Some tennis players prefer to stay on the back line some have a very powerful serve and rush the net. Some of us are more aggressive some of us are more defensive. Something that works for you may be counterproductive for me. Your decision-making process is as unique as your fingerprints or your DNA. There’s this conventional wisdom that it’s possible to give universal advice-a tip. What advice do you give the people you coach? I learned that everything was in my hands. I demonstrated to myself and to others that I had huge resources. Karpov got really exhausted psychologically, so they stopped the match. I survived, and eventually it was five to three. I was trailing five to nil, so he needed only one game to finish me off. The first match with Karpov wasn’t just long. It’s like an iron in the fire: When pressed at a very high temperature, it either breaks or turns into steel. To discover what you’re capable of, you need strong-or even better-opponents. How did your early rivalry with Anatoly Karpov help you? I wanted not just to win the game or impress my opponent but also to make sure I was learning something. Always trying to be at the cutting edge of chess was important to me. Without natural aptitude, you wouldn’t go anywhere. What has helped you more-natural aptitude or practice and preparation? So you use your opening strategy to push your opponent into uncomfortable territory. Even if two champions are roughly at the same level, there are certain positions where one feels more comfortable. You look at their games in the same way you do your own: He does this, he does that, he likes this, he doesn’t like that.

Not resting on your laurels is a very important lesson. I stayed on top for 20 years because I knew that even if you win, there are things to learn. That’s wrong, because people on the losing side will come up with a new strategy. Many people think that if something worked yesterday and is still working today, it will work tomorrow. The way to improve is to look back and analyze them. Kasparov: In chess, soccer, baseball, business, politics-God forbid, war-we make decisions. HBR: What can people in business learn from the best chess players? Trained in the Soviet system, he’s become a mentor to younger players, an ardent promoter of the sport, and a vocal critic of corruption in both the World Chess Federation and the Russian government. Garry Kasparov was the world’s top chess player for 20 years.

Garry kasparov chess lessons