Listen to Your Intuition | Business Lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Karjakin, Part 6

After 12 games of the world chess championship between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin the score was 6-6, and a tiebreak became necessary to get a decision in the match. The tiebreak on Wednesday, 30 November, consisted of four rapid games with 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move for each player. With such … Read more

Face Your Mistakes | Business Lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Karjakin, Part 5

Game 10 of the world chess championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin was a tragicomedy of errors. In a slightly better position, Carlsen gave up his advantage through an inaccurate exchange of bishops in move 19. After that, Karjakin missed two opportunities for immediately forcing a draw. In view of his one-point lead … Read more

Managing Risks with Circumspection | Business Lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Karjakin, Part 4

On Monday, 21 November, the world chess championship match between titleholder Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Sergey Karjakin saw the first decided game after seven draws. Game 8 took a dramatic course and ended in a win for Karjakin with the black pieces after 52 moves. The game perfectly illustrates the fourth success principle from … Read more

Be Prepared | Business Lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Karjakin, Part 3

The Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) coined the famous phrase: “To be prepared is half the victory.” The current world chess championship match between titleholder Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Sergey Karjakin is proof that this old wisdom still applies. Both contestants appear extremely well prepared on three levels: chess openings, mental robustness, and … Read more

How to be Resilient | Business Lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Karjakin, Part 2

The character of the world chess championship match between world champion Magnus Carlsen and his challenger Sergey Karjakin has changed: while they were testing each other’s (and the viewers’) patience in games 1 and 2, just waiting for the other side to make a mistake that never happened, the next two games were characterized by … Read more

Business Lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Karjakin | Part 1: The Importance of Patience

The Norwegian world champion Magnus Carlsen and his Russian challenger Sergey Karjakin started their fight for the chess crown in New York on 11 November 2016. Some commentators were disappointed by the first two games of the world chess championship: they both ended in a draw without any exciting things happening on the board. In … Read more

Business lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Anand | Part 4: Paying attention to details

Chess offers useful insights for business. On occasion of the current World Chess Championship 2014, I will highlight in a series of articles different business lessons to be learned from the game of kings. In part four, I explain why paying attention to details pays off in chess and business. Top chess players can focus … Read more

Business lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Anand | Part 3: Prepare for success

Chess offers useful insights for business. On occasion of the current World Chess Championship 2014, I will highlight in a series of articles different business lessons to be learned from the game of kings. In part three, I explore the role of preparation for success. Already three centuries ago, a famous American chess player knew … Read more

Business lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Anand | Part 2: Seizing the initiative

Chess offers useful insights for business. On occasion of the current World Chess Championship 2014, I will highlight in a series of articles different business lessons to be learned from the game of kings. In part two, I explore the topic of seizing the initiative. The second game of the World Chess Championship Match between … Read more

Business lessons from the World Chess Championship Match Carlsen – Anand | Part 1: The importance of resilience for success

Chess offers useful insights for business. On occasion of the current World Chess Championship 2014, I will highlight in a series of articles different business lessons to be learned from the game of kings. In part one, I will focus on the importance of resilience for success in chess and business. On 8 November 2014, … Read more

Business Insights from the World Chess Championship 2013

The game of chess is a model for strategic thinking and decision making under highly competitive conditions. Understanding how the world´s top chess players achieve success can give executives valuable insights on how to improve their own strategic thinking and decision making. What executives can learn from Anand versus Carlsen The World Chess Championship in … Read more