Comments on https://lichess.org/@/thescot/blog/the-power-of-will-power/hYM6RN1W
@theScot said in #1:
> Comments on lichess.org/@/thescot/blog/the-power-of-will-power/hYM6RN1W
It surprises me that you saw a movie from 1997 while you are born in 1995. I know those old movies are sometimes still shown but I didn't realize that much younger people are willing to look at them.
Probably my favorite quote is: "Vanity, definitely my favorite sin". I used it twice already on my blog see e.g. https://schaken-brabo.blogspot.com/2022/02/bekers-trofeeen-en-medailles.html
It is by coincidence also a movie from 1997: The Devil's advocat. The quote can be heard in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3M68wcB6L0s with beautiful music and Al Pacino in his prime.
Did you see it? If not then you should do for sure as I recommended it to my own children.
"Also, I have finally published my book on chess stories, which you can find here."
Why not a post about that project or you think too much will be revealed?
Besides do you know the very similar work: https://schaaksite.nl/2020/02/22/anekdotengids-voor-schaakliefhebbers/
I didn't like it very much as most of the stories are well known. There wasn't much new for me.
Do you think that your book could entertain a very experienced player/ blogger like me? If yes, is it for sale in Europe?
@mvhk said in #2:
> It surprises me that you saw a movie from 1997 while you are born in 1995. I know those old movies are sometimes still shown but I didn't realize that much younger people are willing to look at them.
>
> Probably my favorite quote is: "Vanity, definitely my favorite sin". I used it twice already on my blog see e.g. schaken-brabo.blogspot.com/2022/02/bekers-trofeeen-en-medailles.html
>
> It is by coincidence also a movie from 1997: The Devil's advocat. The quote can be heard in
> with beautiful music and Al Pacino in his prime.
>
> Did you see it? If not then you should do for sure as I recommended it to my own children.
Because my dad was an amateur movie critic, I got to watch a lot of old movies, especially sci-fi. The Devil's Advocate is great, although not sure if inspirational considering the bitter-sweet ending :) Reminds me of the 1992 film A Few Good Men starring Cruise. A bit too Hollywoody, but dramatically great.
@mvhk said in #3:
> "Also, I have finally published my book on chess stories, which you can find here."
>
> Why not a post about that project or you think too much will be revealed?
>
> Besides do you know the very similar work: schaaksite.nl/2020/02/22/anekdotengids-voor-schaakliefhebbers/
> I didn't like it very much as most of the stories are well known. There wasn't much new for me.
> Do you think that your book could entertain a very experienced player/ blogger like me? If yes, is it for sale in Europe?
Maybe a post would be a good idea in the future, if people don't think it's too shameless XD
The book you mentioned is a similar project indeed, same style of anecdotes. The main difference is mine focused on Russian sources, so a lot of Soviet players from 1910-1990. For famous stories that everyone heard of like Toilet-gate, I tried to dig up new details or new angles, like the cable wires Topalov's team found near the washroom.
Not sure how many of these anecdotes you would have known to be honest, maybe 20-30%?
If still interested, Amazon delivers it to Europe too so you can find it here: http://bit.ly/4owShIu
@theScot said in #4:
> Because my dad was an amateur movie critic, I got to watch a lot of old movies, especially sci-fi. The Devil's Advocate is great, although not sure if inspirational considering the bitter-sweet ending :) Reminds me of the 1992 film A Few Good Men starring Cruise. A bit too Hollywoody, but dramatically great.
Nice to have such dad !!
I only started to watch a lot of English movies when I went to university in 1994. At home we had for a very long time a black-white tv as my dad is colour-blind. Also my dad had a clear preference for French and German channels (which was and is still good for my knowledge of those languages). Anyway from before 1994 I haven't watched much later. It also looks so amateur and old-dated now.
@theScot said in #5:
> If still interested, Amazon delivers it to Europe too so you can find it here: http://bit.ly/4owShIu
I am still interested. I will check with my local bookshop https://www.denksportkampioen.be/ as they have pretty much everything first. It is not expensive.
This is an astute observation about willpower, and one we don't hear too much. I experienced a ratings boost of about 150 points by simply learning to focus and not get lazy (which is, in essence, willpower). My method (decades ago) was to play serious, slow games against a computer. Computers were about 100 points below my rating, but they key is that they (unlike humans) don't make gross mistakes. Therefore any lapse in calculation on my part was punished; and so I was losing most of my games against the computer when I played at less than full effort. I found, however, that with full effort on every move, I could beat the computer. I can recall a tournament game where I lost an exchange and became angry with myself, and I decided to just dig in and fight for the rest of the game. I was able to pull out a draw after another 1-2 hours, and I still recall that game to this day not because it was great or because I won, but because I put in maximum effort and drew a lost game. Good article!
@materone said in #8:
> This is an astute observation about willpower, and one we don't hear too much. I experienced a ratings boost of about 150 points by simply learning to focus and not get lazy (which is, in essence, willpower). My method (decades ago) was to play serious, slow games against a computer. Computers were about 100 points below my rating, but they key is that they (unlike humans) don't make gross mistakes. Therefore any lapse in calculation on my part was punished; and so I was losing most of my games against the computer when I played at less than full effort. I found, however, that with full effort on every move, I could beat the computer. I can recall a tournament game where I lost an exchange and became angry with myself, and I decided to just dig in and fight for the rest of the game. I was able to pull out a draw after another 1-2 hours, and I still recall that game to this day not because it was great or because I won, but because I put in maximum effort and drew a lost game. Good article!
Sometimes it takes more effort to save a draw than to squeeze out a win. Just as satisfying!
i read this post today and pulled off a miracle
https://lichess.org/W8KA3pJc
i was so angry with myself after qd3 and falling into this basic trap( my opponent was a 2100 fide rated i am a 2300 )i just blundered in the opening with no hope of surviving then i sat down and managed to calm myself , then this happened he accepted my draw offer