By Frankie the Fan
Ok I’ll admit it, I was on the Chess team in 8th grade. That’s not something that you want to admit, it’s kind of like saying you were in the band, the AV squad or the year book staff. The game of chess to me was something different. I’m sure most of us know the rules, but if you don’t, it involves a series of moves in which you are trying to think many moves ahead of the move that you are making. You realize that if you make this move your opponent will counter with another move and then the move after that will happen due to the process that is already in play.
It sounds complicated, but it’s not. The point I’m trying to make here is everybody has a game plan, and if you can figure out what your opponent is going to do, you might be able to control the situation from the get go, and if not because life never goes according to plan, you need to make half time adjustments to win the match which is the game, the business and the game of life.
I recently started a new business and my employees are all jockeying for position to do what is in their best interest. It’s not easy to know exactly what their motives are, but just as in the game of Chess you can pretty much figure out what they are up to. Another similar game is poker. Your job is to obviously win the money in the middle of the table but you also want to maximize your profit potential, making your opponent do exactly what you want in that hand.
Now back to my situation in my businesses, I had a bar manager who was great as a secretary but really isn’t ready to run a bar and lead people, and for that matter I am having major problems with the business because of her. She reads books on Kasparov, who is one of the most famous Chess players in the world. What does this tell you, that she is extremely intelligent and unless she gets too emotional as women often do, every move she makes is calculated and is made in order have her opponent make a counter move at which point she make her next move. She is thinking 5-6 moves down the road.
I also have few lesser employee’s, bartenders/waitress, who when they saw that she was vulnerable decided to throw her under the bus to move up the corporate ladder. Maybe they are not thinking 5-6 moves down the road but for sure they are thinking 2-3 moves ahead. I really wish I had only people in my life who told the truth and had my best interest at heart, but we all live in the real world and everyone is running a scam.
When I was younger I was always the smartest person the room. As I’ve gotten older I may have lost step or 2, but the bigger problem is that I am not concentrating on the chess match anymore and just taking people at their word. That is a sure-fire method for defeat, unless you only surround yourself with people that you can trust.
In the world of sports everyone is trying to out think their opponent. When placing your bets at America’s Bookie, look for the players who know how to play the game of Chess. The team like the Patriots, who have Bill Belichik, is always a step ahead of everyone. Teams like the Spurs and Greg Popovich who is quite similar. Bet on tennis players like Andy Murray who can beat you with their brains alone. Bet on pitchers in baseball who can outthink their opponent, remember how Greg Maddux used to pitch?
So in closing, just remember that every move you make is being watched by everyone on the field both your opponents and your teammates will react with their next moved based on what move you make now. Think 3-4 steps ahead and you can control the game or to say it bit better the “Chess match of Life”. Take care guys.