26 Sep '14 21:43>
Hi all,
A conversation with another player in my 2014 Championship group reminded me of this, and I told him I was going to share it on the forum because it was long, and others might find it interesting or at least amusing!
I am a manager at Disney, and a few years ago one of my direct reports was a retired person who worked part time for us, mostly for fun. As I got to know her better, I learned that she was a Master Hypnotist, and we sometimes had to rearrange her schedule because she lectured on the subject.
Of course, I did what any hack player would do- I asked her if it would help me play better chess. I had a tournament coming up, so I asked for help.
When I did, she paused for a moment, and then said "First, you must understand that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Forget the 'swinging watches' bunk- it is all about clearing your mind and rearranging your thoughts." (I may be paraphrasing inaccurately)
I told her I understood.
She then paused a bit more, and then asked "When you play, do you often look three moves ahead?"
I replied "Well it depends, but that is a pretty reasonable and accurate assumption."
She then said "In the next tournament, only look two moves ahead."
I scored 4.5 out of 5, winning my section of the Florida Class Championship. In every game, I won or drew based on a simple two-move combination that my opponents overlooked.
I've always assumed that she effectively planted a suggestion that made me pay more attention to such ideas (I was indeed looking two moves ahead), but the bottom line is that I was very pleased.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to replicate the effect, but it has always made me wonder about the thinking process, and I pay much more attention to those conversations than I did beforehand.
A conversation with another player in my 2014 Championship group reminded me of this, and I told him I was going to share it on the forum because it was long, and others might find it interesting or at least amusing!
I am a manager at Disney, and a few years ago one of my direct reports was a retired person who worked part time for us, mostly for fun. As I got to know her better, I learned that she was a Master Hypnotist, and we sometimes had to rearrange her schedule because she lectured on the subject.
Of course, I did what any hack player would do- I asked her if it would help me play better chess. I had a tournament coming up, so I asked for help.
When I did, she paused for a moment, and then said "First, you must understand that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. Forget the 'swinging watches' bunk- it is all about clearing your mind and rearranging your thoughts." (I may be paraphrasing inaccurately)
I told her I understood.
She then paused a bit more, and then asked "When you play, do you often look three moves ahead?"
I replied "Well it depends, but that is a pretty reasonable and accurate assumption."
She then said "In the next tournament, only look two moves ahead."
I scored 4.5 out of 5, winning my section of the Florida Class Championship. In every game, I won or drew based on a simple two-move combination that my opponents overlooked.
I've always assumed that she effectively planted a suggestion that made me pay more attention to such ideas (I was indeed looking two moves ahead), but the bottom line is that I was very pleased.
Unfortunately, I have not been able to replicate the effect, but it has always made me wonder about the thinking process, and I pay much more attention to those conversations than I did beforehand.