Who’s the World’s Greatest Detective? It’s Sherlock Holmes! We decided to deduce the smart, attractive and observant Holmes as a creative minded, high-functioning sociopath. However, what makes Sherlock Holmes the greatest detective is his deadliest nemesis, Professor James Moriarty. He is the best suited super villain that Homes could come across. He is evil, witty and known to be the ‘Napoleon of Crime’.
What makes Moriarty best suited for Chess, is his ability to plan, plot and strategize. Chess is a game that needs patience, a cool mind and a designated power holder to take over the gameplay through sheer mind games.
What can you learn from the Witty mastermind?
Definitely not something evil. Holmes describes Moriarty as “His career has been an extraordinary one. He is a man of good birth and excellent education, endowed by nature with a phenomenal mathematical faculty. At the age of twenty-one he wrote a treatise upon the Binomial Theorem, which has had a European vogue. On the strength of it he won the Mathematical Chair at one of our smaller universities, and had, to all appearance, a most brilliant career before him.”
In spite of such ruthless characteristics, what you can learn from him are his strategizing capabilities. When you sit over a chessboard, what do you observe first? Instead, what should you observe first is the question? Do you know what Moriarty would have observed at first glance?
The Opponent- You need to learn about your opponent. Their characteristics, behaviour, do they take impulsive actions etc. Once you know these, you have already won half your game. Your opponent will lead you to victory.
Patience- Keep your mind cool, just like Moriarty. Only if you relax your mind, you can think better. If you get anxious, you will lose your concentration right in the beginning and start making mistakes. Take a few deep breaths before you start the game.
Strategize- Every move you make, can be the deciding factor of the game. Strategize accordingly. By each action made by your opponent, change the course of action if needed. Plan beforehand but sticking to the same old plan is not what Moriarty would suggest. It makes it all boring, and Moriarty is anything but boring.
Losing is not the end- One thing that Moriarty wrote in his heart, is not to be disheartened. There is always a next time. There is no game in the world that could make a winner or a loser. It’s never constant and it keeps on changing. You make your own luck, so work for it.
Professor James Moriarty can’t be a person that you can idolize, but you can learn from each individual. There is no end to learning. “It’s not the fall that kills you, Sherlock. Of all people you should know that, it’s not the fall, it’s never the fall. It’s the landing!“