Execution is key — not aggression

Execution is key — not aggression
Saturday, June 6, 2009 3:17 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN

The notion that chess is a sport isn’t readily acceptable to those who conceive of sports as large-muscle activities.

Nor to those who, like French artist Marcel Duchamp, only reluctantly conceded that chess is more a sport than an art — and a brutal sport at that.

There is a tendency to exaggerate the aggressive component in sports. But I think the hyper-aggressive performer is a rarity. Perhaps that’s because we’re first gatherers and vegetarians and only later hunters and meat-eaters.

Yes, there have been players such as Ty Cobb in baseball — or Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov in chess — who often terrified opponents with their determination to win.

But most sportsmen base their success on the execution of extraordinarily well-practiced skills. Execution, not ferocity, typically wins baseball or chess games.

Tony La Russa and Derek Jeter in baseball, as well as Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov in chess, are notable examples of superb preparation and execution.

If Kasparov frightened foes, it was more likely because of his panoply of skills and inexorable execution in all phases of the game rather than aggressive posturing at the board.

Shelby Lyman is a Basic Chess Features columnist.

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