Consistency Over Heroics Why Winning is Surprisingly Simple
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[00:00:00] In today's podcast episode, I want to talk about creating chances and how actually I've changed my mind on this topic and how I'm much more practical oriented. So if you've ever watched top level chess commentary, you've probably heard things like with Black, you need to take risks to win.

You can't beat the Berlin without a novelty or you have to create chances. And it's true, specifically for this top level chess. If you want to win a game, you most likely need to do something special because without putting a lot of pressure, the opponents at this level won't make mistakes. [00:01:00] The problem comes when we try to use the same mindset already at my grandmaster level, which was 2580, 2600 maximum.

And even more when you try to apply it to amateur chess. If you are not competing at 2750+ level, this is over-the-board rating, so top 20 in the world applying this advice that you hear from top level chess commentary, can backfire real hard, and I had to learn this the hard way from personal experience because the mistake I used to make was that I've always been someone who likes to take the initiative.

I enjoy putting pressure on my opponents, trying to play the best moves and keeping the game dynamic. You might have heard me talk about that. I hate draw offers. I just don't like cutting the game short and chickening out by [00:02:00] offering a draw in a better position. I think that's not the right way to play chess.

I wanna learn something when I play a game of chess, especially against stronger opponents. So keeping the game open, keeping the game dynamic was something that I've always enjoyed doing. It's part of my personality, and it doesn't have to be a flaw. But the problem was that very often I overdid it and I see that much more clearly now looking from afar, looking without emotions.

I felt that I had to create these chances that if I wasn't playing ambitiously every single move, I wasn't doing enough to win. With White, with Black, against any kind of opponent. And it turns out I was trying too hard in many cases. Looking back at many games where I pushed harder just for the reason of, oh, I have to push.

I can see that I lost many [00:03:00] games in drawish positions, because I try to force things. And then when I look back at other games where I just had in mind, well, let's just make one move at a time and see what happens. I see that I won many games in what many people would call "too drawish" positions just by playing one more good move at a time without having to force things.

And it's really fun to observe myself in other sports and see the same kind of temptation to overdo it, to push too hard to try to hit all the lion shots. So for example, when I play tennis and I'm a recreational tennis player, I like to do it, but I'm by no means very good at it. I often feel like I want to play the ideal shot.

I get a huge thrill about hitting a line shot or making the perfect stop ball or whatever I could do. That looks really [00:04:00] great, right close to the line. Lot of speed. Maybe some top spin or a great slice. And I also have the same temptation when I watch sports. So for example, when I watch curling, this might be a new sport for some of you.

It's like the, when you hit the stones on the ice, that's something that is pretty popular in Switzerland and in Canada as well, specifically in Canada and the Northern European countries. It's a sport that my father played a lot and he was actually even competing in a World Championship.

So when we watch that sport together, it's so interesting to see the different approaches we two have. I always ask him why it isn't possible to play the absolute perfect and insane stone. So I would think about, oh, can I hit, could the team hit this stone and then the other stone, and then the third and then the fourth, and then everything turns out perfect.

And [00:05:00] my father is usually just smiling and saying like, yeah, if you hit it perfectly, you might do it, but like you'll nearly never hit it as perfect as that. It's just basically an impossible stone, and there is just a way more simple approach to have a safe stone that is also good enough. And even when I play poker, my tendencies are to maximize and to win every single pot.

One of my biggest weaknesses in poker is that sometimes you just have to give up on a certain pot. Sometimes it's just time to say, okay, you got this one, I'll take the next one. But to me, this is extremely hard. So I always try to find ways to win every single pot, which can lead to very absurd place.

So now when I look back, and I think rationally, I can always see this tendency of trying too much. But why actually is it so common for me and for other people also, to get back into the [00:06:00] same way of trying to do everything perfect or trying to push hard, to push all the edges, even if we are not yet an advanced chess player or tennis player or whatever it might be.

And even if we realize rationally that sticking to the basics can work, it's not like I've just learned last year that sticking to the basics is always super important. It's like I've read these books that teach this kind of more minimalistic, simple approach for years now, or even when I was still active as a chess player.

So here is the problem. The real problem is that sometimes it does work to force things, and then it feels so damn good. These are the absolutely beautiful double exclamation mark moves that from time to time you might find when you try to push the edges, even if you are not as good a chess player yet, that you can find them [00:07:00] consistently. From time to time you find them.

And you might not even calculate everything, but it's just such a good feeling when you review your game and you see that. What double exclamation mark. Oh, I am a genius. And the same goes, for example, with poker. Also, when we observe these sports or these games, when we look at TV and we see someone pulling up this huge bluff, completely crazy maneuver, we think, oh my God, this person is a genius.

