Baba
Sy, the World Champion of 1963-1964 of 10x10 Draughts -
Volume
I - 264 pages
This book should be considered a historical book, as it is the draughts career of Baba Sy, a prominent Senegalese
player. He was able to be the best in the world without
reading any books. He had a natural
talent and was a self-made man
thanks to the game of checkers. I have witnessed
the achievements of the great Baba Sy and I have been
in the early stage of great players such
as Harm Wiersma and Ton Sijbrands,
and predicted in 1964 that they would be future world champions.
So I know the
mentality that one must have to
succeed in this mind sport. Those who want to go into
deep analysis of the games of Baba Sy need to buy the book of Ton Sijbrands (Baba Sy, le Grand
Livre de Baba Sy, 1989).
Both draughts (checkers) and chess
help develop confidence in our abilities. The strategies we learn in the game of
draughts can be applied to
business to ensure success. I taught
draughts to the son of my previous Dutch boss in his early years. Now, after 40 years, he confessed
that this game has helped him
a lot in his business. He migrated to United States when he was young and his flower
business is today among the best
in the country.
The game of draughts teaches us to anticipate and
predict our future business visions. We learn the pros and cons of a play, just
as in business life where we also have to make decisions. We learn to apply our
judgement and not the criteria of the people around us. The vast majority of
people are influenced by the visions of others. So much so that the decision to
favor the group is often the wrong one. This is done because of fear of
failure, feeling ridiculed, or being the dissenting member of the group. In the
game of draughts no one will help you with your next move, you have to do it
yourself and you are solely responsible for your actions.
Draughts teach us to fight, every point counts. Sometimes a
game lasts over six hours. In this way you learn patience and to draw or win
games that seemed to be completely lost. This eagerness to fight and patience
come very handy in business where we have to prepare a commercial contract with
our clients and be patient.
The mentality we acquire from draughts is nothing
less than the creation of a competitive spirit and the desire to achieve goals.
Competitive people can make more sales than their peers, work longer hours,
stimulate creative ideas, and develop products and quality services. In other words
the game of checkers gives you a competitive spirit and the desire to always
improve and be better than others. You never have enough, you need to be better
and you will never surrender to achieve it. With this attitude one undoubtedly
makes small businesses be leading companies in the sector.
My 40-year stay in Spain and my research on the
Moors permits me to know more about the Islamic custom. And so I am now
in a much better position than
40 years ago to comment properly on the life of Baba Sy.
Acknowledgements and thanks
My thanks to Mr. Ndongo Fall of Senegal. He
supplied me with interesting data about Baba Sy and his family. In this sense I
cannot forget the long correspondence I had with Mr. Jean Marc Ndjofang and
Malick Niang. My thanks to Hanco Elenbaas, Fred Ivens, Jan de Ruiter, and many
others. To Ed Holstvoogd who despite his serious illness found the strength to
send text and photos in the past. I owe a lot to Dr. Diego Rodriguez of France,
since he provided me with lots of photographs of Baba Sy’s championships in France.
We talked a lot on the phone about Baba Sy whom he met personally with Michael
Hisard. I hope not to forget anyone so THANK YOU all. "
