Searching for Bobby Fischer
by Fred Waitzkin · first published 1988
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He gave up chess because he couldn't make grandmaster. The original book written with his father, "searching for Bobby Fischer" is much better I think. It's not the same as the movie, which is mostly imaginary.
on “Teachers nationwide are flummoxed by students’ newfound chess obsession” ↗Josh Waitzkin, the subject of "Searching for Bobby Fischer" wrote a book called "Art of Learning". In there, he describes one method he was taught to increase the amount of time he can sustain his focus -- interval training. He was first taught this technique…
on “Explosive productivity” ↗Strongly recommend "Art of Learning" There is an interview with Waitkzkin (whose chess talents were chronicled in "Searching for Bobby Fischer" book and movie) in "Learning about Learning" http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2009/01/21/learning-about-le... that gives you a good perspective of his ability to engage in self-debugging: I blogged about…
on “Ask HN: Books you read in 2016?” ↗…statements. And usually in that case I have the same code open locally in a debugger. The difference is night versus day. Maybe it's like a chess master who really doesn't need the board. For the kid in Searching for Bobby Fischer, it may really be a distraction. But I notice that grandmasters use a chess board in serious competition. And as a programmer I'm no grandmaster, and I play this weird game better with the board in front…
on “I do not use a debugger (2016)” ↗