The game has just started… Your opponent plays a couple of moves you anticipated thanks to your preparation the day before and suddenly, it all goes blank… Despite all your efforts to look inside your head, it’s impossible to recall the correct continuation, leading to the advantage you worked so hard to establish yesterday, exactly as if your… Read More »
If you haven’t been following my adventure, I have recently attempted to get my mind free. By free, I mean without any distractions from the day-to-day life. The idea behind this experiment is to enjoy not being disturbed at all during the tournament next week and thus be fully concentrated when I play. Consequently, I rigorously followed a… Read More »
Have you ever played a chess game while pondering about this task at work you didn’t manage to finish in due time? Or being interrupted in the middle of a critical calculation wondering if you finally did what your partner asked you to prepare, among the never-ending list of to-do’s you have? Often annoying, isn’t it? David Allen,… Read More »
Legendary human rights activist Malcolm X once said, “There is no better than adversity.” This quote is especially valuable in a chess loss, because the post-mortem analysis gives you much more insight than r a victory and reveals to be an excellent growth opportunity. As I just lost my two first ICN games of the season, writing these… Read More »
Imagine for one second that you could play a variant which is not the best, but would with 100% certitude put your opponent in a really unpleasant situation and thus give you the edge… I guess most of you would grasp this opportunity. That’s what I would also do. If chess is mostly a question of precision, the… Read More »
As Bobby Fischer once said: “Your body has to be in top condition. Your Chess deteriorates as your body does. You can’t separate body from mind.” No matter how focused you are while playing, a sudden and unforeseen pain can easily ruin this positive energy. Sitting for many hours can effectively become uncomfortable as it can put a… Read More »
I recently wrote an article about all the benefits of nature for your chess game, right before or after it. But wouldn’t it be great to enjoy the nature boost while playing too? If we agree that leaving a game for a nature walk is far from convenient, this trick proves to be an excellent alternative. 40-second nature… Read More »
Have you ever found yourself astray in your thoughts during a chess game, so much that you lost track of time and forgot about the outside world? Being fully immersed in an activity like that is a state of mind called flow. As a chess player, entering this flow mode will give you a higher sense of control… Read More »
A lack of focus while playing? I already suggested trying a bubble gum. But for some of you who would not be fan of chewing, you can give a try to this one minute focus hack: First, decide on a piece of your choice over the board Then select a specific point of this chess piece (The eyes… Read More »
Nowadays, although numerous studies have demonstrated its productivity value, the power of napping is still largely underestimated in our society. Taking a nap for less than 10 minutes is indeed already incredibly beneficial for both your alertness and cognitive skills. A quick nap is actually like rebooting your system. You relieve fatigue and start fresh. So the question… Read More »