Bubba Watson proves that coaching is overrated |
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| Friday, 18 April 2014 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 By GM Daniel Gormally, England. Best rating: FIDE 2573   Bubba Watson- a natural talent.
The American Golfer Bubba Watson won his second green jacket in three years yesterday when he won the Masters tournament in Augusta. The reason that Bubba's story is so fascinating to me is because it's proof that you don't need to have been coached or taught relentless to be good at a game- Bubba is self-taught. Bubba had a tough upbringing and his mother couldn't afford to pay for coaching lesson's for him, so he taught himself. This rather reminds me of Magnus Carlsen, who when he first learnt the game of chess, would study alone with a board, without books or a teacher, simply trying to learn the connections between the pieces and some of the secrets of the game. Of course we don't all have the natural talent of a Bubba Watson or a Magnus Carlsen. But in some situations I think coaching can even be harmful. It can suppress natural ability and try to turn you into some kind of mechanical player, with simply a view to getting better results. Nowadays of course, there is a massive industry that's been built up around chess teaching and coaching. Go on to any of the bigger websites like Chessbase or Chess.com, and you are immediately hit with these adverts telling you to buy this DVD or computer engine, watch this commentary, join this teaching programme and so on. Chess is just one big gravy-train industry now. In a way I can sympathise, as I know myself how difficult (or indeed impossible) it is for a mediocre Grandmaster like myself to make a living from chess, simply by playing. So you need to supplement your living now if you wish to remain in chess, and I myself have written three chess books, done a DVD, and done commentary on top chess events. Everyone needs to make a living.  Taco Bell- can you imagine a Grandmaster working there?
It should be pointed out that most strong chess players are in fact chess professionals. An outsider might look at the fact that there's so little money in chess and expect that 99 percent of chess grandmasters are in fact amateurs, but this is not the case. In fact it's the other way around. No we don't have other jobs cleaning hotel floors or working in Taco Bell. Chess players are notoriously lazy and basically incapable of doing anything else, so chess is what we do. So fair enough, you need to do the coaching and so on. But what I don't like is when you see on certain sites that people are charging ridiculous rates for online coaching, when the benefits of this coaching aren't exactly clear. For me this is just exploiting a naïve market. I think coaching can be helpful when you just act a guide, if you are not too intrusive. The danger is when you try to impose your own game too much on the student, and try to turn him into something that he's not. If you are a natural attacking talent like Tal, you should not be bombarded with advice about how you should play in a more reserved and strategic manner, you should be left to do your own thing. Let your talent shine. That's why I'll always prefer watching a natural player like Bubba Watson who is unhindered by hours of coaching, in the attempt to turn him into some kind of results orientated grinding robot. So the next time you play a game of chess just remember that you are the boss, you are the master. Sure, take on board what your coach tells you and what you read in a book, but ultimately it comes down to what you think. The way you think about and play chess is just as important and knowledgeable in it's own way as anyone else. Originally published in GM Danny Gormally's blog Other posts by GM Danny Gormally: Stupid, meaningless, questions I've thought of. Mostly about chess. Anand did well to qualify, but he won't win the rematch World Chess Championship Candidates Starts Tomorrow Players who have quit, or you never hear about anymore Could you work as hard on chess as Kramnik? Bobby Fischer vs. Hikaru Nakamura: Theoretical Match-up Interesting thoughts of Anand in defeat London Chess Classic Preview Losing your motivation Playing blitz chess online & all the computer cheats Anand-Carlsen borefest continues Magnus, is this all he has? A clash of kings Do we overrate ourselves? Computers and their all-pervading influence on modern chess From Russia with love The England Chess Team & Jack Wilshire Should the grandmaster title be scrapped? ECF Book of the Year? Is being a chess pro worth it - continued? Is being a chess pro worth it? An Elitist Game? Does hard work in chess pay off? World Cup Final preview World Chess Cup Semi-Final preview World Chess Cup Quarter-Final preview World Chess Cup 1/8-final preview Why are Russians so good at chess? British Champs-2013 Ghent and now the British I'll never be fat again! Lessons learnt! The sad case of Borislav Ivanov: Part II Does Anyone Have a Cure for Anger Problems? The Depth of Chess Fundraising in chess Nurturing a Chess Prodigy The Sad Case of Borislav Ivanov 4NCL Impressions: no country for old men - Part II 4NCL Impressions: no country for old men One move, one line - Part II One move, one line Candidates Final Review & Preview of Upcoming World Championship Match Would Carlsen have beaten Capablanca?
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