What is holding you back in Chess - and in your life?
Sagar Shah talks about the relative value of chess pieces, sacrificing freely and what stops us from doing it - drawing parallels in real life.
From the CEO
I sat on the board evaluating the position. My eyes turned towards the rook sacrifice that was available. Rxf6!! Wow! What a move this is! Sweat started to emerge out of my forehead, my heart rate started to rise and my breathing got faster. I could no longer think straight. Ever since I was a little kid sacrificing something in chess was quite difficult for me. This was a big opportunity. I was facing a grandmaster, winning the game would give me a great finish and huge prize money. With so much at stake, I didn’t feel confident enough. I stepped away from the sacrifice and decided to play Rf2 and doubled my rooks. But the moment was lost. The game ended in a draw and I had lost my chance. Imagine my sadness when I checked with the engine after the game and Rxf6!! was the best move.
What is a sacrifice in chess? It’s one side giving up higher value material for lower value material. Let’s say you give up a rook, whose value in chess is 5 points, for a knight, whose value is 3 points - people call it exchange sacrifice. While I found it extremely hard to sacrifice material I saw some players around me sacrificing material without any real difficulties! :) That made me think - what could be the reason behind it?
Example of a famous Rxf6 exchange sacrifice with the Black pieces - Tigran Petrosian played this move to defeat Vlastimil Hort in 1970 European Team Championships!
I went back to the time I learnt chess. When I was just 10 years old, someone told me that a rook is worth 5 points, a knight is worth 3 and a queen is worth 9. But is it really true? All the experienced players in chess are aware that these are relative values. They are good as guides for beginners but as you become stronger, the value of a piece depends on many factors. A knight that is centralized might well be more valuable than a rook that doesn’t have open files. Or two pieces (bishop and knight) which are coordinating beautifully could outpower a queen!
If I could correct one thing about the way I learnt chess it would be - learn the rules of chess and then solve a lot of mate in 1s. This would mean that even before I understood the value of pieces, I would have understood the art of checkmate in chess and the way in which the value of pieces would be in my head would be different than what it is now! :) This is a more efficient way to teach a concept and I am sure there are hundreds of different techniques which can be implemented to this end.
GM Noel Studer created this nice graphic on his Website - they say Bishops and Knights are both worth 3 points, but their strengths can vary vastly in different positions!
However, if there is one thing that could be very important for any student of chess to constantly do is reassess what they think they already know. Because not all of us can learn chess in a perfect way, not all of us would be lucky to get a great trainer from the start. But if you constantly question your beliefs and are ready to unlearn and relearn, it is unlikely that you would get stuck in one place for a long time.
And perhaps it is true also about life! Everything that you learn at some point, may also become redundant. Certain values and principles that you held dear while growing up would no longer have much meaning or practical significance as you grow up. By constantly questioning your beliefs and values you might be able to always find the most efficient way for yourself to function in life as well.
As for me, I am able to sacrifice much more freely in chess whenever I play. It doesn’t matter so much anymore because I no longer play chess professionally. If I could have paid more attention to this when I was playing actively 10 years ago, it would have been wonderful. Use this newsletter to take a paper and pen and note down all the values, beliefs and principles that you hold closely in chess and in life. See if any of them are holding you back or are stopping you from exploring the beauty and magnificence of life and chess in its full glory! :) And if for any of them the answer is yes, then have the courage to unlearn and relearn something new! :) I wish you the best. - Sagar Shah
PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
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