How to Develop a Perfect Memory (19 page)

accurately. It's very common for errors to creep in, and a poor technique becomes second nature just as easily as a good one.

A simple journey can radically improve the efficiency of your declarative memory. It gives you the best possible start if you are learning to play golf or rebuilding an aspect of your game. Nothing demonstrates this better than the golf swing, the bane of so many golfers' lives. Instructors are always encourag-ing players to tick off a mental checklist of dos and don'ts before each swing -

easier said than done in the heat of a game. Using a journey, however, you can memorize a whole series of detailed instructions, effortlessly running through them whenever you want.

THE GOLF SWING

The person we have to thank for the golf swing as we know it today is Harry Vardon, the British professional who dominated the game at the turn of the century. He won the British Open six times and the US Open once. Before Vardon, players used the 'classical swing', hitting the ball long and low, but not very accurately. Vardon's style was to hit the ball higher in the air, causing it to land at steeper angle and stop more quickly. It resulted in much greater accuracy and gave rise to the 'modern swing'.

Little did Vardon know what angst he would cause budding golfers, or how much work he was creating for golf coaches. People have been trying to master the modern swing ever since. Nick Faldo has spent most of his life in pursuit of the perfect action. After years of constant re-evaluation and analysis, he has come closer than anyone to achieving it. He has had to carry out a witch-hunt to get there, isolating negative aspects of his game that have crept into his reflexive memory, and using his declarative memory to learn new techniques.

The rewards of such dedication are there for everyone to see. Faldo, like Kasparov, is an example to us all.

GOLF LESSONS

One of the hardest things about golf lessons is trying to remember every pearl of wisdom handed down by your coach. It's not just a question of remembering what you are doing wrong, you must also remember the bits you got right! No matter how you are taught, the easiest way to recall all your coach's dos and don'ts is to draw up a mental list.

The entire action of hitting a ball (from takeaway to impact) takes less than two seconds on average, but there is a crowded sequence of events that must come together in perfect harmony if you want to produce the desired corker of a shot.

I don't pretend to be a professional (if only), but here is a typical list of the areas that coaches suggest you should keep an eye on during your swing:

1. Grip

6. Backswing

2. Clubface aim

7. Top of

3. Ball position

8. Downswing

4. Stance

9. Impact

5. Posture

10. Follow through

In Chapter 2, you learnt how to memorize a list of ten items of shopping using images and a simple journey around your house. Treat this checklist in exactly the same way, except that I suggest you choose a route around your clubhouse.

Allocate a different point to each stage: the car park covers your grip, for example the changing room covers your clubface the driving range covers ball position the video booth covers stance; and so on.

With a little imagination, you can store as much information as you want at each stage. Take the restaurant (fifth stage), for example, which covers posture.

You might form an image of a waiter taking your order in a peculiar way: he is bending down from the waist slightly, with the knees flexed and back fairly straight (or whatever posture your coach recommends). An outspoken man-ageress shouts across at you, 'Keep your head still when you're having your order taken.' And so on.

Alternatively, you might prefer to stick with one simple association. For example, you could imagine that Fred Astaire is in the video booth (fourth stage); the camera is filming him tap dancing, focussing on his lightning quick feet. This reminds you to check your stance.

Every time you play a swing shot, you just have to run through your familiar journey, reminding yourself of all the points as you go. It doesn't take a moment - far less time than it takes to describe.

Using a journey gives you a better overall view of the shape and structure of your swing. It also gives you a solid framework of mental instructions that you can easily call upon during practice, allowing you to tweak and adjust every little aspect of your swing. After all, you are trying to ensure that only the purest instructions make their way from the declarative memory into your reflexive memory.

Other aspects of your game can also be stored at various locations around the clubhouse. To remember what your coach said about playing a downhill lie, for example, you could imagine a scene on some stairs. Tips on drawing the ball could be broken down and visualized along the driveway. All advice on bunker shots could be stored in the cellar. Apply the principles you have already learnt: use instant associations to translate the information into memorable images. The more unusual they are, the better.

20

HOW MEMORY

CAN IMPROVE

YOUR CHESS GAME

When he was asked what single overriding quality was required to become

World Chess Champion, Gary Kasparov replied 'a powerful memory'. In 1985, he defeated Anatoly Karpov to become the youngest-ever world champion. He was barely twenty-two years old. Since then, Kasparov has been universally hailed as the greatest chess player who has ever lived.

A powerful memory can help players of all standards to improve their game.

Beginners can learn simple opening moves and gambits, and club players can build up a bigger data base of previous games. Kasparov uses his memory to recall situations and moves from thousands of encounters he has stored in his head.

The following section is designed primarily for the beginner, but I also hope that the professional player will be interested in the economy of my method for memorizing a series of moves. An entire game, such as Boris Spassky versus Bobby Fischer in 1972 for example, can be recorded using a simple journey, with each stage representing one move.

HEALTHY BODY. HEALTHY MIND

A powerful memory is not all you need to become a chess champion. Kasparov is utterly dedicated to his profession, and trains mentally and physically every day. A typical morning might begin with a long cycle ride, followed by several lengths in a pool, before settling down to some work at the chessboard. He believes that if he stays physically fit, the quality and duration of his mental concentration is enhanced. Top-level matches are arduous affairs, requiring long periods of acute mental alertness.

I fully endorse this theory of healthy body, healthy mind. It applies to all mind-sports, not just chess. When I am preparing for a competition or attempting a world record, for example, I give up alcohol and embark on a rigorous

schedule of running and cycling five weeks before the event. The effect on my concentration and performance is considerable. My body feels relaxed and I can think clearly and deeply. Sadly, though, the strict regime can sometimes fall by the wayside if I am successful, as I like to celebrate with a drink!

