This post is a culmination of The Fountainhead, an odd move in chess, and the realization of myself. The Fountainhead is a book by Ayn Rand which praises Howard Roark for his dedication to individualism. It’s really an eye opener the way Rand displays the admiration (and disgust) of other characters in this book towards Roark. It’s impossible to read the Fountainhead and not have some self evaluation.

I have been playing chess as a hobby for the past month or so. I’ve been studying the game and trying to improve as it’s a very thinking game. My ranking right now just surpassed a 1,000 (which I’m quite proud of). Grandmasters are 2000+ to give you an example of where I stand. Here is what happened that prompted this post and how this ties in with the previous paragraph. It was the end 3rd game I was playing in a best of 3 with an evenly matched opponent. With both of us having 2 rooks and a queen (I was one pawn ahead) he made a mistake and moved his queen into my queens path to capture with no recapture. I had just played with him for 2 games and knew he didn’t mean to make this move. I offered a draw. I’ve played over 200 games on this site and not one other person has ever offered me a draw for making a bad move. It isn’t what people do. You play to win, not reward people for making mistakes. I felt good about it.

This is one simple chess game in the grand scheme of things that means nothing to anyone in the world yet I’m writing an entire post about it. I didn’t offer a draw so I could write a post about it. I did it because I knew the guy didn’t mean to do it and I don’t want to win that way. If I made him make the mistake, that’s different, but he just didn’t see it. This is gamesmanship. I have it. Most people have never heard of it. This translates to everything I do whether people think so or not. I pride myself on being a fair human being and my honesty because that’s what I can control. I care about other people as well. I can’t adopt the attitude of Howard Roark and live life without the acute awareness of who else shares this planet with me.

Everyone is given a certain skill set to embark with through life. There is a key aspect to being successful in things you do. That answer is hard work. I play chess because I like it, but I study it because I want to get better. I always want to get better at things I do. I try to take advantage of my skill sets by understanding this answer noted above. I have been given tremendous opportunity in this life and it would be my biggest crime as an individual to not take advantage of it. This why I study chess, go to the driving range, or run 10 miles. I think it’s why I maintain a blog. I won’t waste what has been given to me. Even if you think this blog sucks and I’m an arrogant a-hole, know that I’ve given my time, my most valuable asset, to share with you how I view this life. So I don’t care if you don’t like my style, but if one person reads this and says, “yeah, that makes sense,” and does something to improve his life, then I’m fine with it.

I have come across two great no-so secrets that I’m willing to share with my blog audience. I just don’t see people using them as much as they should. I think the ideas apply when a skill level is involved to achieve success. Skill games like golf, chess, or poker are require practice. I will use these in my examples for clarification purposes.

1) Taking advice
2) Paying for advice

1) Taking advice is crucial because it shows two things 1) You want to improve. 2) You admit you are not the best
Many times I feel people just think that they can get better by themselves or they are as good as they can be. It takes people who are better than you do show you better ways to do things. Wanting to get better is the quickest way to improve and other people can help achieve this for you.
2) Paying for advice is something that most people don’t take advantage of. A lot of skill games are decided by the amount of practice involved. Almost all skill games have “professionals” who are willing to give lessons. They usually charge a reasonably amount to help you improve. Spending money to improve is smart because it cuts down on learning time and gives you expert advice. Chess is the perfect example of this. I spend 10 dollars a month to use a program called chess mentor. It teaches me how to play well. Now consider the edge I have against everyone else who doesn’t use this program all because I’m willing to spend a few dollars. People are cheap and don’t understand this value.