I think you're wrong on the cap thing....
I think everyone has a cap on exactly how much they can learn. Otherwise, every one who dedicates to learning chess would be a grandmaster.
Talent and ability are probably two different things as well.
Ability isn't enough and talent is FAR from being enough.
You also have to be able to handle pressure, and the thing I"ve realised and am also trying to learn is to how to have the right mindset at will. (but you can handle pressure better than anyone else and still not have the ability to be a champion. Ability is a prerequisite.)
Once you discover which mindset works best for you, you have to teach yourself to choose to get into that mindset at will. Then the ability can matter.
I can't as of yet choose whether or not to be in that mindset..
Worse yet, the mindset that I play the worse in is the one that I'm in when playing for something.
I beat myself up for getting behind or for not playing my best, and that exacerbates the problem.
I play best when I'm in my joking kidding around crazy funny not a care in the world mood. The problem is getting into that mood when I need to, and letting go of the self pressure.
A guy I consider a friend who is also one of the better players in California said to me the other night that I need to let go of my excuses to lose. I grasp on to excuses to lose like they're my safety blanket, he's absolutely right about that.)
That got me to thinking about a lot of things. At first I thought it was money, but that doesn't explain why I did well when I was down south and no one knew me or why I played well against JAmie Farrel. nor does it explain why I sometimes seem to choke in tourneys, or I can only play my game for a couple of matches at a time before I self implode.
I figured out that it's only when I'm not trying to prove anything, especially to myself that I really am able to play my game. So I'm concentrating on getting into the mindset that best suits that.
Does it mean I can become a champion,? NO... but it does mean that if I'm successful that I won't care if I somehow don't and I'll atleast be able to play the game that I"m capable of (hopefully).
Jaden
I think everyone has a cap on exactly how much they can learn. Otherwise, every one who dedicates to learning chess would be a grandmaster.
Talent and ability are probably two different things as well.
Ability isn't enough and talent is FAR from being enough.
You also have to be able to handle pressure, and the thing I"ve realised and am also trying to learn is to how to have the right mindset at will. (but you can handle pressure better than anyone else and still not have the ability to be a champion. Ability is a prerequisite.)
Once you discover which mindset works best for you, you have to teach yourself to choose to get into that mindset at will. Then the ability can matter.
I can't as of yet choose whether or not to be in that mindset..
Worse yet, the mindset that I play the worse in is the one that I'm in when playing for something.
I beat myself up for getting behind or for not playing my best, and that exacerbates the problem.
I play best when I'm in my joking kidding around crazy funny not a care in the world mood. The problem is getting into that mood when I need to, and letting go of the self pressure.
A guy I consider a friend who is also one of the better players in California said to me the other night that I need to let go of my excuses to lose. I grasp on to excuses to lose like they're my safety blanket, he's absolutely right about that.)
That got me to thinking about a lot of things. At first I thought it was money, but that doesn't explain why I did well when I was down south and no one knew me or why I played well against JAmie Farrel. nor does it explain why I sometimes seem to choke in tourneys, or I can only play my game for a couple of matches at a time before I self implode.
I figured out that it's only when I'm not trying to prove anything, especially to myself that I really am able to play my game. So I'm concentrating on getting into the mindset that best suits that.
Does it mean I can become a champion,? NO... but it does mean that if I'm successful that I won't care if I somehow don't and I'll atleast be able to play the game that I"m capable of (hopefully).
Jaden