The same with tennis, right? If I hit the shot and it really scratches the line a little bit, oh, it feels so good. So this is the huge problem that the few times we actually manage to pull it off, it feels so good that basically it overrides the logic and it overrides the trade-offs, because we don't see them as clearly.

Now, from more distance, I can see the trade-offs. I can go through my games and I can see all the games that I actually lost because I [00:08:00] over pushed and there are very few games that I won because I over pushed. So rationally speaking, not a smart decision, but emotionally speaking, when I'm sitting at the chess board,

what I'm thinking of is how brilliant it would be if I kept pushing and still winning this, or maybe it's a specific result that I wanna achieve, right? I wanna achieve a GM norm, or I want to win this tournament or beat this specific player, or whatever it could be. So this emotion is so strong that basically overrides or logic.

So that's why from outside, watching someone else, it can be easier to observe this and to say, why? Why are you even risking right now? As a coach, I'm telling my students why, like just play basic moves. Your opponent will blunder. Don't worry. But it's that emotional tension that is really, really tricky.

So, this is really first about understanding that keeping it simple, we'll get to that. And this new [00:09:00] approach of just getting the ball over is very, very effective. But then also realizing that there are emotions in play and that it is also a thing that you don't only have to understand logically, but also emotionally.

So I really realized this when I observe teachers in other sports that teach me or teach other people. I am friends with different coaches of different sports. Because I met them in high school, in a sports high school, and most of them preach the same thing that I preach here in chess. It's like, Hey, don't over complicate it.

Just keep it simple. And when I try to learn something from them, I have the kind of intuition to make it complex and they tell me, no, no, no. Just keep it simple. And then I realize, oh yeah, that's exactly the same thing I would tell my students. But it's still tricky in the first place for me to do it. So what is [00:10:00] the right approach?

Now if we understand that there are emotions behind it, but what is the logical right approach by writing this article? I was reminded of some table tennis matches against my dad, and I think intuitively he's somehow figured out. The right approach for many, let's say amateur sports or for many people that aren't in these top 3%, top 1% of people that need to cut the edges and really do everything perfect.

He played what I thought was a boring table tennis style. So when we faced each other, I tried to make points with top spin, slice, smash, and he was basically just like ball machine getting the ball back, right? He wasn't putting a lot of effort, he wasn't putting a lot of strength. He just returned every single ball.

And with this style of play, I rarely even won a single set and for matches, I had [00:11:00] absolutely no chance in general. And it wasn't because he was the much better table tennis player. He was also good. But from top spin, slice, smash, I was really pretty good in for a recreational amateur tennis table tennis player.

But, I just forced it too much. And he understood that well, just giving the ball over, sooner or later I will make an unforced error. And so one day he kept doing this until I got so crazy and he was saying, okay, let me do one thing. I will not use a table tennis racket anymore. I will use a garden shovel.

Okay. Like these small, not like a huge one, but these small ones that is a little bit bigger than a table tennis racket. But obviously there is no chance to do top spin. There is no chance to do anything. You can just hold this shovel to the ball and to hope it gets back on the other side.

That's the only thing [00:12:00] you can do with that. And he played with it. And again, he played the same style. He just got the ball over the net and I lost, and it's so crazy that in this moment I wasn't fully realizing what was happening. I wasn't realizing the lesson that he tried to teach me. But now thinking back, it's really the start of this kind of lesson of like, Hey, son, you don't always need to force it.

Sometimes you can just bring the ball back and your opponent will make big mistakes because they try too hard. So it's not as sexy as trying to push. You're not getting these insane wins. You're not getting these double (explanation) exclamation marks. But if we're talking about what is practical and what is getting to better results, just not making unforced errors and just bringing the ball over both in table tennis and chess is going to score better very, very likely.[00:13:00] 

In chess, the goal I want you to go for in your next games to take off a lot of pressure as well, is you don't need to create something spectacular. You don't need to push your opponent, you just need to play what I call is good enough moves. So you need consistency, patience and moves that are good enough.

And on your guys' level, many people that are listening to this podcast are below 2000 chess.com. And if you are below this rating, even if you're a little bit higher. What a good enough move means is a move that doesn't miss an obvious mistake from your opponent and doesn't give your opponent an obvious chance.

And if you are keeping to this, if you're keeping this consistently and keep playing good enough moves, you will realize that your opponent will eventually create chances for you, just like by [00:14:00] trying to smash all the time. I was just hitting the ball out and basically gifting my father the point. Your opponent will play harder and one thing or try harder and make mistakes.

