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Weve seen the workout videos and the bombs that Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been letting loose on the field this offseason, and nearly every fan of the team is hoping that it leads to success in the regular season and beyond.

However, its important to note that not all of Haskins struggles were physical in 2019 a lot had to to with mental decisions on third downs, and even some maturity questions off the field. So while we cant see how that side of his game is improving, we are at least getting more information on what the young QB is doing in order to build up his mental fortitude.

Hes been playing a lot of chess.

While working with QB trainer Quincy Avery, Haskins has been joining up with other NFL players to improve an intangible skill: brainpower.

I got each of my quarterbacks with a chess pro, Seth Makowsky, Avery said on The MMQB Podcast. So I got them all playing chess to that we can start coming up with procedures that we can go through not only in chess but at the line of scrimmage.

So the same way we go to a chessboard, I look left to right, identify my threats, where am I under attack, how can I attack them those are the same sort of steps that I need to take when I approach the line of scrimmage.

It may not result in more accurate passes or a few extra scrambling yards, but being able to dissect schemes at the line of scrimmage should directly result in fewer sacks and better blitz pick-ups.

Whats the front, which way are the safeties rotating, who can bring me pressure, how do I protect myself from that pressure, how do I attack the defense, Avery said, drawing a parallel from the chess board to the gridiron. Its having a checklist of things that you ned to do every time you come to the line of scrimmage so youre not wasting mental energy trying to figure things out at the last minute, so youre not getting beat by blitzes because you just didnt check something that you shouldve checked and you wouldve if you had the same process every time you came to the line of scrimmage.

If I get my guys doing this and each one of them has really bought in I think that its going to pay real dividends and these guys are going to reap the benefits this upcoming season.

Later in the interview, Avery went on to commend Haskins for his growth in 2019 despite being in a tough situation, and he even said that he believes the Redskins QB has one of the better Football IQs that hes been around. Based on the physical improvements weve seen from Haskins this offseason, we can only hope that all of this work will start to show itself on the field in 2020 and that it will result in more successes and wins.

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Dwayne Haskins is playing chess to improve decision-making ahead of 2020 season - Redskins Wire

Chinese strategist Sun Tzus most famous aphorism goes something like this. He said, If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles

Strategists learn about adversaries by observing their actions and statements, interpreting their behaviour, and studying their leaders. But the more astute understand the enemies mindset by studying their culture.

Leaders and tactics may change, but strategies and doctrines are embedded in the culture and mindset of a nation and are, therefore, far better predictors of their actions. Both China and India have a rich culture and several texts that explain respective mindsets but an easier way to explain the difference is to study the strategy games of the two nations.

Chess originated in India. The game is played by two players on a board of 64 squares with 16 white and black pieces each. The opponents start the game with all their pieces arraigned against each other and each player moves alternatively. The pieces have powers in hierarchical order with the queen being most powerful. All pieces change their positions continuously during the game.

As those familiar with chess know, it is a game of manoeuvre that has one centre of gravity the king; and the objective is to capture or kill the opponents king. The loss of rest of the pieces or their positions at the end of the game is immaterial.

The Chinese strategy game, however, is igo commonly known as Go. It is played on a much larger board that has 19x19 sides resulting in 361 points compared to the 64 squares in Chess. In Go, the stones are positioned on the intersections of the squares to deny liberty to the opponents stones. Go also has white and black pieces called stones, but that is where the similarity with chess ends. The objective of Go is not to capture any single piece; instead, it is to surround a larger total area of the board with ones stones before the opponent. As the game progresses, the players position stones on the board to map out formations and potential territories. Contests between opposing formations result in the expansion, reduction, or capture and loss of stones. The winner is decided by counting each players surrounded territory along with captured stones.

China has been playing Go, not chess with India. It has been playing the game on a multi-dimensional canvas much larger than the Indian landmass and across several spectrums, ranging from the military to the economic intersections blocking Indias liberty or manoeuvrability over a long period. It has inveigled every neighbour of India by coaxing, cajoling, or enticing them into its camp. It has infiltrated into Indias economic, infrastructure, health care, communication and technological value chain so inextricably that, contrary to silly calls for boycotting Chinese goods, India cannot meaningfully disengage its dependence on China.

While there is no doubting the valour of our army, the cost of militarily confronting an adversary whose economy is over five times as large as ours and whose defence budget is four times ours would be horrendous in human and economic terms for decades to come. This is particularly so because China has turned Indias northern and western neighbours into its surrogate pincers tying down a large part of our military assets and strategic mindshare. If India does consider the military option, it will have to factor in Chinas overwhelming superiority in the Ladakh region specifically, and in electronic warfare, cyberwar, drones, missiles and the nuclear arsenal of the Peoples Liberation Army generally.

The word igo in Mandarin literally means to encircle, and that is Chinas strategy with a combination of the String of Pearls (which refers to the sea line communications from China to the Horn of Africa through strategic choke points and maritime centres in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Somalia) along Indias coastline and the Belt and Road initiative in the North. Nepal, Bhutan and now Ladakh are additional stones being placed to constrict Indias manoeuvrability from every direction.

