Winning v/s Perfectionism

As reigning world chess champion, Magnus Carlsen, is getting ready for his title defence, San Ingle mentions something very interesting he said:

“The biggest advantage is that I am the better chess player… Having said that… there’s a famous quote: It’s not enough to be a good chess player. You also have to play well.”

 

Since Carlsen has an excellent record in tiebreaks (if the main series of games ends in a tie, they play rapid games), Ingle asked whether he intended to aim for “a thumping victory, or is he prepared to win ugly?”. Carlsen’s answer:

“I am happy to win in any way possible. I’m somebody who puts more emphasis on the sporting aspects of chess than the artistic. And even more so during world championship matches. It’s about getting results.”

 

Carlsen’s focus on winning, with artistry relegated as a good-to-have, not a must-have, reminded me of something I read in the autobiography of tennis great Andre Agassi titled Open. Agassi, of course, was an artist – super-talented, awesome returns, unbelievable shots… but, in 1994, still an underachiever.

 

Which is why Agassi considered having Brad Gilbert as his new coach. But first, he wanted to hear Gilbert’s “take on Andre’s game”. Gilbert offered to be “brutally honest” and launched into a “brutal-as-advertised summary of my flaws as a tennis player”. The one-word culprit? Perfectionism.

“Perfection? There's about five times a year you wake up perfect, when you can't lose to anybody, but it's not those five times a year that make a tennis player. Or a human being, for that matter. It's the other times.”

He added:

“Right now, by trying for a perfect shot with every ball, you're stacking the odds against yourself. You're assuming too much risk. You don't need to assume so much risk.”

 

Gilbert’s solution to this problem of perfectionism? It was full of “sports metaphors, from all sports, (mixed) indiscriminately”, as Agassi remembers it:

“Quit going for the knockout, he says. Stop swinging for the fences. All you have to be is solid. Singles, doubles, move the chains forward. Stop thinking about yourself, and your own game, and remember that the guy on the other side of the net has weaknesses. Attack his weaknesses. You don't have to be the best in the world every time you go out there. You just have to be better than one guy. Instead of you succeeding, make him fail. Better yet, let him fail. It's all about odds and percentages.”

 

It almost sounds like Carlsen was coached by Gilbert, doesn’t it?! And while the Carlsen/Gilbert method does indeed produce results and wins, it’s the Agassi’s and Brazilian footballers whom we love to watch…

(In case you wondered, yes, Gilbert was hired. And Agassi’s most successful period was with Gilbert as his coach).