In our last several +1s (here, here and here), we’ve been spending some time with Emerson on a weekend chess adventure.

Let’s continue with one more…

So…

We put the groceries from Whole Foods into the trunk of our (white!) Subaru and headed back to the hotel for the last round of the tournament.

It’s about an hour until showtime.

Here’s another fun fact you might not know about chess…

Tournaments like this are run on a “Swiss” pairing system. The best players are basically matched up with opponents who are progressively harder and harder as you arrive at the eventual champion.

The pairings are usually posted 30-45-60 minutes before the game starts. If you’re at Emerson’s level, that means you have 30-45-60 minutes to “prep” against your opponent.

And…

Very importantly…

You know that THEY will be spending that 30-45-60 minutes prepping against YOU! 🤓

The kids these days are INSANELY good and what’s known as “opening prep” is a big reason why.

Without going into details, there are DOZENS (and DOZENS!) of main opening lines and HUNDREDS/THOUSANDS of sub-opening lines that these kids can and do memorize and master.

In short, for our purposes, here’s what you need to know…

If someone knows how you tend to open, they can prep a nasty trap for you and/or review how to best play that line so they get out of the opening unscathed.

So…

Emerson is refreshing the pairing page on our drive back to the venue to see who he’ll be playing.

It’s 45 minutes before showtime. The pairings are live.

He tells me that the name of the guy he’s playing seems vaguely familiar.

He says: “I’m pretty sure I’ve played this guy before.”

Then he says: “Oh wait!! I think this is the kid who beat me and then I started Chess Tempo the day after!!”

I’m like: “NO WAY! That’s amazing.”

Then I go look back through the U.S. Chess site which a) is awesome and b) lets you see every single opponent you’ve ever played.

Now…

What’s even more awesome is that I created a +1 about what Emerson did after he lost to that brilliant 9-year-old when he was only 11.

Check it out here.

Short story…

He got outplayed.

The kid was “tactically” better—which means he out-calculated Emerson… which means he could see more moves ahead and wound up beating him because of it.

I can VIVIDLY remember it like it happened last night.

He lost the final round of Saturday. It was late.

He knew EXACTLY why he lost—which, as I just explained, was because he was outplayed tactically.

He ALSO knew EXACTLY what he needed to do if he wanted to get better—which was something his coach had been telling him to do for a while…

He needed to do ONE thing…

PUZZLES.

Now…

If you want to get really good at chess you need to know your openings, know how to close out endgames, and… know how to see tactics and CALCULATE x moves ahead.

You get better at the calculation side of things by doing a LOT of HARD puzzles.

So…

Emerson’s coach had been telling him to start doing puzzles on a site called Chess Tempo.

That Monday, the day after the tournament ended, he started a streak.

You know how many days he’s done in a row since that day?

Since that tournament 840 days ago, both of the kids have improved dramatically.

(His buddy went from 1543 to 1930. Emerson went from 1577 to 2085.)

To wrap this up…

Emerson got better because he alchemized a loss.

Remember…

We win or we learn.

And learning IS winning when we do it right so…

We win or we win.

Today’s +1.

Spotlight on YOU.

What’s ONE recent “loss” you can convert into a “learn” that will eventually become a bunch of “wins”?

GOT IT?

Good.

Now…

What, SPECIFICALLY (!!!), can you do differently that will help you improve? GOT IT?

Good.

Now…

Get on that.

Imagine how much better you’ll be in 839 days.

Start today.

Commit to not breaking the streak.

And let’s go!!!!!

P.S. Important distinction: Emerson didn’t start that streak committing to doing it forever. He was willing to commit to doing it for 100 days. I knew that if he did that he’d never want to stop. 🤓

P.P.S. Update: His brilliant opponent had a crafty opening and… they played to a draw! Awesome. 🤓

We Win or We Win #1998

839 Days Later…

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