Customer Reviews

How Life Imitates Chess: Making the Right Moves, from the Board to the Boardroom

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I picked this up after being impressed by Kasparov on "Sixty Minutes" a few weeks ago. I wonder if those "publishers weekly" people actually read the book! This isn't really a business book, it's a thinking book. I'm not a chess player but those were the most interesting sections of the book, in that I agree. It's unfair to take out a few inevitable platitudes and ignore the other 95% of the book. There are dozens of business examples, although they aren't explored in depth. But the book isn't case studies. It's about the process of making decisions and finding a way to improve that method in ANY situation. Read the Table of Contents above, which is more than the PW reviewer probably did!

(My favorite sections were "Man vs Machine" on his games against computers and a great story about being beaten at a video game by a little kid. And the "Attacker" sections about taking the initiative.)

This isn't a book of simple tips you can take to work tomorrow if that's what you are looking for. It is full of stories and insights about thinking and peak performance. Kasparov is a chess player, politician, and obviously a history buff, so naturally most of his examples come from those worlds.
(Which are more interesting than most business stories anyway.) In fact, that's exactly what he says at the start, where he says it's up to each person to develop a "personal map". He doesn't pretend to be a businessman or try to make many direct comparisons to chess and business. He learned from chess and explains how.

I found a lot of it useful because it makes you aware of how lazy most of us are when it comes to things like being impulsive, or over-cautious, and unprepared even for important moments. I'm not in the "boardroom" but I've owned my own business and I'm interested in using these ideas. Not with Kasparov's over-the-top rigor maybe, but you don't have to want to be a world champion to learn from one.

Chessplayers who have a life outside chess often draw analogies between the game and life. And who better to do this than a man who reached the apex of the game and stayed there for two decades? Granted, his experience of *real life* is somewhat limited but he frequently utters insightful things. For example, on p.47, he cites Churchill on how courage holds everything together. How often have we seen otherwise talented players collapse in promising positions because they lacked the courage of their convictions? To give another example, he argues that players should seek the positions that play to their strengths -- how often have we seen strong players stumble because they got into the types of postions for which they were ill-suited? To give yet another example, how intuition doesn't operate in a vacuum but is a function of knowledge and experience. And to give yet one more, how each person has to arrive at a very personal understanding of the game (or life) for himself, and draw up a very personal plan of improvement. None of this is new to experienced chess players but it's still very interesting to see Kasparov give his own twist, and back it up with examples both personal and historical. In a nutshell, he argues that when humans play chess, the whole personality is involved: courage (which glues everything together), intuition, strategic drift, judgement, and calculation, and that to hone and integrate all these qualities -- into what we should call "character" -- requires introspection. I found the book a rewarding read.

After holding the world chess title for longer than anyone in modern history, Garry Kasparov tries his hand at a book that strays from the chess board and ventures into the world beyond - business, political, military, etc. It is a worthy effort that not only does not embarrass Kasparov, it exhibits him as a person of rare intellectual range.

An even better - albeit shorter and pithier book - along the same lines is Bruce Pandolfini's "Every Move Must Have a Purpose: Strategies from Chess for Business and Life." Garry Kasparov cuts against the grain of many (most??) top-flight chess players dwelling in the insular and all-absorbing world of chess. Many top players seem one-dimensional, monochromatic; others seem to be uber-geeks, social cripples or wacked out psychos like the legendary nut case Bobby Fisher.

By contrast, Kasparov shows a rare intellectual range that transcends the chessboard and probes into the expanse of history and business. With his interest and activism in Russian politics, Kasparov has a vision of himself that goes beyond merely being the world chess champion for an unprecedented span of time. He offers insightful lessons from his chess career so that, even if you know nothing about chess, readers can benefit and profit from his book.

If you are a chess fan or player, there is also much here for enjoyment. Chief among these are the inside stories of key games from Kasparov's career, including his multiple titanic struggles with Anatoly Karpov.

