Very interesting.
/ What percentage of your readers will Google the image of the beautiful female chess player? That's certainly something that one sees often in advertisements but seldom in real life.
Fundamentals of Chess Psychology
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Not sure of the answer to that Mr. Twain but she can play with me anytime At chess I mean 
. Thanks for reading it. You like to write don't you?
Nice post! The graphics are hilarious :-)
You will find "Psychology in Chess" by the Russian GM Nikolai Krogius, a great and refreshing read. It's amusing and instructive at the same time.
Incidentally, the same GM Krogius was in Iceland before and during that 1972 WCh match and saw for himself what Fischer did to win this match - so it isn't "rumor". It's quite factual (I trust this man's observations, which are written very matter-of-factly).
Fischer used psychology, but Spassky, ever the gentleman, acknowledged that he (Fischer) was also the better chess player.
thanks Solskytz that is nice and informative. Fischer had plenty of help from the CIA too as the story goes. Like making poor Spassky wait for 45 minutes prior to one game. During the Cold war era there was a lot of psychology going on.
Nikprit wrote:
Not sure of the answer to that Mr. Twain but she can play with me anytime At chess I mean . Thanks for reading it. You like to write don't you?
I can't believe that the Stanford paper published that slightly obscene photograph of her. The article (and picture) is also linked on what is reputed to be her Facebook page and on the Facebook page of the Stanford Chess club. Can it be that no one noticed?
In today's PC university environment, such crimes rarely go unpunished!
/ (I didn't notice it either the first time I saw it.)
When you are the best of the very best at chess but even better than that at least in your own legend like mind. Then it is not too difficult to celebrate moves of mediocrity that would make Kasparov’s knees tremble like a Kremlin kitten.
Despite the fact that your online chess rating was 1150 last week, 1110 this week and due to plummet next week, you know in your heart that you will be a champion one day. Your own unique style of play is still in theoretical developmental mode. You ignore the opening move strategies of past gone masters and the available study plans in favour of your own narcissistic negligence.
Your sublime sense of superiority has one dynamic flaw. It is called narcissistic rage. That one wrong move and there are many such moves. Makes you want to put a gun to your head and blow your brains all over the computer screen. Therefore if you make a lot of blunders, which you inevitably do, then you want to shoot yourself 50 times a day or more. Your rage gets turned in on yourself like some carnivorous animal devouring its own tail.
Scary isn’t it? Does any of this sound remotely familiar to you?
Is it the competitive side, the delusion, the anger issues stemming from an overinflated ego?
Is chess cathartic? Does it help to mirror your own demons?
Then of course there is the up side. The celebration of mediocrity at its finest. The hunter instinct kicks in and you smell your prey from 4,000 miles away at the other side of the globe and you got him cornered, you are moving in for the kill. Your opponent is in your sights and you feel like an exocet missile ready to obliterate him in the next sequence of precision moves.
Chess after all is war. A battle of tactics, attack and defend, of victory or defeat. Sometimes a draw with a worthy adversary. A struggle for survival. A fight for first place not second. A mental game of will and skill.
So is every game a roller coaster of emotional turmoil? Well that would depend on you of course. How serious do you take the game? Presumably you are not a professional player.
Your own reactions, emotional content and internal dialogue are there to be learnt from. Observe them carefully during a game for there is much about yourself, about your own psychological makeup that playing a game like chess can teach you. Learn from yourself as well as your opponent.
Why do we get so anxious when we are waiting and anticipating our opponents next move?
This is curiously interesting. He or she has 3 days to make a move but you want them to move about 3.3 milliseconds after you have just spent 30 minutes on the analysis board with your own move. Why the rush and be a hurry bunny? Are you blaming them for your own impatience? Do they make you angry because of your own expectations?
How much is it their fault and how much is projective identification? In any sport or game there are rules of play. If I decide to move in the 71st hr of a 3 days per move game - have I not stayed within the correct rules?
Infuriating aren’t they? The players who do this. Is it them or is it you? Are you denying them the right to play by the rules and enforcing your own agenda? Who is to blame?
There is a lot chess can teach us besides chess.
Are you a team player or a tournament player or both? Is it individual glory you are chasing or do you like the team spirit? It is more difficult to lose when you are supporting a team. You don’t feel you have done your bit somehow. Of course when you win as a part of a team there is that good feel factor that kicks in.
Most of us though play for the sheer beauty that chess is. Win or lose in tournaments or as part of a team, most of us take it for what it is - a wonderful game. A chance to meet some friends, have some fun, try to improve a little and get pleasure out of a few tactical manoeuvres now and again.
There are certainty some interesting characters on Chess.com.
Of course the brilliant but troubled Mr. Fischer despite the below quote used psychology it is rumoured to win the world championship against Boris Spassky.
There is more to learn than meets the eye in chess. Your own self reflective awareness will teach you about you - if you allow it to.