People often wonder what the point is behind Tai Chi; they might have heard about health benefits but then figure they could do just as well on bran flakes. The answer is that the process of personal cultivation offered by Tai Chi changes people in innumerable ways, many of which will often be too subtle for people to notice. And then there are the less subtle ways which are very noticeable.

Since taking up Tai Chi I’ve found that my driving has improved because of finding it easier to look round. I also don’t need to hold on to anything if I’m stood up on the train, greater stability can be provided by simply bending the knees and sinking. And I’ve found it easier to stay relaxed at the dentist, though it could be that some more experience is needed to really crack this one.

I think that benefits can be accrued from other art forms as well, for example chess. It cultivates the ability to concentrate, spatial awareness, imagination, self-discipline and fosters values such as a sense of justice, getting what one deserves. Not bad for an ancient board game.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

In May I mentioned a project I was involved in with GM Raymond Keene, OBE. Well now I can reveal more, it’s a new training DVD we made together with girls champion Emma Bentley. You can see the introduction by Evan Harris, MP, here on Youtube.

Mr Harris rightly mentions the educational values of chess which I believe to be more widely touted. Together with the the possibilities for preventing Alzheimer’s and personal cultivation in adults, it’s amazing that our game is not much more popular. Hopefully this DVD will do something to change that.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

So finally I finished equal third after winning my last two games. Tomorrow there will be a playoff between Conquest and Arkell to decide the new champion.

This was my best result in a few years, though admittedly I’ve played very few serious tournaments in this time. The good points were increased stamina and good positions out of the openings, the bad points were the horrific oversights versus Conquest and then Gordon when I tired after some long games. The burst of energy that came at the end was after a series of easier games.

So it seems that even more stamina and fitness is required, perhaps together with a little work on the endgames so as to be able to go on to autopilot in long games and perhaps play in quieter style.  I’ll see what I can do before the European  Championships next month.

Copyright Nigel Davies 2008. All rights reserved.

It seems that I’m now a veteran, at least according to the BCM blog which mentioned that I turned 48 on the day of my game versus Hebden in round 4. I mentioned this to Jeff Horner just before the start of today’s games (round 6) and we wondered what that made him, let alone Derek Horseman who had won the under 175 tournament at somewhere around 8 decades. We decided that a ‘real’ veteran was someone over 60, so it looks like I have another 12 years.

Unfortunately I played like a veteran in my round 6 game against Stuart Conquest, outplaying my opponent all the way until I bundled it at the end. Thinking I had to allow a draw by repitition I accepted his draw offer, and then discovered I was winning after all.

Stamina is certainly a problem as you get older and Viktor Korchnoi is a great model for the more mature chess player. I’m sure a lot of his success is down to the fact that he has walked everywhere since hitting a police car in what was then the Soviet Union. I think the Zhan Zhuang is helping a lot, especially as I’ve had a couple of younger players crack just before the time control. But there’s certainly more I can do in this area.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

This weekend I rediscoved the perils of DIY for myself. An attempt to trim the newly developed facial hair went horribly wrong and in the end there was nothing else for it but to remove the whole thing.

Of course the good thing about this is that we’re dealing with a renewable resource that’s free to grow. It’s much worse when one tries inexpert DIY on expensive materials; I’ve made this mistake too and now will think twice about painting a door on my own.

So when my Zhan Zhuang teacher reminds the class not to practice too long on our own, I listen. Well kind of. Assuming that he expects us not to listen, and has already given us a low figure, I compensate a little to the upside. But within these adjusted guidelines I’m very disciplined.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

During my many years of playing and coaching chess I’ve noticed a relationship between posture and thinking. For example if a player is hunched over the board and shaking, he’s probably involved mainly in the calculation of variations. Sometimes I’ve coached someone on the phone for quite a while but only when I saw how they sit at the board would I fully understand how they could improve their game.

This relationship between posture and thought has been highlighted more recently as I’ve become involved in Chinese martial arts. In this case proper ‘intent’ is the key to a stronger posture, and it’s amazing the difference it makes.

This leads me to wonder if people can improve the quality of their thinking by improving their posture. I’ve tried googling for this and only come up with some studies showing a change in brain waves in people who meditate. Also intriguing is a recent finding that visiting a chiropracter can reduce blood pressure.

