Chess Psychology: The Benefits of Flexibility

Magnus Carlsen

This topic seems much easier to understand than it actually is. A stubborn, unyielding mentality is a strong characteristic of any good chess player – so how are you supposed to combine that with a flexible mindset? After you play your 1st move, you should immediately start working on a general plan for the optimal placement of your pieces with respect to your opponent’s moves. Playing the opening with an inclination towards flexibility will enable you to meet a variety of different plans from your opponent. Magnus Carlsen is the best example of this in modern chess, as Carlsen plays the most straightforward plans nearly all of the time. He has the self-control not to get too carried away with ridiculous and unlikely variations – instead he focuses his time and energy on employing lines that are solid and lead to slight, enduring advantages from the opening. Carlsen is so effective at the most elite levels of chess because he very rarely gets bad positions out of the opening. It’s not that his preparation is incredibly deep and sharp (ex. Kasparov) – it’s because he naturally chooses direct, straightforward plans that are less-committal. The result of this strategy is that his opponents are much less likely to be able to confuse the position with dazzling tactics against a loose position/strategy.

Flexibility Doesn’t End in the Opening!

While the most logical and aggressive plan in the opening will get you far, it will still generally represent only part of the big picture. An ideal opening strategy will be highly flexible, ready to meet and adapt to the changing demands of the position according to your opponent’s play. This attitude should continue throughout all phases of the game, because if you begin playing extremely committal moves when your position is not actually ready for it – that’s precisely when you allow your opponent to launch an attack. It’s very similar to a cautious hedge-fund strategy seen in financial investing, in that you risk little by “investing” your time and moves in plans that are more generally applicable to the position – as opposed to playing for a wild attack even though this is not dictated from the demands of an equal position. You should still play as aggressively as possible, just make sure you’re not over-extending yourself and playing too loosely. It’s very difficult to determine the most effective combination of aggression and patience, but the best place to start is by emphasizing the flexibility of your plans and individual moves to continuously strengthen your position without incurring too much risk.