Do not celebrate until after your success

I loved to play Chess when I was a child. This anecdote is from when I was playing a tournament that could have decided my future as a chess player.

I had a winning position, and my opponent, in despair, kept saying to himself a verse in the Sanskrit language: vinaash kaalae vipreet buddhi ( विनाश काले विपरीत बुद्धि meaning “when my end comes, my mind fails“.)

I was too excited as I was going to win a place to go for the national finals. There were very few pieces on the board and it was the type of endgame I remembered having won countless times.

Just then in my excitement, I blundered and placed my rook where a novice wouldn’t have. In my next move, I resigned without hesitation. He shook hands and said to me, (in Hindi) “You play very well.“

I learned my lesson that day to never celebrate until the job is completely done. Otherwise it ends with vinaash kaalae vipreet buddhi.