The problem of course is that there’s no incentive to test something that can’t be patented, and indeed might reduce the need for drugs. But I find the possibilities fascinating.

Copyright Nigel Davies 2008. All rights reserved.

The last couple of weekends I’ve been busy playing in the Chester Chess Congress and then running a seminar at the Manchester Gigafinal of the UK Chess Challenge. Both events went pretty well for me, I won the Open and there was a good turnout for the seminar.

A remarkable similarity between the two events is that they were both built up by people with vision, starting from nothing to develop very successful events. Mike Basman started the Gigafinal in 1996 whilst Dave Dickson has built up both the Chester Congress and the Caergwrle Chess Club, which is now the biggest chess club in North Wales. They remind me of the story of The Man Who Planted Trees and the World could do with more such individuals.

In the picture below I’m with Dave Dickson outside the excellent Cheshire View venue. Eagle eyed readers will notice that I have some facial hair; I’m not sure I’m going to keep it but meanwhile have ordered a book on the exotic beard types used in the Indian army…

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008.

My son Sam’s sixth birthday is coming up on Sunday so I’ve been rearranging his wooden Thomas railway track so as to fit in the engine shed he’s getting. This kind of logic problem makes me realise what an easy game chess is.

By the way, for anyone who hasn’t tried it yet I can thoroughly recommend fatherhood. It’s true that it’s very difficult, demands great patience and carries with it an enormous sense of responsiblity. But I’ve found that every effort I’ve made to become better at the job carries with it the greatest of rewards; it’s an honour to be Sam’s dad.

I figure we’ll go to Liverpool tomorrow and make the life of Lewis’s lift operator a misery. He likes to solve Suduko problems when nobody requires verticular transportation but we’ll soon put paid to that.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008. All rights reserved.

One of the most useful concepts I’ve come across in a long time is what time management guru Mark Forster calls depth activities. In his book Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play he defines them as activities which get us away from the daily grind. He goes on to recommend meditation, walking and writing as three excellent ones.

I’ve found my own depth activities to be of immeasurable benefit and almost without fail will practice Zhan Zhuang in both the morning and the evening, usually preceeded by an eight pieces of brocade warm up. Forster suggests that depth activities should have a time limit lest they become too cumbersome and get pushed aside. For this I suggest either a meditation timer (and NOT an alarm clock!) or creating playlists of suitably relaxing music which  last the specified time.

The best I’ve found for Zhan Zhuang accompaniment is Enya. Lighting a candle helps too, placed just below eye level which is where one’s focus should be.

This way of starting the day bears no comparison to the alarm clock and coffee standard. Of course you have to get up a bit earlier than the rest of the world to fit it in.

Copyright Nigel Davies, 2008.

Can managed funds outperform the index or are they getting paid for nothing? This question has been the subject of considerable debate over the years, the random walkers tending to dominate academic circles.

So it was with some interest that I read that Warren Buffet has staked $320,000 against a firm that runs funds of hedge funds. His bet is that once costs and fees are deducted they won’t outperform the S&P over a 10 year period.

A couple of thoughts on the matter:

First of all I don’t believe many sizeable market players have much of an edge as far as market prediction is concerned. On the other hand maybe their edge lies elsewhere; if a hedge fund goes bankrupt with huge debts its value only goes down to zero, so in this sense it acts like an option with ‘management fees’ representing the premium. The upside meanwhile can be huge given the magic of leverage…

So who pays the debts? In many of the recent fund collapses it has been sponsoring banks who’ve picked up the tab. Of course if there are more widespread financial consequences then we all get to chip in, for example by having our currencies devalued in order to ’stimulate’ our economies.

In my mind the issue is the lack of responsibility engendered by limited liability, and I can see a case for not allowing hedge funds to operate on this basis. On the other hand this makes me realise what heroism is involved with those very few money managers who trade their own money alongside that of their clients. They stand to go down with the ship so there are some heavy duty ethics there beside the fees.

So will Buffet win? Frankly I believe that with any sort of competence the hedge funds should be able to capitalise on their limited liability edge. Let’s say, for example, that they take a leveraged position long the S&P whilst keeping their expenses down; given that the S&P is rarely down over a 10 year period, they should have the odds heavily in their favour, right?

Yet Buffet himself estimates his chances of victory at 60%, so what’s going on? To me it looks like a gesture of contempt.