Instead of treating these episodes as singular events, India must join the dots to appreciate the Chinese game plan and design a counter-strategy along three thrust lines.

First, an encirclement cannot be broken only from inside. Instead, India must expand the board by cooperating with countries such as Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam which are increasingly threatened by Chinas hegemonistic moves. Simultaneously, it must build pressure from within the encirclement by rapprochement with immediate neighbours such as Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. This requires us to think like a Go player and appreciate that unlike chess, the stones in Go dont have relative power. India has far greater historical synergies with every one of our neighbours including Pakistan, than China does. Each stone, or in this case, country, is important, regardless of its physical or economic size. We need to value them as equal partners in the struggle against Chinese hegemony. Second, India must recast its national security strategy horizons to decades instead of election cycles. If a governments image is interlocked with tactical timelines, then, by definition, strategy will suffer because tactical and strategic goals are usually at cross purposes. Divorcing national security from politics will enable long-term indigenous capacity-building and strengthening external alliances.

Last, and most important, India needs to consolidate its internal critical mass. The country is facing multiple challenges on several fronts, most seriously the economy. Political power, as Mao said, may grow from a barrel of a gun, but national power emanates from a strong and vibrant economy, which, in turn, requires internal peace, cooperation, and harmony to inspire customer and investor confidence. Unless those conditions are achieved, no country can aspire to be a regional power or thwart attacks on its sovereignty.

Raghu Raman is the founding CEO of NATGRID

The views expressed are personal

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China has been playing Go, not chess. India needs to learn the game | Opinion - Hindustan Times

Chess is finally back on the board the physical one, that is.

And in one of the first tournaments held after the coronavirus-induced lockdown, during which several online events have been played, an Indian has emerged champion.

Leon Luke Mendonca won the Balaton Chess Festival tournament (open section) in Hungary with a round to spare. The 14-year-old Goan International Master, who has been stranded in the European country for the last three months, finished with 8.5 points from nine rounds.

The top seed won eight out of his nine games and drew the other one. The fine show should lift his spirit, as his wait for the return flight to India continues.

He had flown to Budapest to play in the First Saturday tournament in March. He was scheduled to return to India later that month, but his plans went awry when the commercial passenger flights to the country were suspended.

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Leon Mendonca wins on board chess tournament in Hungary - The Hindu

Chess Pro Reveals How the Game Can Improve Your Focus, Problem-Solving, and More

The game of chess is not merely an idle amusement. Several very valuable qualities of the mind, useful in the course of human life, are to be acquired or strengthened by it, Benjamin Franklin famously said. Life is a kind of chess, in which we have often points to gain, and competitors or adversaries to contend with.

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When you picture the concept of chess in your minds eye, what images do you conjure up? An elegant mahogany table overlooking a roaring fire, two glasses of whiskey at the side of the board, perhaps a pair of wing-backed leather chairs flanking the board Theres no doubt that chess is an intellectual game, something to be enjoyed in the same respect as a smoky nightcap or a good conversation with friends, but if Franklins theory holds even a minuscule amount of truth, learning to play chess might just be one of the most enjoyable ways to work on your mindset, and learn to accept lifes little nuances while having a lot of fun.

Whether youre completely new to the game or youve played a few rounds here and there over the years, the benefits of learning to play chess go far beyond what you learn on the board. Here, we spoke to Danial Asaria, 5-time national chess champion and current number one 19-year-old player on the West Coast of the United States, to get his insights on how the game will benefit you in all aspects of life.

Learning to play chess doesnt always come easy even seasoned professionals get frustrated after losing a well thought out game plan. The game teaches you to embrace losing and learn from your mistakes, Asaria tells AskMen. Ive lost over 5,000 games and two national championships in the last round, but I learned from those experiences and went on to win four national championships and represent team USA in international competition.

While it can be frustrating to lose multiple games in a row especially if youre a particularly sore loser learning from your mistakes and figuring out new strategies is directly related to your experience at home and in the office, as well. The more you become used to the idea of seeing mistakes and losses as a good thing, the better youll be able to shift your perspective and turn negatives into positives outside of the game.

According to Asaria, chess is a great way to work on your ability to plan for the future and plan for, and react to setbacks in a calm and collected manner. Chess teaches you to think ahead and envision your adversaries' plans before they have even come up with them, Asaria explains.

Chess involves meticulous problem-solving skills, and while figuring out the best way to protect your king or move your pawns might not seem like it will translate into your day-to-day life, youd be surprised by how much flexing this muscle can aid your problem-solving skills in real life. Chess teaches you to problem-solve like a professional, adds Asaria. No one has ever won a game by resigning You learn to fight and think of creative solutions in even the most hopeless of situations!

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I once played an 8-hour chess game when I was 10 years old, laughs Asaria. Like golf, baseball, and even Monopoly, a chess game can last forever quite literally. Being able to maintain an engaged attention span while waiting out for the other player to lose focus teaches you the art of patience and being able to wait for the results youre trying to manifest.

