'Königsplan' method: Life
lessons from the world of
chess | Sports | EL PAÍS
English
Leontxo García Mar 14, 2023 - 16:17 CET
The usefulness of chess in decision-making.Nuthawut Somsuk (Getty
Images/iStockphoto)
People who have to make difficult decisions every day
often do so under enormous pressure and time
constraints, like expert chess players who use a reasoning
process that can be applied in everyday life. The Munich
Chess Academy in Germany has developed a
methodology for using chess strategies in business called
Der Königsplan (The King’s Plan). After successfully using
Der Königsplan to train top business executives, the
Munich Chess Academy recently developed a version for
children and has used chess in childhood education
programs for 15 years.
Stefan Kindermann, a co-founder of the Munich Chess
Academy and a chess grandmaster, summarized various
ways of making decisions. “When faced with a highly
stressful situation and very little time, many executives
immediately pick up the phone to relieve the pressure. A
chess player is conscious of the time limit rule for making
a move but realizes that making decisions without
forethought can be fatal. Even if a player only has one
minute left, he will spend the first 10 seconds looking at
the overall board and identifying the factors to consider in
the decision.”
Der Königsplan training, offered in German and English,
emphasizes the importance of intuition. In chess, this
could be defined as the memory of the unconscious. A
player is often unaware of making decisions based on a
game studied many years before. The player does not
consciously remember seeing or studying the game but
learned something from that past experience that
remained buried somewhere in the brain. “This is very
important,” said Kindermann. “When we make decisions
by intuition or a gut feeling, we use everything we have
learned. The more experience and knowledge a person
has in any field, the more reliable his or her intuition will
be.”
To understand the importance of intuition in playing chess
well, consider that the first pair of moves (one white and
one black) can result in 400 different positions and that
the number of game variations is one followed by 123
zeros, greater than the number of atoms in the known
universe. “In a way,” said Kindermann, “the latest chess
computer programs, which are based on neural networks,
also employ something akin to human intuition because
no computer is powerful enough yet to play perfect
chess.”
Kindermann cited an example from Professor Gerd
Gigerenzer, regarded as Germany’s foremost expert on
the decision-making process. “A man in love with two
women simultaneously did not know to whom he should
propose marriage. He was advised to write down the
virtues of both women and decide which aspects of the
women he thought might bother him after 10 years of
marriage. The man concluded that woman A scored much
higher than woman B. But he decided to marry B and was
very happy with her for a long time.” Kindermann
concluded, “Emotions and intuition, balanced with
reasoning, help us make the best decisions.”
Stefan Kindermann speaks at a 'Der Königsplan' workshop.Academia de Ajedrez de
Múnich
One of the principles of Der Königsplan is to learn from
defeat. In chess, defeat can cause “days of pain” because
you cannot blame the arbiter or the weather. “A good
chess player is self-critical and analyzes defeats and
victories because both can be improved,” said
Kindermann. “Entrepreneurs frequently fail in their second
projects by applying the same method that led to success
in the first. They did not analyze the success selfcritically.” Kindermann developed Der Königsplan with
Robert von Weizsäcker, an economics professor at the
Technical University of Munich, with essential
contributions from Dijana Dengler, an expert in
educational chess. The recently developed version for
children is based on 15 years of experience applying
chess as an educational tool with more than 10,000
children in 25 schools in Munich and disadvantaged
children in diverse environments. The project was
sponsored by a foundation chaired by Roman Krulich, a
chess player and real estate entrepreneur.
Preparing for the black swan – the unexpected event – is
another essential aspect of making good decisions.
Kindermann says such planning requires exceptional
creativity and unconventional thinking. “You could
develop a very well-structured plan, but suddenly your
opponent does something that breaks everything. It
doesn’t make sense to keep doing what you were doing –
you have to adapt quickly to the new situation.”
Kindermann explained using a tennis example. “Roland
Garros Stadium [the French Open], 1989. Facing Ivan
Lendl, Michael Chang was tired and overmatched.
Suddenly, he began to serve underhand. This desperate
move unnerved Lendl, who ended up losing.”
Kindermann’s final nugget of wisdom for chess and for life
is to combine forward-looking and retrospective thinking.
“It’s typical for a chess player to imagine all the possible
moves from the current board positions. But sometimes,
thinking about the ultimate goal can be beneficial and
effective. Let your imagination run free and see what you
must do to reach that goal.” Some of the most brilliant
games in chess history have been won that way.
Napoleon’s 'zugzwang'
L.G.
Zugzwang is a German word that describes a confounding
situation in chess (and in life) in which a player must make
a move, but every option will lead to defeat. Der
Königsplan training incorporates this concept using the
example of Napoleon Bonaparte’s catastrophe in 1812
when he invaded Russia with a fully equipped army of
600,000. The day before the Battle of Borodino (western
Russia), the French emperor, who was fond of chess,
reportedly said, “The chessboard is set. Tomorrow, the
game will begin.” Napoleon won the battle but suffered
enormous casualties.
Russian general Mikhail Kutuzov proved a much more
adept chess player and ordered a retreat, allowing the
French to advance toward Moscow. But Kutuzov knew the
severe Russian winter was an ally. Napoleon suddenly
found himself in a situation with no good moves.
Advancing and remaining stationary would both be suicide
– his army would freeze to death – and retreat meant
failure. In the end, Napoleon returned to Paris with only
10,000 soldiers after one of the most resounding failures
in military history.
Kindermann’s lesson from Napoleon’s zugzwang? “Like
Kutuzov, plan deliberately and consider all the factors that
can affect your opponent.”
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