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Torr on Survey
Part 4. Sour Losers.
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[The survey form] [1. The Mission] [2. Use a Database !] [3.
Devote Yourself !] [4. Sour Losers] [5. Flexible concentration] [6. Holistic Chess] [7. Why move at all ?]
[8. The Tutorr's 15 Guidelines]
[9. Feedback page] [10. Downloads]
Act like a sportsman !
How do you feel about losing a chessgame ? Personally, I get pissed when
losing... no matter the position, no matter the opposition...and exclaiming hundreds
of poor excuses why I lost is not unknown to me. Familiar with such kind of
scenario ? My guess is that the unpleasant experience of bad losers is quite common to
chessplayers. However, the data from the chess player survey clearly demonstrate that
chessplayers, weak and strong players alike, are well-behaved good losers
(Table 19) and sportsmenlike good winners
! (Table 21). Even though the terms 'good/bad winners' were not clearly defined
in the survey question 19, the answers give a
clear picture of chessplayers being quite well-behaved sportsmen.
Surprised ? Well, the data suggest that one out of four players is a sour
loser (Table 19), whilst only every tenth player is a poor winner
(Table 21), whatever that may be. The figures differ only slightly through the five rating
categories, thus illustrating similar personality traits weak and strong players alike
towards these questions, perhaps a rather unexpected finding.
Somehow I find the results above hard to believe ! Both when comparing to my
personal experiences, and in particular when considering that most players state that
winning and/or losing arouses strong feelings in them ! (Table 23). More than 75 % of the players in each rating group have serious
levels of 'emotional' responses towards winning/losing. How can you be a good loser with
steamy feelings ? Beats me ! Well, perhaps chess players are just good at subliming
their feelings into the pursuit of the game...or perhaps into the analysis of their
mistakes. Improve
your chess via your lost games !
The survey data suggest that all players learn
from their lost games and use their learings to improve their game (Table 20) ! However,
there is a slight tendency that the experts (still, those rated
above 2400) use their lost games more to improve their chess as compared
to the weaker players. It should be emphasized that it is a slight tendency only, probably
not significant enough for us to conclude upon. However, we will daringly formulate our
experts' habit no. 5
Use your lost games even more
to improve your chess !
"Do
serious analytical work"
Alexi Shirov, Fire
On Board |
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Q20. I use my lost
games
to improve my chess (2)
Rated sub-1600

Rated above 2400


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Q22. It is very
important to win (4)
Rated sub-1600

Rated above 2400

Q18. Chess is part of my lifestyle (5)
Rated sub-1600

Rated above 2400

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Increase
the importance of winning !
Let us talk about the games you win. Or rather,
the games you would like to win....let's talk about the importance of will to
success. The suvey data suggest that you should increase the
importance of winning. The data in Table 22
are quite clear on this point: 44% of the experts (those rated above 2400) considers
winning 'very impotant', whilst 35 % considers winning 'quite impotant'. The corresponding
figures for the players rated below 1600 are 17 % (very impotant), and 38 % (quite
impotant), respectively. The data in Table 22 show a clear trend: the
experts considers winning more important than the weaker players. Is this a point
you would like to reflect on now ? Well, let us formulate the experts' habit. no. 6
:
Increase the importance of winning !
I was
confident
that I could win
Alexi Shirov, Fire
On Board |
Get a life ! Get a chesslife !
Why do you play chess at all ? The survey
question 18 examined the players preferences towards this question. Contrary to what might
be anticipated, only very few players favor the answer 'to win' as their main reason for
playing. Instead, the data (Table 18) clearly
demonstrate that the low-rated players tend to play 'for fun' (40 %) and because they are
'addicted' to the game (31 %). The corresponding figures for the experts are 20 % (for
fun) and 13 % (addicted), respectively. However, the very interesting result that appears
in Table 18 is that the experts play chess because it's part of their lifestyle !
As many as 60 % of the experts prefer this reason for playing as opposed to to 17 % of the
players rated below 1600. The trend is quite clear: the higher the rating, the more chess
is an integrated part of your life. This might be very logical - and for many reasons.
However, you should not underestimate that the values of a person are
very powerful, very powerful motivators. Thus, you might wan't to integrate
playing chess even more in your life, that is, if you still want to improve
your chess. The expert's habit no. 7 boils down to:
Make chess a part of your lifestyle !.
I was 14
when I realized that chess was going
to be my life
Gary Kasparov, Kasparov's
Fighting Chess |
The next article will deal with the central issue of personal
strategies (Part 5).
Click here fore the next
article on the survey results !
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Disclaimer
The data presented here and in the following articles can be analyzed and concluded upon
in many ways (remember that the survey was scored on-line, and that the data may not be
representative of all chessplayers alike). The conclusions presented here are mine
entirely. Feel free to disagree, to have your own interpretations and to impove your chess
in the manner that suits you. The full material of data will be published in the last
article of this series. If you have questions prior to this, or other comments, feel free
to mail me on torr@cybernet.dk
Copyright The contents on
this page (graphical, textual) may not be reproduced without permission from the author.
On citations or similar use, please credit the author Dr. Tor Rønnow, Denmark (mail: torr@cybernet.dk). |
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