It seems that pro have very high self esteem. ;-)

Until be create a pro-beating-go-engine :-D


Otake Hideo once said he'd bet his life with 4
stones against God. He
also added he wasn't so sure he'd win but that he
had his

This self-esteem is necessary for becoming a top-player (in any kind of competition). If playing strength is about equal, the one with the higher self esteems wins. This was the big pro of Kasparov and it was also his big problem with computers. The computers were not impressed by his self esteem and he was in fact very insecure against them. He could not evaluate their weaknesses and strengths. E.g. in the second game of the 2nd match Deep Blue offered him the chance for draw by 3-fold repetition (Obviously a bug in the Deep Blue repetition detector). But Kasparov resigned instead. He thaught, it can't be a 3-fold repetition, because otherwise the machine would not have played the last move. Under the current top players Topalov is maybe from the chess-technique not better than the other ones. But he has no fear from loosing. But he also does not think that he is a God or something like this. Having no fear from loosing is also a usefull form of self esteem.

M.Tal played in his best days a lot of unsound sacrificies. He believed that the opponent will not find the correct refutation. Capablanca thought of himself as unbeatable and announced the draw-dead of chess. Morphy played against Paulsen a famous queen sacrifice which is even nowadays complicated for computers. He could not see the full consequences, but he was sure that he has created for Paulsen more troubles than for himself. A player without self-esteem would not have played the queen-sacrifice. ....

Such quotes are therefore only a hint that this self-esteem is usefull for getting a top player. Like always an overdosis is not healthy.

Chrilly
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