Chess and Linguistic Gambits in Finance

By Cenen Herrera

Writing from the City of Williams, Northern California

Linguistic gambits abound in the business world. They comprise of high-value sacrifices that produce the ultimate good for all stakeholders, i.e., tricky combination and winning lines. In the world of finance, a number of seemingly sophisticated financial planning tools exist and, in my view, they almost always carry a sense of linguistic gambit. For example, scenario planning and stress testing, simulation analysis and shock scenarios are common terms used in financial planning. These financial tools reveal that they are all based on assumptions about important variables that could have an impact on future results of operations. As such, the approach that an organization could adopt would vary widely in scope and breadth, e.g., use of simulation techniques. In addition, it could explore the use of simple smoothing techniques to multivariate statistics. The bottom-line in financial planning is to be able to adopt the appropriate combination and winning lines for the organization to maximize its stakeholders’ value.

Chess is my favored sport. I love to play chess because it improves my memory, and makes me better prepared to face the future. It is in playing chess that I was introduced to the word gambit. Webster defines gambit as a chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain a positional advantage. Playing chess makes me experience the rigors of how to plan best for the future, which I find very relevant to financial planning, accounting, and my new found love – auditing.

I find chess an indispensable tool for enhancing my financial planning, accounting and auditing skills.

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DLS71, LSGH75 and DLSU79 NCAA Chess Team - Animo La Salle !!!