Truth be told, this might not be such a bad thing. 2016 Candidates winner Sergey Karjakin struggled big time at the Tata Steel Masters 2016 (lost 9 Elo points), and Fabiano Caruana struggled massively at the Tata Steel Masters 2018 (lost 26 Elo points!).

It has been well known that whenever you try something new on the chess board or off, a new way of thinking or calculating or just a new routine, your results tend to suffer. That's because you haven't yet mastered the new way of doing things. A dip is natural before the rise. 

This simple Physics diagram also holds true to life!

Most people are scared of the dip. And hence they never really try something new. Their graph then remains like the heartbeat of a dead person – a horizontal straight line. Meanwhile, if you are trying something new all the time, experimenting, the graph would look like the heartbeat of a person full of life!

While it is going to be an extremely difficult task to win the Candidates for Vidit, Pragg and Gukesh, when you have guys like Nakamura, Caruana, Nepomniachtchi and Firouzja – the good news is that an event like the Candidates helps you to grow in the long term. You do things differently, you build a team around you, you do training camps, and you work on new ideas and strategies. And all of this leads to real chess improvement. 

Chess has this amazing feature (and it is true about all sports) that you get the feedback of your effort almost on an instant basis. You play a game and four hours later you have the result. This is not true in the life of an entrepreneur or someone doing a job. You might have the poorest state of mind at work, and yet no one is going to deduct your salary for that day. 

Immediate feedback in the form of results often brings an intense attachment to results for a chess player. However, the key aspect here is to detach yourself from the result as much as you can. It's extremely difficult, mainly because you are working towards getting a positive result and then when it doesn't come it is bound to upset you.

Check out this excellent article on detachment from results by GM Avetik Grigoryan!

In this respect, I am thoroughly inspired by Praggnanandhaa's learning attitude. When asked if he was upset when he blundered a totally winning position against Rapport in two moves at the Prague Master, Pragg replied: "I was happy with the quality of my game!" How can one shake such a steadfast improver? Even the result is incapable! 

TI want you to be inspired by Vidit and Pragg. Try new things and be ready to fail, just like Vidit. And keep an intense focus on developing a learning attitude just like Pragg. Keeping a healthy detachment from results is sure to boost your game and results.

Most people are scared of the dip. And hence they never really try something new. Their graph then remains like the heartbeat of a dead person – a horizontal straight line. Meanwhile, if you are trying something new all the time, experimenting, the graph would look like the heartbeat of a person full of life!