The process of sharing ideas can be both exhilarating and empowering

Chess / by Shelby Lyman
on January 10, 2015 – 12:01 AM

Memory is limiting. It can be either protective or adventurous.

We can shy from the past or engage it, reflect on it, and move forward.

One of the traditional advantages of the chess experience is that a game we played previously can be reviewed with a gain in insight.

In fact, the so-called post-mortem – in which we sit down with our erstwhile opponent, and review our play move-by-move – can be an essential part of the tournament experience.

The process of sharing ideas can be both exhilarating and empowering.

It offers the rare opportunity to gain insight into the thought processes of other players as well as the opportunity to relive our the anxieties, fears and hesitations.

Potentially, we can gain insights into our own psyches with the possibility of significant changes in our decision-making in chess and in real life.

It is true that post-mortems, like all recall and reflection, can be painful.

But we usually learn more from our mistakes, especially from our most unpleasant ones, than from our happy successes.