“Perfection is the enemy of action”.

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That’s a life lesson. And a lesson from Game 7 of the Chess World Championship at Almaty. It was 3-3 going into game 7. World number 2, Ian Nepomniachtchi, with White and world number 3, Ding Liren with Black. (world number 1, Magnus Carlsen had decided not to defend his title after holding it for over a decade).

It was a to-and-fro game, very dynamic, very interesting, looking like Ding, with Black, had a chance to win in the middle game. Then came the Big Freeze. Ding froze. The clock ticked down, 8 minutes. 5 minutes, 43 seconds! He crashed right into  the time limit (40 moves in 120 minutes). Ding spent so much time trying to find the “perfect move” that he failed to make a move at all. Till with seconds left, he made a blunder. There were plenty of moves — at least one or two! — that he could have  made, that even I could’ve made — safe moves or “good enough” moves, to get him to move 40, and the extra time allotment. But instead he froze. It was shocking to watch in real time. As I did.

Perfection is the enemy of action.  Chess lesson, Ding! Life lesson, kids!

I had this motto in my mind when I built my little boat in the backyard, ten years ago. I knew that I wasn’t doing a perfect job. That proper boatbuilders would raise their eyebrows and tut-tut. But I pushed on. Knowing that if I didn’t , I’d never finish.

ADDED: Chess.com “Ding’s collapse”