the board," he would sagely proclaim, words that made little sense to me then, but that ring true many years later. To support his point, he told me the story of a Ukrainian master named Shkolya. Mr. Shkolya was a skilled player, but he supplemented his strength through a little psychological trick that was singlehandedly responsible for many of his victories.
The trick went like this. Whenever Shkolya set a trap or threatened his opponent's piece, he would intently focus his eyes on a square on the opposite flank. His surprised opponent would inevitably follow suit, and spend a long time trying to figure out what Shkolya was so concerned about. Having found nothing, he will forget all about checking for traps or threats, and will nonchalantly make the most natural move. Flushed with the success of his ploy, Shkolya would exploit his opponent's negligence and win the game.
For the longest time, I did not really believe in the efficacy of this so-called trick. Besides, I thought to myself, the story is probably apocryphal anyway. But several years later, curiosity got the better of me and I to test the vaunted Shkolya method in a real game. Just watch what happened!