Page 37 - The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin_Neat plip book

Children who begin their chess educat ion by memorizing open ings tend to
internalize an entity theory of intelligence. Thei r dialogues with teache rs,

parents, and other children are all abo ut resul ts, not effort. The y cons ide r
themselves winners because so far they hav e won. In school, they focus on wha t
comes easy to them and ignore the subj ects that are harder. On the pl aygr ound,
they use the famous “I wasn’t trying” af ter missing a s ho t or striki ng o ut .

Once I was in Arizona giving a lectur e and simul taneous exhi bi tion I to a
large group of young chess players and par ents, and the organ izer of the event
picked me up at the airport braggi ng that hi s son had n’t lost a che ss ga me in
over a year. Obviously this was a record the who le family was proud of. I kne w

what was coming—classic anorexic hermit crab. When I met the chi ld, he was
a moderately talented boy who was the best in hi s school. He had learne d some
quick opening attacks and had a natur al feel for bas ic ches s tactics. Clearly he
had started winning and had been praised effusively for hi s gen ius . As a resul t,

the boy refused to play anyone outside of the circle of friends and compe titors
whom he knew to be inferior (his favorite oppo nen t was his fathe r, who was a
weak player and no challenge at all). To his school buddies, this boy was a chess
god, but compared to serious chess-pl aying chi ldr en around the count ry, he ha d

a long way to go. He was a big fish in a small po nd and he liked it tha t way.
The boy avoided chess throughout my visit. He di dn’t want to pl ay in the
simultaneous exhibition and was the onl y chi ld at the event who was resistant
to instruction. His winning streak and the cons tant talk of it ha d hi m all

locked up—he was terrified of shattering the façade of perfection. Thi s chi ld
was paralyzed by an ever-deepening cy cle of entity indo ctrinat ion.
Many kids like this are quite talent ed, so they excel at first because of go od
genes—but then they hit a roadblock. As chess struggl es beco me more int ens e

and opponents put up serious resistance, they start to lose interest in the ga me.
They try to avoid challenges, but eventual ly the real world finds the m. The ir
confidence is fragile. Losing is always a crisis instead of an oppo rtuni ty for
growth—if they were a winner becau se they won, thi s new losing mus t make

them a loser.
The long-term effects of “opening madnes s” are clear, but ther e are also
serious immediate weaknesses in young chess pl ayers br ought up in thi s
environment. Just as there are inev itable ups and do wns in a career, the re are

also momentum shifts in individual games. Most of my early rivals were gi fted
children, and they were prepared with hundr eds of traps with whi ch the y coul d