Mercifully for the non-chess fan, the book is devoid of the algebraic gibberish (3. ... Nxc3+!!) that populates many chess books.

What with Kasparov's new career as a politician opposing Vladimir Putin, one hopes that he already has his life insurance in place and that his security retinue is equipped with Geiger counters and food-tasters. Actuarial tables may not be needed to assess shorter life expectancies for opponents of Putin.

This new book by Garry Kasparov opens up his insights to the world beyond chess and exposes him as a thoughtful man whose talents go beyond the 64 black and white squares of the chessboard.

As a chessplayer I admire Garry Kasparov's achievements and am likely to buy anything he writes. As a reader of the Wall Street Journal I also enjoy his articles on Russian politics. This book is an easy read, perhaps too easy, and while it points up some mildly interesting similarities in making decisions in business as well as chess one doesn't feel more informed for having read it. No earthshaking revelations, no dramatic life-changing advice, but then, I'm an old man and have no need of any. Although I think it's a bit of a potboiler, and have already given it to another devotee of chess, I suggest you might buy it, if for nothing else than that Kasparov may one day succeed in becoming President of Russsia, in which case the book may well become a collector's piece!

Accessing the minds of those who are considered genius is an intriguing concept, but most often I have discovered such books to be a letdown as most are unable to convey their brilliance. Garry Kasparov, considered by many to be the best chess player of all time, has that perception of genius. I was pleased to discover that his mater-of-fact writing style enabled him to surpass this common hurdle and elegantly express the complexities of his deep thinking, strategies, and general principles of success.

Although one of the most impressive tactical players in history, Kasparov communicates the critical importance on strategy outlined in a quote by Sun Tzu, "Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat." The separation between analyzing problems and assessing the actual existence of problems is given extra importance, as Kasparov makes it clear that long term vision trumps short term tactics. "If you play without long-term goals your decisions will become purely reactive and you'll be playing your opponents game, not your own. As you jump from one thing to the next, you will be pulled off course, caught up in what's right in front of you and instead of what you need to achieve."

In chess there is an immense amount of strategy, focus, and diligent study that is behind the game, and these principles are true in life as well. Strategy is only a single element covered in this book, as Kasparov relates all his principles with numerous chess examples, metaphors, and real world applications. How Life Imitates Chess is filled with considerable insight and profound concepts, and considering the source, the lessons are invaluable.

Chess is a game of logic and pattern recognition. Business is a game of politics, political maneuvering, people skills, perception and chance. Similarities between the chess board and the boardroom are, therefore, not as broad as Mr. Kasparov perceives.

I would even go as far as saying success in chess will not necessarily transfer to success in business, and that highly analytical and logical minds such as Kasparov's are probably at a disadvantage in the business world where EQ matters just as much as IQ. Highly logical and rational people are often not the best business people as they're accustomed to fixed and predictable outcomes that are the result of careful, deductive logic.

At any rate, this book is more about chess stories than applying lessons learned from high level chess play to business. Kasparov's business experience pales in comparison to his chess experience, and it comes through as painfully obvious. Most of the book is filled with chess stories with little apparent "boardroom" applications, despite Kasparov's disjointed attempts at connecting the two.

I can't remember anything useful I learned about business or life from reading this book, but I enjoyed it quite a bit and can recall many of the chess tournament war stories, particularly between Kasparov and Karpov.

The quote I liked the most in the book was, "We can go through our day-to-day lives without changing our habits and nothing terrible will happen to us. The problem is that it is also highly unlikely anything at all will happen to us - including good things." (Page 168 of the hardcopy version).

Read this book for entertainment and without expectations of anything else.

Both "How Life Imitates Chess" and "Art of Learning" are written by men of similar experience about similar topics. Both winners in chess took their experiences to become winners in other arenas. Both now speak and coach corporations and businesses in success strategies.