You might go into a game thinking you know exactly what plays to make to intimidate your opponent, but as much as you study the art of the game, youll never really know what theyre about to throw at you. In fact, there are more than 400 possible board setups, and by the third move, there are more than 121 million possible gamesno matter what, youll have to choose the best possible solution, even if it means making unwanted sacrifices along the way.

The game teaches you that there is no perfect solution to chess or life, says Asaria. You will never have it completely figured out and there will always be unexpected obstacles that come up. As long as you gave your all then you know youve done your part.

You can connect with people you have never met around the world in a unique way, Asaria says. I traveled to Bolivia for a tournament and played street chess next to farms with kids that didnt speak English.

Chess is a universal game that spans beyond language or cultural differences and has been bringing people together for more than 1,500 years. While playing chess for fun may not lead to far-flung travel on its own, being able to pull out a chessboard to play anywhere in the world, or logging into international games of virtual chess is a great way to break cultural barriers and learn about our neighbors from other countries.

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How Learning Chess Can Improve Your Life and Career - AskMen

There is a common notion that the Chinese Army is invincible even though they have not won any wars recently. Welcome to the Chinese Art of War.

China has mastered the art of unconventional warfare in which the opponent gets psyched out even before the first bullet is fired. The art cannot be explained, it can be only be experienced through a board game.

The Chinese board game called wiq or i gi or Go which is known as the game of encirclement, the core philosophy of Chinese military tactics. In wiq, the goal is to surround and capture the enemy and dominate the board through a series of complex, deceptive moves stretching out often for an entire day.

In Wiq or Go, the two players take turns to place white or black stones on a square grid with 19 intersecting points along each axis.

It is said the Sun Tzu (writer of The Art of War) perfected the game of Go in a real-war situation and defeated Kingdom of Chu, with a numerically inferior army. The same tactics were adopted by the Vietnamese Congs in 1960s and 70s against the US forces.

In the Art of War, Tsu shows how in Go you have to bring alacrity, surprise, deception and swift moves to create opportunities to secure political motives just like Chinese military strategy.

In India and much of the western world, the military strategy is guided by another ancient popular board game Chess. Chess is a popular Indian board game which originated in the Gupta empire and was popularised in the west via Persia. It has roots in the ancient Indian dice game of chausar.

Chess is a zero-sum game where the player has to kill or get killed. In conventional war the prevailing dictum is that brute force can only win the battle. Therefore, the best approach is to neutralise the opposition through a frontal attack attained within a limited time.

The objective of chess is to deliver a quick, killer blow by capturing or forcing the surrender of the King by eliminating its pieces. The Western civilization had always based their strategy on such an objective. On the other hand, Go doesnt generate a quick, straightforward winner. The player who ends up with the most territories at the end is considered the winner.

As per wiq, the best approach is to psyche out the opponent into believing that you are invincible. The idea is that the opponent will start giving in once encircled and there will be no need for a full-blown frontal attack.

China invested heavily to acquire companies or supply chains across the world. In the 1990s, the Chinese also started to use its global clout to buy out or steal industrial and technological properties of other countries. All of this was controlled by the state even when it was fronted by private companies or individual investors.

Chess is focused on positioning while Go prioritizes net balance calculations as players always lose something to gain something. In selecting where to play in Go you have to look at the balance between attack and defence, playing close or loose, territory or influence. Like in Go, Chinese military have the capacity to plan long term territorial expansion often a century in advance.

The Chinese have strategically placed their stones in Asia, Africa, America and Europe. The four continents represent the four quadrants of Chinas modern wiq strategy. The strategic stone placement over the past 50 years has helped China secure political clout, access to markets and raw materials, public support and the notion of invincibility.

The number of legal board positions in Go has been calculated to be approximately 2 10170, (Combinatorics of Go, Tromp and Farneback)greater than the number of atoms in the universe. Compared to that chess has finite moves. In chess, there are 20 possible opening moves compared to 361 for Go. Chess prioritizes mobility and relative strength while Go values territory and positional influence.

The Chinese strategy on Tibet is exemplified by the long drawn, calculated moves in Go. The plan is to legitimize the forceful annexation of Tibet by swaying international opinion in its favour. China has long pressurised the US administration and dissuaded them from taking any unilateral action that alters the perceived status quo. It has skilfully used its economic, military and diplomatic levers to curb any possible dissension or freedom movement in Tibet.

The international position in Tibet is that China should not use too much force to curb dissent. This is a Chinese victory as this is a tacit acceptance that Tibet is a part of China.

Last but not the least, wiq embodies Chinas top down, ruthless communist dictatorship. Chess has different pieces with different capabilities while in Go all the stones are of equal value. This is similar to the assumed equality espoused by the Communist Party of China (CCP). In Go, some equals have to die to give power to other equals, which is how the modern day CCP conducts itself.

Note: Article co-authored by Saptorshee Kanto Chakraborty.

Read more:
China has Weiqi, India has Chess Read how these board games also shape respective battle strategies - OpIndia