Lower Your Stress, Improve Your Chess

With so many things to consider in a chess game, it's little wonder chess players have a tendency to overthink things. In any game, we'll constantly be on the lookout for tactics that can be used for and against us, struggle to choose between two, three, or seven different compelling options, and try our hardest -- with varying success -- to objectively evaluate what is actually happening on the board in front of us.

All of this is a gift and a curse. With practice, our ability to juggle so many different factors and use them to arrive, ideally, at a correct decision is the envy of the cognitive world. Chess players have been lauded for centuries for our seemingly superhuman powers of calculation, foresight, and prediction. But it all comes at a cost. Overthinking can lead us to be much more anxious, on and off the board. Even the word, "overthinking," is hard to use justifiably with a game that has close to infinite possibilities.

With so many possibilities, so many things to factors to weigh before making a move, how do we know when we're overthinking? And what do we do about it, even if we recognize it? Below, dear reader, are my thoughts to just those questions. My hope is that each one can take some of the weight off of what overthinking, and the common result of anxiety, may be putting on you.

1) Deep Breathing

I know, not exactly revolutionary. But I didn't promise originality, just useful tools. There's a reason everyone has heard of deep breathing and why I'm leading this discussion with it: it works. There's a strong correlation between our emotions and our breathing.

Have you ever been absorbed in a position, oblivious to the world around you, calculating the variation you really, really want to work to the umpteenth move, only to realize you were holding your breath the whole time? You're not alone, holding your breath is a common stress response. The trouble is that it is also puts more stress on you. This stress makes holding your breath again or a different pattern of shallow, rapid breathing more likely.

There are innumerable deep breathing exercises that can be sought out online or in books. Much like your favorite chess opening, each exercise also has innumerable variations that can be applied to it (for example, adding or subtracting calming music to your favorite exercise).

2) Grounding

No, you're not being sent to your room without dinner. Grounding is about putting ourselves in the present through paying attention to our senses. When we overthink, we're terrifying ourselves about that hasn't yet happened and may not happen. Is our opponent going to find that move that we're just sure obliterates us? Are they going to play a flashy sacrifice that will put us on the wrong end of a tactics puzzle? Whatever the situation on the board, we won't be able to handle it at our best if we're terrified before it even happens!

Like deep breathing exercises, grounding techniques come in many shapes and sizes. Also like deep breathing, I won't leave you hanging to scour the internet for choices (though please feel free to if that suits you).

A solid grounding technique is the 54321 technique. The idea is to seek five things you see, four  things you physically feel, three things you hear, two things you smell, and one thing you taste. By immersing yourself in your senses, you're able to take yourself out of the progressively dreary outlook overthinking is putting you in. The idea is not to ignore the problem on the board, but to return after the exercise with renewed focus and ability to cope with the demands of your position.

3) Progressive Muscle Relaxation

If you've ever had a long think followed by a nice stretch, you understand it's important to keep your muscles loose. Yet, perhaps counter-intuitively, bringing our muscles to relaxation after a long time thinking at our computer or chessboard isn't as easy as telling ourselves "relax now." Progressive muscle relaxation helps us to find our ease by first tensing our muscles. Similar to crouching slightly so that you can jump higher, we help ourselves to go in one direction by going the opposite way first.

I hope one or some of tools can help you to manage any anxiety, both on and off the chessboard. If so, I would love to hear how they've helped. Until then, good luck to you finding your checkmates and your peace.