The Great Game of Chess

Searching for Bobby Fischer is a about a boy (Josh Waitzkin) who has a natural talent of being very good at the game of chess. Josh really enjoyed walking through the park and watching people play chess. He was fascinated with the speed they played, and he constantly wanted to stop by and watch, and eventually he even started playing at the park.

Josh's mother was the first to realize the talent after watching him in the park one day, and then Josh's father was next to find out just how gifted he was. Josh's father did not know much about the game, so he sought out the help of a professional named Bruce Pandolfini. Bruce taught Josh the x's and o's about chess. The big thing Bruce was big on, was taking the game slow. He didn't like the speed playing that was done in the park, and that is what Josh liked. Josh was doing well, and winning many tournaments, but then came along another child prodigy who really intimidated Josh. Once this other prodigy came along, Josh's performance started going downhill, and it was very clear that he was not having fun anymore. There was even one tournament, where it was pretty obvious that Josh lost on purpose early on, because he was scared that he would have to meet up with this new stud later on in the tournament.

Bruce became very frustrated with Josh's play, and at one particular lesson, Josh's mother happened to oversee things, and promptly asked Bruce to leave the house, as she was upset with Bruce's attitude and teaching method. It was after this that Josh took a much needed break from constant tournaments and lessons, and just enjoyed playing with the guys in the park. No pressure, no worries, just playing for fun. Everything starts falling into place again for Josh once he went back to the park and just played for fun. Josh started winning tournaments again, and at the big tournament towards the end of the movie, Josh finally meets head to head with the other prodigy and he beats him.

A Model that was discussed in class which can relate to this movie is the Sport Commitment Model. There are six factors that make of the Sport Commitment Model and those are enjoyment, attractive alternatives, investments, involvement opportunities, social constraints, and social support. All of these factors will determine the extent of sport commitment.

Enjoyment of the activity is based on feelings such as pleasure, liking and fun. This has a positive relationship with commitment. During the movie, it seemed at times that Josh was not really enjoying his lessons with Bruce, and would much rather go play with the guys in the park. Josh enjoyed chess, but he did not enjoy the learning process with Bruce. Young athletes consistently have identified the desire for enjoyment or fun as an important motive for participating in your sport programs, and the lack of enjoyment as a particularly significant reason for dropping out (Gould & Horn, 1984; Gould & Petlichkoff, 1988; Weiss & Petlichkoff, 1989).

There were a few attractive alternatives that Josh had to deal with during the movie. Attractive alternatives are other activities that may cause the individual to lose focus on his or her current sport/activity. While Bruce was teaching Josh, he had to deal with Josh constantly wanting to play chess in the park. Bruce wanted to teach Josh how to play slow, and to really think your moves, while in the park, Josh would learn from the other guys to play for speed and to be aggressive. This is how Josh liked to play, so it was an uphill battle for Bruce to try to make Josh realize that playing for speed is not good if you want to beat the best. However, in the end of the movie, Josh is very aggressive, and it ends up leading him to victory. Rarely in the movie do you see Josh hanging out with friends, or doing other sports/activities besides chess. His attractive alternatives were not all that great with the exception of just wanting to play chess just for fun in the park.

The biggest effect on Josh from the model would be social constraints. Social constraints are when an individual tries to please significant others by continuing sport participation, even though they man not enjoy it. Early on while Josh was just starting to win tournaments, it was clear that Josh's father as each tournament victory accumulated, started to like the fame more and more. It was because of this that he put the pressure on Josh to continue to win, and to keep attending the tournaments. There was one point in the movie where something was mentioned about Josh playing with his friends, but his father said that would be fine as long as it wasn't during any of the chess tournaments. This shows that the father was putting pressure on him to not only attend the tournaments, but to win them. It is also very apparent that Josh's father is caught up in the success when he yells at Josh's teacher for just making the comment that she was worried about Josh's behaviors. Josh's father proceeded to tell the teacher how great of a chess player Josh was, etc. In a study conducted on competitive female gymnasts, it was found that perceived parent constraints were negatively related to younger participants (Weiss, W.M., & Weiss, M.R, in press). It was clear that Josh was really feeling the pressure from his father, especially after his early exit in the one tournament, when he broke down while his father was talking to him in the pouring rain.

Josh was really feeling the pressure to continue winning at tournaments, and when Josh came across the other child prodigy, he became intimidated, and playing chess at tournaments was no longer fun. This all changed once Josh gave up the lessons with Bruce and went back to the park and started playing with the guys. One of those main guys that helped Josh was Vinnie. He was a real good player who played in the park everyday. This is what Josh really needed, and Vinnie gave that to him by letting him play in the park. Vinnie did the best possible thing for Josh, and that was teaching him to just go out and play, be aggressive, and have fun doing it. This was important for someone, especially young like Josh.

Josh's father should have been a lot more supportive during the tournaments then he was. Of course he was happy and supportive when Josh would be come out on top, but when Josh lost, he didn't handle things well. Instead of being frustrated and mad with Josh, he should have seen it as a cry for help, and that Josh just was not enjoying himself while playing in tournaments and having the bull's-eye on his back for being the top player It was important for Josh's father to just be loving and supportive no matter what the outcome was. Josh is still in grade school, and as a parent you can not allow your child's success in athletics/activities to determine your mood and how you talk with your child.

Josh's mother always seemed to be very supportive of Josh and really did not seem to care whether he came home with a trophy or not. She was not caught up in the hoopla of success, and just wanted to see Josh have fun. This is why she was not a big fan of Bruce, because he was the one that discouraged Josh from playing with the men in the park, and that was what Josh enjoyed. Again, at a young age, you should not take away something that a kid enjoys just to better them in some other activity or to win competitions. Josh's mother realized the importance of letting Josh be a kid and to do the things that he wanted to do. Those should not be taken away so a kid can bring home a chess tournament trophy.

Bruce did some nice things with Josh, and taught him some valuable things that will likely be with him the rest of his life. However, he did not make things all that fun for Josh, and that is what is most important at that age. Obviously, Bruce taught Josh how to use imagery, and this is what won Josh the big tournament in the end. He also taught Josh how to be patient and to really think about the moves and to take it one move at a time. This, however was not fun for Josh, and Bruce became frustrated with this, and was eventually fired from teaching him anymore by the mother. Bruce should have made things fun, and really asked Josh how he liked to play and let him do it that way. It seemed like Bruce was just caught up in making Josh the next Bobby Fischer. Bruce's strategy would work for an older adolescence or adult, but for someone as young as Josh, it was just not very effective.

Overall, everything worked out in the end, Vinnie was able to make the trip to the big tournament with Josh and his family, and even Bruce came along. There were major bumps in the road, but once Josh was allowed to have fun again, he stepped up his play big time and took down the number one guy. It is important to realize that kids need to be kids and have fun. Don't put the pressure on them at a young age on the importance of winning, and never let them know that you are really upset or frustrated with them just because they lose a basketball game, drop a pass, or make a bad move during a chess game. All they want to do is have fun!

RESOURCES

Scanlan, T.K., Carpenter, P.J., Schmidt, G.W., Simons, J.P., & Keeler, B. (1993). An introduction to the sport commitment model. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 15, 1-15.

Weiss, W.M., & Weiss, M.R. (in press). Sport commitment among competitive female gymnasts: A developmental perspective. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport.