You Will Appreciate the Beauty of the Game
Leave the reckoning of my sins for another day; appreciate the beauty of the game ©
On Saturday, I once again took part in a managerial duel. I was matched with the experienced Евгений Басюк, who immediately invited me to choose the scenario. I do not like doing that—I prefer my opponent to choose. So I made a knight’s move: I uploaded the scenario bank and the records of both his previous duels and mine to ChatGPT, then asked it to find a scenario suited to our level. The AI delivered its verdict: “To spec, or the right way?” I recorded a video of our conversation and sent it to Евгений, who approved the choice.
It turned out that the AI had chosen the most frequently played scenario. Many participants were dismayed: “What else is there left to come up with?” That made it a challenge. I spent a long time thinking it through and discussing it with my second. Eventually, I came up with a brilliant idea.
I invented an entire alternative universe in which my opponent was a brilliant scientist whose work was so advanced that writing a specification for it was impossible. No one wrote Edison a specification for inventing the light bulb! In my version, Евгений therefore used his doctoral thesis as the specification—a document I could not understand at all.
I could then bombard Евгений with facts from academia—grants, publications, conferences, titles and degrees—as well as from the startup world: “Академия инноваторов”, or the Academy of Innovators, IIDF and so on. I know both worlds inside out (see my profile).
I was so fired up about my idea that I decided not to hold back during the duel and turned my emotions all the way up. Many judges have told me in their feedback that I always act very calmly and confidently, sometimes even too much so. Duels are precisely the kind of setting where we can try different tactics in a safe environment and receive feedback from the judges. So why not try a style that does not come naturally to me and see what happens?
The first round went as expected: Евгений mounted a logical attack, and I put up a logical defence. But in the second round, I put on a spectacular show. I came down on my opponent so hard that at one point he was lost for words. Unfortunately, amid all that emotion, my argument lost some of its logic. I failed to emphasise several important points, and neither my opponent nor the judges fully understood my reasoning.
So, I lost. But I do not regret it in the slightest. As an athlete, I have won so many times in my life, and lost so many times too… After some defeats, it felt as though life was over. Yet years later, I cannot even remember what game it was or why it mattered so much to me.
These days, I take games more lightly: what matters is being in the game and enjoying it.
On Saturday, playing was pure joy!
