In our last +1, we talked about Emerson’s turnaround velocity that led to a sneaky checkmate and a truly epic comeback win.
To recap: He played for FOUR HOURS, made a (huge) mistake with EIGHT SECONDS on his clock, then was able to stay focused on his next move and worked his opponent into a vicious trap that led to an astonishing checkmate.
We used that story as a catalyst to challenge ourselves to use our VERY (!) NEXT (!!) GLITCH (!!!) as an opportunity to practice our philosophy and get a training rep in as we develop the speed with which we can alchemize our challenges.
Quick check-in…
Did YOU practice?
Remember…
Greg Harden tells us we get ONE-TENTH of a second to feel bad about a mistake.
THEN we MUST get our minds focused on what’s important now.
I hadn’t thought about that until now, but that’s precisely about how much time Emerson had to feel bad.
(Proud dad moment!)
Now…
When Emerson LOSES a chess match, we immediately 1-2-3 it to MAKE SURE we turn that loss into a “Learn” which will eventually lead to a “WIN!”
And…
When he WINS a great match like that (to be clear: that game we discussed was his ALL-TIME best win!) (goosebumps), I want to follow Lanny Bassham’s advice and FEAST ON THAT WIN.
I want to use that experience to cook a Hero Bar while strengthening his Heroic Self-Image.
Remember: As Lanny Bassham says in With Winning in Mind, we will NEVER consistently outperform a poor Self-Image!!
Therefore…
We want to strengthen our Self-Image every chance we get.
With Emerson after that match it went something like this…
“THAT’S LIKE YOU!!” to NEVER give up, stay strong until the VERY END and pull out a win from the jaws of defeat.
“THAT’S LIKE YOU!” to quickly alchemize a mistake and FOCUS your Energy on the next WIN *immediately*!
And…
In this case, as I was looking for things to celebrate from the win that I could connect to HOW HARD (and consistently!) he trains, I realized…
“THAT’S LIKE YOU!” to find a BEAUTIFUL checkmate!
Then I asked him how he thinks he got so good at that.
Of course, his answer (and Eleanor’s answer!) to the question of how ANYONE gets good at ANYTHING (!) is an IMMEDIATE “I practiced!”
To which I said: “YES! You’ve practiced. But tell me specifically HOW you practiced that allowed you to be your best and see that beautiful checkmate when you needed it most!”
He said: “Solving ChessTempo puzzles.”
I said: “EXACTLY! You’ve done 218 days in a row. You’ve solved an INSANE number of puzzles!”
Note: I just looked up his stats on ChessTempo.com—which, again, is a website the best, most committed chess players use to solve REALLY (!) hard puzzles. Solving puzzles is one of THE most powerful ways to get REALLY good at chess as it helps you slow down and develop your “calculation” skills—which is one of the ways you cultivate the ability to see several moves ahead which is one of the ways you go from pretty good to VERY good to GREAT.
To put it in perspective, over the last 218 days, Emerson has spent a total of 6 days, 5 hours, and 5 minutes solving puzzles on ChessTempo. During that time, he has attempted to solve 4,366 puzzles. He’s FAILED 2,130 times. He’s succeeded 2,236 times—a 51.21% success rate. His performance puts him in the top 13% of all ChessTempo users.
And… I repeat… If there was a leaderboard for MOST CONSISTENCY/days in a row, I’d be VERY surprised if he isn’t in the Top 10 or even #1.
Note: THIS STREAK is his #1 process/protocol target he’s focused on in preparation for next year’s National Championship. He’ll be at 451+ days in a row. Heroically ACTIVATED! 🤓
Now…
His coach told him another reason he thinks he was able to perform so well under such tight time constraints. He pointed out that his “Bullet” games on Chess.com definitely helped. Although Emerson primarily plays 10-minute games on Chess.com, he also plays a fair amount of 1-minute Bullet games (and 3-minute “Blitz” games) which clearly helped in this situation with time running out.
But…
Then I realized…
One of the OTHER things he does when he’s playing is LOOK FOR THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHECKMATE in any given situation.
As you know if you’ve been following along, one of my daily “You’re a Good Wingman!” Love Target swipes is “Watch Emerson Play Chess.” 🎯
(I’ve hit that Heroic Target 310 times. 🎯!!!)
When I watch him play, sometimes I wonder why he doesn’t just checkmate his opponent when he can. I’ve actually gotten slightly irritated and impatient with him about it a few times.
He always says: “I want to find the prettiest checkmate. Why do it with a queen if I can find a way to do it with a couple of bishops?”
😲 🤓
I celebrated him FOR THAT practice as well and made the connection between his training and his performance that night.
And…
It was a combination of all of THAT along with his ability to stay focused on the next move (WIN!) that allowed him to win that game.
And…
THAT’s Today’s +1.
Yes.
That’s a lot about Emerson.
Yes.
I’m both proud of him as a dad and fascinated by his evolution as a competitor.
But…
Ultimately…
This +1 isn’t about HIM.
It’s about YOU.
Think back to YOUR last EPIC WIN.
“THAT’S LIKE YOU!” to crush it!!!
Now…
Tell me WHY (!) you were able to CRUSH IT.
I want to know EXACTLY what you were doing that led to that Masterpiece Moment and/or Masterpiece Day and/or incredible Oura score and/or incredible moment with your family and/or incredible moment at work and/or any and all of the other incredible moments in which YOU showed up as your HEROIC best.
What did you do that prepared you for and led to that moment of excellence?
Pro Tip…
DO MORE OF THAT.
All day.
Every day.
Especially…
Today.
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