Chess Games and Management

Let not the title of this post scare you! This is not about Management Games, but something more interesting.  Recently, we have decided to sponsor Chaitanya Krishna - a chess prodigy - who has shown immense promise. We hope that with able support from his mentor and guide K Narasimha Rao, he will be able to break int the ranks of national level chess players shortly.

While discussing with his mentor, I was made aware of a a few very interesting statistics, which I thought I should share in this post:

1. There are apparently a total of about 1.7 million games which have been documented over the last two decades, and these probably make up the sum total of the universe of chess games. 
2. All of these end up with only about popular 30 types of end games (a position from which a conclusion is reached - a win/loss or a draw). 
3. Of these, there are only 2 end games make a significant percent of all end games - Rook Vs. Rook (8.45%) and Rook + Minor piece  Vs. Rook + Minor piece (15.13%).

In fact there are very many invaluable lessons to be learnt from the observation of how chess players play.  Some of these, applicable to the management of business, are:

1. Do not get overwhelmed by the number of options available - if you are focused on the end result, you will realize that no matter how many options appear to be available, only a few are really worthy of pursuit.
2. In Chess, it is considered honorable to draw and not necessarily to secure a win.   So too in business - attempting to win at everything may not be feasible.  Be prepared to hold ground in some cases, be prepared to not win all the time.
3. The critical aspect of winning or drawing a game is based on how strong your position is: there are some squares that must be protected no matter what it takes, and there are others which can be compromised.   Be aware of those positions which are absolutely vital for your business, and be prepared to give away some of the ones which are not so important.
4. Sacrifices are common and strategic.  You could sometime sacrifice a bigger piece to gain a strategic advantage against an opponent, even when the opponent believes that he has gained the advantage.  Again, if the focus is correct, sacrifices will lead to achieving the correct result.
5. Finally, I understand now that ELO ratings are not a complete reflection of a players capabilities.  A player can consistently be playing at a higher level, but would get recognised at a certain ELO rating only after he has achieved some milestones, and sustains his position for a given time.  A company striving for excellence too must follow similar principles.

Chaitainya is currently ELO rated at 1631.  If you want chess tips, you could reach him at chaitanya.g@mydatawise.com.