CHESS AND THE MEMORIAD

One of the events at the first World Memory Championships (MEMORIAD) in

October 1991 was to memorize as many moves as possible from a game of

chess. Moves had to be remembered in sequence. We were each given five

minutes to study the game and no mistakes were permitted. The moves, were listed on a piece of paper and had to be remembered in sequence.

I managed to recall the first 11 moves. In chess, one move includes the re-positioning of a white piece and a black piece. In effect, I had memorized the first 23 individual moves (12 white, 11 black) without error. This was sufficient to win the event and helped me to win the overall championship.

After the MEMORIAD, questions were raised about the legitimacy of using

chess as a memory test. Critics argued that those competitors who had a sound knowledge of chess had a distinct advantage over those who had no

experience of the game. Accomplished players were familiar with the board, enabling them to visualize moves and remember them more easily.

I appreciated these objections, but I also knew that neither myself nor

Jonathan Hancock, who came second, had been thinking of anything to do

with chess as we memorized move after move. We had both been lost in our own mnemonic worlds, utterly divorced from the board and its pieces. While I was travelling around a castle in Ireland, Jonathan might well have been engrossed in
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

ALGEBRAIC NOTATION

No one knows for certain who invented the game of chess. Sir William Jones, writing in his eighteenth century essay 'On The Indian Game of Chess', suggested that it evolved in Hindustan. Known as 'Chaturanga', it consisted of elephants, horses, chariots, and footsoldiers. Chaturanga reached the Arab lands in sixth century AD (where it became known as Chatrang) and was taken up in the west a century later. One thing we can be sure of is that the Arabs, in the ninth century AD, devised the now universally accepted method of recording chess games.

'Algebraic notation', as it is known, divides the chessboard up into vertical ranks of numbers (1-8) and horizontal columns of letters (a-h), giving each of the 64 squares its own co-ordinates.

The Chessboard

8 a8

b8

c8

d8

e8

f8

g8

h8

7 a7

b7

c7

d7

e7

f7

g7

h7

6 a6

b6

c6

d6

e6

f6

g6

h6

5 a5

b5

c5

d5

e5

f5

g5

h5

4 a4

b4

c4

d4

e4

f4

g4

h4

3 a3

b3

c3

d3

e3

f3

g3

h3

2 a2

b2

c2

d2

e2

f2

g2

h2

1 a1

b1

c1

d1

el

f1

g1

h1

a

b

c

d

e

f

g

h

The white pieces are set up in ranks 1 and 2; the black pieces are set up in ranks 7 and 8. Each of the main pieces is also given a letter:

King = K, Queen = Q, Rook = R, Knight = N, Bishop
=
B

All moves are represented by the co-ordinates of the square of arrival. Thus, if a White Knight moves from its starting position, b1 to c3, the move is recorded as Kc3. Or if a Bishop moves from c1 to a3, it is recorded as Ka3. There is no letter to denote a Pawn. If a Pawn moves from e2 to e4, it is economically recorded as e4.

It just so happens that the DOMINIC SYSTEM is perfectly suited to

algebraic notation. The co-ordinates, consisting of one letter (column) and one number (rank), are already half-way to becoming people. A simple conversion of the number co-ordinate into a second letter will translate every one of the 64

squares into individual, memorable characters.

Using the DOMINIC SYSTEM, square c3, for example, translates into CC

(c = C; 3 = C), which in turn translates into Charlie Chaplin. Square h2

becomes Humphrey Bogart (h = H; 2 = B); d7 becomes David Gower (d
=
D; 7 = G); and so on.

There is only one small alteration to make. When you first learnt the

DOMINIC SYSTEM, I suggested representing 6 as an S rather than an f.

Similarly, the f column on a chessboard should be represented as an 's'. Thus, the square f3 translates into Sean Connery (f
=
S; 3
=
C).

I have printed out below 64 characters and their respective positions on the chessboard. As ever, your own people are preferable to mine.

THE DOMINIC CHESSBOARD

8 Adolf

Benny

Charlton

Daryl

Edward

Sherlock

Gloria

Hulk

Hitler

Hill

Heston

Hannah

Heath

Holmes

Hunniford

Hogan

7

Alec

Bob

Charles

David

Elizabeth

Stefane

Germaine

Hughie

Guinness

Geldof

de Gaulle

Gower

Goddard Grappelli

Greer

Green

6 Arthur

Bram

Claudia

Delia

Ebenezer

Steven

Graham

Harry

Scargill

Stoker

Schieffer

Smith

Scrooge

Spielberg

Souness

Secombe

5 Albert

Brian

Clint

Duke

Eddie

Stefan

Gloria

Harry

Einstein

Epstein

Eastwood

Ellington

Edwards

Edberg

Estafan

Enfield

4 Arthur

Bernard

Christopher

Dickie

Eliza

Sharron

Gerard

Humphrey

Daley

Davey

Dean

Davies

Doolittle

Davies

Depardieu

Davey

3 Andy

Bill

Charlie

David

Eric

Sean

Gerry

Henry

Capp

Clinton

Chaplin

Copperfield

Clapton

Connery

Cottle

Cooper

2 Alastair

Betty

Cilla

David

Eric

Seve

George

Humphrey

Burnet Boothroyd

Black

Bowie

Bristow Ballesteros

Bush

Bogart

1 Arthur

Bryan

Charles

David