And one thing that I realized myself is that this is getting more extreme. So the more your opponent just plays over the ball, the more I was getting the feeling, oh, I need to smash harder, or I need to hit harder, or I need to pay, play the perfect surf, which turns out makes even more unforced errors. So if you're just keeping the game calm, your opponent might get this feeling of, oh my God, I need to do something special.

And then you can just thank them because they will make it easier for you. They will create chances. They will give you opportunities because they are the one feeling the pressure to do something special. So the biggest myth in amateur chess is really that you need to [00:15:00] force the issue to win.

This was also true for most of my games on grandmaster level. Even there, I realized it's really not as much about putting these extreme pressure. Obviously we have better opening preparation. Obviously we see more tactics and all of the thing, like the skill level is way higher. So the average good enough move is way higher.

But you are getting extremely far. If you're just thinking about making good enough move related to your level. And if you're doing that and you don't lose your composure and you keep doing it consistently, you will realize that even on grandmaster level, there will be chances and then you can capture them and you have a positive result.

And as I mentioned during my chess career, I had a hard time fully realizing this, fully absorbing it, fully seeing it from a practical side. But from time to time, I [00:16:00] managed to get into this mindset and when I achieved it, when I just played good enough moves and just, figuratively speaking, pulled the ball over, then I realized that I had very good results, actually.

So looking back, when I played the Queen's Gambit Accepted, which from the black side, it's seen as a opening that is trying to kill the game or to equalize to make a draw, whatever you want to call it. You can reach endgames pretty quickly with the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

And many of these endgames are symmetrical and many people are saying, well, this is way too drawish. You can never win this with Black. Right? And then if I look back at my results, I see I actually had very, very positive result with this opening even against stronger opponents, but also against all kinds of opponents.

So I shared a screenshot in my article on this, which [00:17:00] shows 11 games, and out of these 11 games, I lost two with Black. Lost two, I won four and I drew five. So that's a positive +2 result, and I was rated between 2460 and 2500, and my opponents were between 2350 and 2620. So, on average, they were rated a little bit higher than me and I had a positive score.

And I'm sure it was because somehow by playing this opening, I took the pressure off of myself to do something crazy and just said, okay, let's just play good enough moves and see what happens. And what happens is very often, if you're playing good enough moves, your opponent is making a mistake or trying to do too much, and then you get chances even against IMs, even against GMs.

And even when my opponents were way lower rated, so there was specifically a game against a guy just over [00:18:00] 2300, and he just tried to make a draw against me. He tried really hard. And he didn't manage because I just kept playing and at some point he was doing mistakes. So it's not only working when your opponent is trying something, but even it can work if your opponent is just trying to get a draw.

If you're just playing good enough moves, you will likely get your chances. And what surprises me when I go through these games is sometimes the ease with which I win these games, but then it makes sense because if I turn the tables around, and I look at some of my worst games, I made some absolutely horrendously stupid decisions that just offered my opponent an easy win out of nowhere.

And probably they were thinking like, what was this guy doing? Why is this even a GM? What the heck? So turns out when you are not the one that is doing the strange stuff, the likelihood goes up tremendously that your opponent will just offer [00:19:00] you the chances.

Don't get me wrong, I don't want to turn all of you into chickens that pray for a draw or never play for a win in any kind of situation. I. That's not my point. I still like taking the initiative and if I try playing tennis, playing anything, I still like to be in control and try to put pressure on my opponent.

But the key insight for me, and I hope it is for you the same, is to be ambitious. I don't need to take insane risks. This is sometimes what society teaches us the wrong way. We just see the entrepreneurs that have failed 17 times, got bankrupt at 17, but the 18th time they got billionaires. Oh yeah.

And we cheer all for them. But reality is often that we, first of all, we see only the ones that then succeeded at some point. We don't see everyone that has just tried 20 [00:20:00] times, took stupid risks and never succeeded. And also we don't celebrate as much if somebody just consistently does their thing and just is successful in that way.

So again, I say that again for myself and for you guys listening, to be ambitious. I don't need to take insane risks. There's a difference between playing ambitious chess and what I now call playing desperate chess. Ambitious chess means keeping the game going by playing sound moves and waiting for a chance to come.

It also means that sometimes, very rarely, but it happens, you won't get any chances if your opponent has a good day, and we need to accept that. Desperate chess instead means trying to force a win no matter what. It is the kind of heroic, mindless risks taking that is shown in films and celebrated in media.

When it works, we feel like gods. But more often [00:21:00] than not, it is just not reality, and it ends in a stupid, unnecessary loss. So let's play less of the desperate chess trying to force stuff. And more ambitious chess, accepting that even if we play a full game of good enough moves, it might happen that your opponent is playing well and the game ends in a draw, but also understanding that this will be extremely rare if we really keep up our level with good enough moves the whole game.

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