Page 108 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

figurine itself. Chess pieces stop being hunks of wood or plastic, and be gi n to
take on an energetic dimension. Wher e the piece cur rently sits on a che ssbo ard

pales in comparison to the countless vectors of potential fl ing off in the mind.
I see how each piece affects those around it. Because the basic movement s are
natural to me, I can take in more inf ormation and hav e a br oader pe rspe ctive of
the board. Now when I look at a ches s po sition, I can see all the pieces at onc e.

The network is coming together.
Next I have to learn the principles of coordi nat ing the pieces. I learn ho w to
place my arsenal most efficiently on the chessbo ard and I learn to read the road
signs that determine how to maximize a given soldier’s effectiveness in a

particular setting. These road signs are princi ples. Just as I ini tially ha d to
think about each chess piece indi vidual ly, no w I hav e to pl od thr ough the
principles in my brain to figure out whi ch appl y to the cur rent po sition and
how. Over time, that process becomes increasingl y natur al to me, unt il I

eventually see the pieces and the appr opr iate pr inci ples in a blink. Whi le an
intermediate player will learn ho w a bisho p’s strengt h in the middl ega me
depends on the central pawn struct ur e, a slight ly more adv anced pl ayer will
just flash his or her mind across the bo ard and take in the bi sho p and the

critical structural components. The struct ur e and the bisho p are one . Neithe r
has any intrinsic value outside of its relation to the other, and they are chunke d
together in the mind.
This new integration of knowledge has a pecul iar effect, because I be gi n to

realize that the initial maxims of piece value are far from ironcl ad. The pi eces
gradually lose absolute identity. I learn that rooks and bisho ps work more
efficiently together than rooks and kni ght s, but queens and kni ght s tend to
have an edge over queens and bisho ps . Each piece’s power is pur ely relationa l,

depending upon such variables as paw n struct ur e and sur roundi ng forces. So
now when you look at a knight, you see its po tential in the cont ext of the
bishop a few squares away. Over time each ches s princi ple loses rigi di ty, and
you get better and better at reading the subt le signs of qual itative relativity.

Soon enough, learning becomes unlearni ng. The stronger chess pl ayer is often
the one who is less attached to a do gm atic interpr etation of the princ ipl es. Thi s
leads to a whole new layer of principl es—t ho se that cons ist of the except ions to
the initial principles. Of course the nex t step is for tho se count erint ui tive signs

to become internalized just as the ini tial movements of the pieces were. The
network of my chess knowledge now involves princi ples, patterns , and chunks