Give it your all. Lay everything you’ve got out there on the table. Show the world everything you’re capable of.

Or don’t…

Bobby Fischer was a fascinating character. And despite some objectionable opinions later in his life, his earlier years were nothing short of remarkable.

Widely considered to be the greatest chess player in history, Fischer was already a US champion at age 14 — the youngest ever. His crowning achievement, however, was beating Russian master Boris Spassky to become the world champion in 1972.

To emphasize how big of a deal this was, from 1927 to 2007, Russians and/or Soviets held the world title for all but five years. And a young American shows up and defeats a Soviet during the height of the cold war — at a game they’d dominated for decades.

What am I going on about?

One of the reasons Bobby won that championship isn’t widely discussed, but I feel it’s an important lesson we can all use.

For 17 years, one of his main starting moves was the classic ‘pawn to king’s four’ (I say classic as if I have a clue what I’m talking about — I don’t — I’m just regurgitating what I’ve read).

The Soviets had teams of experts studying Fischer’s strategies and moves leading up to the competition. So they highly anticipated how the game would begin and how to use that to their advantage. Yet when he made his first move, it was something completely out of character. And this was enough, according to some, to throw the entire Soviet strategy to the wind.

The best analogy I’ve heard for this sort of thing is to imagine you’re preparing for a boxing match. You’re about to enter the ring with a right-handed puncher. You’ve studied your opponent’s moves, you’re confident and prepared to handle their game.

Yet when the bell rings, they pummel you with lefts.

Everyone should be able to bewilder and amaze at all times. It doesn’t have to be something as significant as the above examples, but I think it’s important to never reveal everything you are capable of.

In a world where we’re constantly told to give it all, I say hold back — at least a little.

Whether it’s a unique talent, a work-related skill or just a fun party trick, always keep a little something on the back burner. Hone it and keep it close at hand for when you need to catch them off guard.

And keep learning, constantly; so when you finally have your big reveal, you’ve got another one ready when the time to astound comes again.

Photo by Randy Fath