While Waitzkin's book is more exciting because of the blow-by-blow writing style, and exciting battles in martial arts, I think Kasparov's book has more lasting value because of this one difference: Waitzkin recommends success by finding what you are good at, and putting yourself in more positions where your strengths will shine. Kasparov recommends success by taking honest inventory of what you are not good at, and putting the most effort into your weaknesses for better overall balance. I believe our world needs more of the second approach as I will point out below.

Both books completely ignore the idea of cooperation. In every example, these two experts tell us how to vanquish the enemy. I personally have no enemies. My business does not depend on competition. I win when others win. This idea is not even hinted at in either book. One might jump to the conclusion that chess helps people who are competitive, but leaves a hole where your cooperative skills would be.

Both authors could learn from Benjamin Franklin who played chess frequently. Franklin was a genius in many arenas, many we are still learning as pointed out in "Benjamin Franklin's Numbers" by math teacher Paul Pasles. We may assume that Franklin might have been the world champion at chess if he had felt the urge to competition. But even during the war, he did not view England as an adversary, nor the States as a winner at someone's expense, but often said that American independence would be good for the whole world, England included. Our earth is too small, now, to continue thinking competitively. In Franklin's own words,

"moderate your desire of victory over your adversary, and be pleased with one over yourself. Snatch not eagerly at every advantage offered by his unskilfulness or inattention; but point out to him kindly, that by such a move he places or leaves a piece in danger and unsupported; that by another he will put his king in a perilous situation, etc. By this generous civility ... you may, indeed, happen to lose the game to your opponent; but you will win what is better, his esteem, his respect, and his affection, together with the silent approbation and goodwill of impartial spectators."

Garry Kasparov explains his title early on. When asked how life actually imitates chess, his answer is immediate: "It doesn't."

Ignore the subtitle, too. That's simply a marketing ploy.

This book fits more comfortably on the shelf beside Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" in its focus on competition. The experience, derived from Kasparov's two decades as chess champion, will teach about the subtle psychology of reaching and performing at a peak level.

My favorite nuances include:

The idea that "talent" is actually a combination of traits. He gives the example that a great pianist must have dexterity, passion and a sharp ear. What is called talent is the composite of many things.

The idea that performance is reality. People seem to get caught up in the backstory of a success. One chess player is considered inferior because he works more than another chess player who practices less to attain the same skill level. The latter will be considered more talented, but Kasparov says it is all non-sense. Why not, he argues, consider the ability to work hard a talent too? At the end of the day, whoever plays better is better; performance is reality.

The idea that, to achieve our potential, we must understand the mechanism behind how we make our decisions. Kasparov, for example, could not become a better chess player until he recognized that he had a naturally aggressive temperament that made his play predictable to a clever and more patient opponent. He recognized that he had to change his style at times, even if it felt less pleasurable to win in such a way.

One of the greatest chess players of his era, Kasparov is also among the smartest persons alive. The writing is honest and he honestly explains how he approaches life, the mindset he maintained to maintain world chess championship, etc. (In real life most geniuses are eager to share their secrets.) The writing is not difficult to understand, in some parts there is a literary quality to the writing equal or near that of serious literature, brilliant subtle references and unwritten thoughts which the ideal reader will pick up on. Having a elementary knowledge of chess theory is probably neccessary to not be lost at times, but by no means does the reader need to be good enough to play in tournaments. Indeed, I would suspect few books exist that offer better advice on how to approach everyday problems of life than this one. Similar to Kasparov's chess ratings, a book of this type pretty much can't get a-lot better than this.

I am a beginner in chess but I liked how the greatest of the greatest in the game has put many analogies from his chess life to normal life. It was interesting to read how Kasparov prepared for his matches, how he dealt with his opponents (human or computer) and how he draws the parallelism of his uprising in chess with life. The greatest value of this book is it comes from a person who was hardcore competitive in nature, so if you want to get pumped up for anything that has to do with competitiveness, give this book a try.