"Think fast. Think under pressure. Think strategically. That’s how you win in business... and in chess. Our chess tournaments were certainly one of the most prestigious business events of 2007 and 2008." That is the motto of Your Next Move.
On October 13th 2009 Your Next Move organized a chess event in Antwerp, Belgium, for business executives, politicians and children. It was held for the third time, and for the third time it centered aound Garry Kasparov, former World Chess Champion (1985-2000). Kasparov played a simultaneous exhibition against 26 opponents – business executives nominated by the different companies partnering with and sponsoring the exclusive business event. But not just them. The organisers invited chess clubs and primary school to take part in a pre-tournament held in various locations on October 4th. In the weekend prior to the chess event a further selection is made during a simultaneous game against English GM Nigel Short. The winners got seats in the simultaneous exhibition of Garry Kasparov, along with the business personalities.
The event was filmed by EXQI TV in Belgium – in extraordinary quality. It was recently posted on YouTube. The following videos show highlights from the event. The videos feature comments by Nigel Short. Special attention is payed to the game of Chris Lanckriet (BNP Paribas Fortis IS Development Officer) who survived for 48 moves against Kasparov before resigning. Each of the following three segments are ten minutes long. If you do not have the time or patience to watch thirty minutes of video then there is a link at the bottom of the page to a number of smaller sequences.
Note that the videos are in High Definition. There is a small "full screen" button at the bottom right of the YouTube player, which plays the video in the maximum resolution of your monitor. Lucky you if you have a 24 inch HD screen – 1920 x 1080 pixels of resolution.
"Ultimately, what separates a winner from a loser at the grandmaster level is the willingness to do the unthinkable. A brilliant strategy is, certainly, a matter of intelligence, but intelligence without audaciousness is not enough. Given the opportunity, I must have the guts to explode the game, to upend my opponent's thinking and, in so doing, unnerve him. So it is in business: One does not succeed by sticking to convention. When your opponent can easily anticipate every move you make, your strategy deteriorates and becomes commoditized. " – Garry Kasparov, FastCompany.com, September 2004.
