Thinking Sideways

Essential life lessons and strategy hacks for success from the world of chess, from making smarter choices to building focus and confidence.

You don't have to be a great chess player, to think more like a chess player.

Two-time US chess champion Jennifer Shahade cuts to some of the most important lessons chess can teach you. She shows how the best players consider not just more but better possibilities by thinking sideways, opening our eyes to smarter choices not just on the board but in all areas of our lives.

From building mind palaces to crafting decision trees, Thinking Sideways reveals how to find options that may seem hidden, have confidence in your decisions, feel comfortable going against the grain and maintain deep focus in the face of distraction. Drawing on her own experiences touring the world as a chess champion as well as fascinating examples from across business, politics, the arts and sports, Shahade transforms our understanding of what success looks like, and how to achieve it for ourselves.

Thinking Sideways proves that games really can make us better versions of ourselves.