Some thoughts on chess and deep work

Positive freedom depends upon the capacity to concentrate because it prefers goal-directed attention to stimulus-directed attention; activities we feel some agency, rather than those where we are merely entertained. Preferring positive freedom over negative freedom means, in practice, preferring to play chess rather than watch TV, even if one activity is more likely to inform you or make you laugh, while the other involves hours of strenuous concentration after which you might feel the bitter pain of defeat.

-Jonathan Rowson, The Moves that Matter

One of the bad habits that many new chess players develop, particularly with chess online, is playing too many games of blitz or bullet chess. These games are fun and there is still a lot to be learnt, but they pale in comparison to longer games and deep study.

Despite the fact that many Grandmasters play these faster games, it’s the hours spent studying games to which they would attribute their success.

I find it interesting that even in chess there is this lower-value pseudo work, it takes real discipline to avoid distraction. It seems it takes even more discipline to approach our work with true depth and not just sit at the surface level.