Maxime Vachier-Lagrave shared his thoughts on viewing opponents. Maxime believes that dominating opponents should not be a player’s goal. MVL notes that working with competitors improves you. Maxime spoke about it in an interview on the Irreplaceable with Devi Sahny YouTube channel.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

France's No. 2

“I don’t think the goal should be to crush your competition. For sure, you want to be number one at something. But you don’t need to belittle them.

They will also get better. They will use the same features that maybe you’ve found first. And you will always have to renew yourself. But you can work with them. Working with your competition, in a way, improves you, because you cannot have all the solutions by yourself.

And sometimes, by understanding other people’s perspective, you get what they understand from the game of chess, how they get inspired, how they find their own ideas. And you understand that your process is very different.

This is what is inspiring, and this is what improves you.”

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave previously shared his thoughts on ego in professional chess. MVL said that a lot of ego is necessary to become a champion.

Credit: Lennart Ootes