A Must-Read Josh Waitzkin Article

Josh Waitzkin at the 2008 Elementary School ChampionshipsPhoto: Betsy Dynako, Chess Life Online
Pretty much anything Josh Waitzkin writes is special, and this article excerpt at Chess Life Online is no exception. In it, Waitzkin decries the "multi-tasking virus" of today's generation of students. If you haven't already read it, his The Art of Learning is another must-read.

A Conversation With Josh Waitzkin

My latest Scholastic Chess column is now available at ChessCafe. The entire column is devoted to the topic of Josh Waitzkin. We talk about the film Searching for Bobby Fischer, about Josh’s new book The Art of Learning, what he’s doing now, and what the future may hold for him.

More Josh Waitzkin Photos

The first picture below shows Josh Waitzkin in the final seconds of the match that brought him the Moving Steps Push Hands World Championship in 2004, against the opponent known as "the Buffalo." Josh is demonstrating a tactical combination only advisable for International Masters.

The second picture shows Josh with his father, celebrating his victory at the tournament. Both photos are courtesy of Josh Waitzkin.

Josh Waitzkin Photos

In his book The Art of Learning, Josh Waitzkin mentions a trip to the Amazon that he took with his father and his friend Dan Caulfield. Here are some pictures of that trip to Brazil. In the first picture, Josh is at the left, his father is in the middle, and Dan is at the right. Photos are courtesy of Josh Waitzkin.

A Conversation With Josh Waitzkin

GM Gregory Kaidanov, left, and IM Josh Waitzkin
Photo: www.joshwaitzkin.com
I had the pleasure of speaking at length with Josh Waitzkin today, and I found him to be as articulate and animated in person as he is in his writing. I'll plan on elaborating more on our discussion in my upcoming ChessCafe Scholastic Chess column, but here are a few tidbits of what he had to say:

• Regarding a possible return to competitive chess: "If I feel the love, the desire, I'll do it. I feel I'll be much stronger if I do come back."
  
• Concerning his current plans: After winning eight chess championships and thirteen Push Hands martial arts championships, he is working on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, with his sights set on the 2010 or 2011 World Championship.
  
• Will there be another movie about him, this time regarding his martial arts exploits? Josh says that he's already been approached by two different filmmakers and says, "I'll listen. I'm open to talking about it."

As you may know, Josh has been intimately involved with the Chessmaster programs for about ten years now. If you have Chessmaster 10, take a look at the Josh Waitzkin Academy and click on the "Psychology of Competition" button. You'll find an entire series covering many of the same topics he discusses in his new book The Art of Learning. Included among them is an intense game against his teacher GM Gregory Kaidanov, one of the foremost chess teachers in the U.S.

If you haven't yet seen his book The Art of Learning, pick up a copy. He's a very entertaining writer - I found the descriptions of his Push Hands matches (even practice sessions) absolutely riveting. My palms were sweating while reading about his world championship matches at the end of the book. More importantly, he pours out his heart in getting across his philosophy of learning, which might be summed up by this quote attributed to basketball legend Bobby Knight: "Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win."

To see all of our Josh Waitzkin posts, click here.

The Art of Learning - A Must Read

I'm in the process of reviewing Josh Waitzkin's new book The Art of Learning for ChessCafe. I'll let you know when my review is completed and available online, but I'll tell you this much: if you're interested in improving whatever it is you'd like to improve, you should pick up this book. If you're interested in learning a bit about intense competition at some of the highest levels, from the inside, pick up this book. And if you're interested in understanding the importance of psychological warfare at the chessboard and elsewhere, pick up this book.

More information is available from www.joshwaitzkin.com, and a preview of the contents of the book is available from Waitzkin's ten-minute video below:

Josh Waitzkin Radio Interview

You can find a lengthy radio interview of Josh Waitzkin on NPR radio. Click the "Listen" button underneath the headline which reads, "Chess Champion Offers Success Strategies for Life."

Waitzkin, of course, was the child prodigy profiled in the book and movie Searching for Bobby Fischer, and is the author of the book The Art of Learning.

Josh Waitzkin Explains Why He Left Chess

There are a total of eight Josh Waitzkin clips at YouTube as of this writing. You can find them here.

Josh Waitzkin Talks About Searching For Bobby Fischer

Problem # 13

Having enjoyed Josh Waitzkin's endgame videos on Chessmaster, I just watched again the classic Searching for Bobby Fischer, the movie based on Waitzkin's childhood chess exploits.

In Waitzkin's honor, I've chosen a puzzle from one of his games, courtesy of www.wtharvey.com. It is Black to move and mate in three.

If you can't find the beautiful solution, click here.

Chessmaster10 Academy

I'm used to using Fritz9 for analysis of games and positions because of its ease of use and strength, but I saw a post somewhere (unfortunately I don't remember where!) commenting on the helpful instruction available from the "Academy" section of Chessmaster 10 software.

Unless I'm missing something, it seems that in order for Chessmaster software to be enabled from your desktop or laptop, one of the Chessmaster CDs needs to be present in the CD drive, in order to prove ownership. This was always an annoyance, so I haven't used this software very much.

Nevertheless, I located one of the Chessmaster CDs, inserted it into the drive, opened the program on my laptop, and went right to the Academy instructional material. Indeed, it's quite good!

I watched and listened to several audiovisual presentations from Josh Waitzkin covering basic endgame principles and Larry Christensen reviewing a great Fischer-Larsen game.

It got me to thinking how often we buy great chess books or software and then fail to take full advantage of them. I don't make New Year resolutions, but it certainly makes sense that if you put out hard-earned money for instructional material, you might as well use it to its fullest!