Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business [Hardcover]

Bob Rice (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470178213 | ISBN-13: 978-0470178218 | Edition: 1

Three Moves Ahead shows how classic chess strategies address the #1 problem of Information Age executives: how to move quickly in the face of incalculable complexities and unexpected change. This witty and novel guide, written for non-players, is packed with scores of real-world examples showing how top CEOs use Grandmaster techniques to win on Wall Street. Readers will see how a "strong square" strategy drove Adobe’s rise from niche player to industry giant, as well as Western Union’s success through a hundred years of technology changes. They’ll learn how AOL has played a crucial "exchange sacrifice" to revive its fortunes, and how Google is taking turf from Microsoft with a "minority attack." Most importantly these days, they’ll find out "what to do when you don't know what to do," and avoid the fate of companies like Polaroid, Gateway, and our dearly departed Ma Bell.

"A fun ride from Apprentice to Business Grandmaster. Grab it!"—Donald Trump

Bob Rice (Short Hills, NJ) was a long-time partner at Wall Street's prestigious Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, and McCloy. He left to start a software venture that was purchased by Viewpoint, a NASDAQ company of which he later became CEO. He is currently a Managing Partner of Tangent Capital, which structures financial products for hedge funds, and a member of the "New York Angels" venture finance group. Along the way, Bob served as Commissioner of the Professional Chess Association, founded the Wall Street Chess Club, ran numerous international chess events and produced a successful "Speedchess" series for ESPN.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In his thought-provoking, chess-themed book on business strategizing, Rice asserts that beginning and intermediate players tend to focus on which pieces are positioned to take or be taken, but when grandmasters examine the board they look at the squares. Rice makes fitting comparisons between chess pieces and actors in the corporate world. Lowest-level workers are compared to pawns, middle managers to knights, director-level executives to bishops and vice presidents to rooks. The central them of this book is that you have to have a plan, event if it's a bad one, to succeed in both chess and business. The idea is to adjust your plan as the game proceeds in response to the moves of the opposition."--McClatchy-Tribune News Service, April 26, 2008

From the Inside Flap

Three Moves Ahead

In today's fast-moving Information Age, traditional business-planning tools are rapidly becoming obsolete. Yet the competitive, ever-changing marketplace demands that executives move quickly or risk becoming relics.

In Three Moves Ahead, business leader and chess expert Bob Rice offers an entertaining, practical response to this modern dilemma. He shows how the world's top executives use chess tactics to thrive in the face of incalculable complexities and unexpected change. Written for nonplayers, this witty, smart guide is filled with real-world examples of how to win the game of business by applying chess strategies honed from over 1,000 years of competition.

With incisive prose, Rice clearly shows how to use these principles to attack competitors, defend turf, and crack new markets. He demonstrates how a "Strong Square" strategy drove Adobe's rise from niche player to industry powerhouse, how Kodak is reviving its fortunes with an "Exchange Sacrifice," and how Google is creating holes in Microsoft's position with a "Minority Attack." Most importantly, Three Moves Ahead also shows how to "Stay Ahead On the Clock" and avoid the fate of companies like Polaroid, Gateway, and our dearly departed Ma Bell.

Insightful and clever, Three Moves Ahead shows how anyone can navigate strategically through the most disruptive period in business history.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (March 28, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470178213
• ISBN-13: 978-0470178218
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #399,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and Insightful, April 4, 2008

By 

T. Morgan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business (Hardcover)

This is one of those rare business books that is both entertaining to read and offers valuable insight into how companies make decisions in today's faster paced business environment, particularly in the high tech world. I enjoyed learning about the limitations of strategic thinking shared by great chess players and great business executives. I'd recommend this book to both seasoned business executives and younger business people. It will remind veteran decisionmakers how to focus on what's ahead of them and provide younger managers (particularly young entrepreneurs) with context for why business plans most often have to change. A fun look at business strategy from a very unique perspective.

20 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Run, do not walk, away from this book, October 11, 2008

By 

Russ Emrick (Monument, CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business (Hardcover)

Want to understand the financial crisis unfolding now in the world - read the thinking of this author. Sorry, I have never said such a harsh thing or been so critical of a book. However Rice's background as a hedge fund and Wallstreet financier is clear because this book is so bad - at least outside of Fortune 500 Boardrooms. This book is full of drivel - high sounding business platitudes that sound insightful but are nothing more then empty rhetoric.

How do these ideas actually help a business person? Books like these say what you must do - NEVER THE HOW.

Claim: must have first mover advantage. Okay how? You're not going to find the answer in this book.

Claim: you must establish a barrier to entry? Our economy is what 13 Trillion dollars? Are you talking to the government, Walmart or GE here? I'm a mom and pop business. How does such an idea help me? I should Castle by Rook with my King. Pass me whatever it is you're smoken.

Love this: "Moving too fast and without a consistent plan is just as bad as moving too slowly" against the later comment "Forget detailed business plans." I think it means "I'm a talking head that needs to be gagged because I really have never run a business but I defraud the American public and need $700 BILLION bailout. Run your business based on this book and you'll need a bailout as well. Here is another "Plans are essential elements of success, but randomness is an undeniable factor as well"

These business guru's make up great sounding stuff that in truth is meaningless. God I'd rather have a parrot talking to me.

* "Launch a disruptive business model" uh okay.
* "Play positionally by accumulating a lot of little advantages in mini battles all conducted to further a general, overall strategy that is constantly being tweaked." Okay, what he said.
* "Upend the basic functioning of an established industry by adopting a different infrastructure" Love those infras especially when they're inside my structures.
* "Attack from a different angle: a new pricing model, aggregation, and disaggregation" We'll I aggregated just reading those words.
* "Make sure the dream position is based on your positive imbalance" My dream position is a beach in the Caribbean and I'm positive you're imbalanced. Beyond that I have no idea what that sentence even means.
* Another meaningless phrase: "Commence your strategic planning process with imbalance analysis"

Mr. Rice - I apologize. I'm sure you're a good guy and both wealthier and smarter than me. I'm sure this book has value in the circles you operate in and that someone takes this book seriously. Also please don't think I don't "get it" because I do. I can use 'businesspeak' in my Boardroom to obfuscate failure as well as the next executive. Instead of working our businesses and becoming serious leaders we prefer "educated sounding rhetoric." While Japan, China, India, and others are making money we need a bailout. This book illustrates why.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great book...but not without its flaws, October 23, 2010

By 

Chris A. Kantack (Huntsville, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Three Moves Ahead: What Chess Can Teach You About Business (Hardcover)

This book most definitely lives up to its title. Mr. Rice does a great job of tying good chess playing techniques and analyses with excellent advice for developing successful business strategies. However much of Mr. Rice's advice can only be pursued by larger established businesses and corporations. So if you're an entrepreneur starting out with your own sole proprietorship, much of the author's advice will not apply.

This book could have used some additional proofing prior to publication. I found several small errors in the first few chapters. Not spelling errors mind you but phrases that were worded wrong and other mistakes that must have crept in while the book was being revised. There's a remark about Microsoft moving from XP to DOS, or text for a chess diagram that most certainly didn't apply to the diagram being shown. Errors such as these were frequent throughout the first half of the book. Chapters 6 thru 10 were relatively error free.

Being a big fan of chess, I very much enjoyed the tidbits of chess history drawn from the author's own experience. All in all, an excellent book. This is one of the rare works that can truly help you "improve your game"!