One of my favorite hobbies is playing chess. Apart from the challenge of checkmating my opponent, I enjoy the lateral thinking, planning, and strategic judgment skills that are involved in the game.
Recently, I was privileged to interview Israel’s top chess player, Grandmaster Boris Gelfand, on my weekly radio broadcast, The Goldstein on Gelt Show. When I asked him if the strategies he learned on the chessboard could also be applied to other areas of life, he said, “It’s the attitude which is important. You should learn to think ahead. You should not rely on your will or your wish, but on the objective situation on the board, both in chess and in life.”
Look at the big picture
As you can read in Rich As A King, there are many similarities between chess and investing. Great chess players are make the maximum use of their pieces, tap into their critical, analytical skills, calmly assess the situation on the board, and plan their moves ahead.
In the same way, the successful investors are the ones who plan calmly and objectively, taking many future scenarios into account. Though no one can predict exactly what the future may bring, they look at their situation, at their assets, goals, and personal levels of risk, and they think carefully about the best ways to proceed, rather than randomly moving their pieces around because they don’t have the patience to think of a more precise move or strategy.
Watch this video of my interview with Boris Gelfand to hear more about his insights on applying chess to real life.
