Could not agree more. Anyone who wants to stay put, spend time on YouTube or the Internet mindlessly. Want progress in chess? Well turn that shit off and go play a game!
Man, this hit me hard. Absolutely beautiful essay, and I really appreciate being able to read it for free. I hope our chess climate improves soon...
I think 'Freestyle Chess' is basically the ideal form for the attention economy: games generally have more mistakes, so more drama, and its private nature means basically the entire format can be messed with for suspense. I honestly really like 960, but to have all competitive events run around such a singularly profit-motivated company is bad for chess.
I guess the solution is grassroots movements, whether it's ChessDojo doing no-engine World Championship livestreams or Hanging Pawns making long opening guides with book references. Anything unique, or on its own merits, rather than some amorphous 'content'.
Great article! One other strategy that's been helpful for me is to engineer your environment for the behaviors you want. If you rely on willpower to not pick up the phone, you may be successful for awhile, but sooner or later you'll probably slip. And even if not, your willpower is constantly being drained by fighting against the impulse. But if the phone is not in the room you cannot pick it up.
Could not agree more. Anyone who wants to stay put, spend time on YouTube or the Internet mindlessly. Want progress in chess? Well turn that shit off and go play a game!
Thanks nick- you're correct it will be progress ×10 and enjoyment x100
Great, timely and timeless post Ben! Hope you're doing well.
Good stuff Benji! Also happy to see you on Substack (I'm not really sure how I missed this lol)
You as well Mr. Portheault, excellent article. Thank you much
Man, this hit me hard. Absolutely beautiful essay, and I really appreciate being able to read it for free. I hope our chess climate improves soon...
I think 'Freestyle Chess' is basically the ideal form for the attention economy: games generally have more mistakes, so more drama, and its private nature means basically the entire format can be messed with for suspense. I honestly really like 960, but to have all competitive events run around such a singularly profit-motivated company is bad for chess.
I guess the solution is grassroots movements, whether it's ChessDojo doing no-engine World Championship livestreams or Hanging Pawns making long opening guides with book references. Anything unique, or on its own merits, rather than some amorphous 'content'.
Thanks for the post and your thoughts, Benji!
Thank you so much for the kind words
Great article! One other strategy that's been helpful for me is to engineer your environment for the behaviors you want. If you rely on willpower to not pick up the phone, you may be successful for awhile, but sooner or later you'll probably slip. And even if not, your willpower is constantly being drained by fighting against the impulse. But if the phone is not in the room you cannot pick it up.
tl;dr -- can you summarize?
<g>
exactly and right on point (as always) Dr. Vasquez.