Warming Up To Chess
Warming Up To Chess
It was a thursday afternoon in a quiet neighborhood. The air was rather lively, however. Birds chirped, trees rustled, and a subtle wave of fragrance grazed through the aether of a little blue room. An incense stick was in bloom, red with vitals and grey with wither. Funny. In honor of the floral theme this sweet and earthy variety was neatly rooted in a clear glass vase with a pink himalayan crystal salt base -- filled just below the brim with coarse brown sand and topped yet again with white coarse sea salt. It looked home made and inexpensive. It was simple and it was just how @WSama wanted it.
He had just returned from the conundrums of a little square board game on his desk, simple was a fair welcome. As for the journey, it felt an awful lot like dreaming, he'd say, an awful lot like dreaming.
Now awake, he turns to his right and sees his cup of plain green tea is still hot and steaming, and the vapour makes it seem a misty flame on water - Jumanji. He stretches, he yawns, and he clears his eyes. He recites something that hinges on the borders of motley rubble and godly riddles.
"A man's eyes. The innocent smooth of his eyelids soothes for it is truth. A man who has slept and dreamt knows not where he went. But indeed and in deed the eye and the shield that sweeps from the sky should reprise what was before he had died."
But just how innocent could those eyes have been? He is a chess player, after all. But that, I suppose, is a question for the fun of philosophers.
As his lips part once again, which during this ritual seldomly do, a sound and a word he utters, "mmh, is stoneware more durable than porcelain? I don't know, but stoneware tea cups have a playful granule I just can't deny..."
That brings us to the point!
Are you warming up right before your matches? Did you know that whatever you take in right before you play a game of chess could affect whether you win or lose? Fortunately there are a few simple methods to get you ready and sweaty for a master game (haha maybe minus the sweaty), and we'll take a look at them next.
First is first (uno)
Get rid of all that tension. There are many methods that you can read up on to help alleviate stress and tension, I will simply name just a few to get us started:
- Breathe - breathe in and breathe out. Place your focus on your breath and try to let go of whatever you were busy with.
- Clear your mind - one of the simplest ways to help achieve this is to listen to the sounds in your room and become aware of the sensation on your skin -- look around you while you're at it... what colors do you see? Touch yourself. How does it feel (lol)?
That's it! You're no longer distracted as you might've been before that.
There's also the issue of time controls. Time controls, strategy, and style, directly influence what your warm-up menu will be. So keep that in mind as we go through the various chess warm-ups and combinations best suited to your needs.
Familiarisation
After a long day of work or school (or dreaming) the last thing at the front of your brain is chess. It's time to rewire a bit, and sort out our memory index. Here's how to familiarise yourself before a game:
- Take a good look at the set you'll be playing on. Look at all the different regions of the board.
- Briefly, think about a couple of openings and the moves entailed in these openings, preferably while looking at the board.
That's it! This not only helps to rewire the brain, but also to adjust to a new environment. So this also works for theme changes and background changes.
Here we go! Menu time
Tactics - Let's face it, tactics are tough. They are not exactly the best way to warm up for a game because they are known to frustrate people. They're mostly for training and practice. But if you plan to play a sharp and tactical game then it might be worth a try. Tactics will definitely sharpen you up for some slicing and dicing, just don't burn out before you've even played.
Competition in action - this is probably a good all rounder for every type of time control there is. Watching a couple of games in action (you can find that in the live panel) is a smooth choice. You don't have to think too hard, and at the same time you're familiarising yourself with the game. I'd definitely get used to this. Just be careful not to fall into the contestant's pace. It's great to feel inspired but it's another thing to play somebody else's game.
My games - do you play daily chess? That's perfect. You can go through a couple of your matches for a few minutes and you'll be good to go. Watch it, though! Often we make a lot of deep strategic commitments with these long controls and you do not want to be distracted by that while you're trying to win a live game. If you've been working on a strategy for weeks, the moment you look at it again you might be stuck in that mode for a while. To get over this, try watching some competition in action.
Blitzing bullets - If you're going to be playing some rapid, stay away from these fighter jets. It's kinda hard to take the slowlane after you've been NOSing through a round of speed trap in Need For Speed.
The beginning and the end - going through some openings and endgames is a perfect way to get started, and it'll help you play a better game as you take this arsenal with you to the frontlines.
My favourite time-control is rapid, so I try to avoid blitz and tactics before starting a new game. If I had to pick something from the menu above I would go with The beginning and the end, as well as My games. These are my favourite exercises, and by going through my daily games for a warm-up I actually knock two birds with one stone, saving myself valuable time. I love the idea of Competition in action, but I simply haven't gotten around to trying it out much. Good luck with finding your best take.
Until Next Time
That's it ladies and gentlemen, the theatre must close, but the show never ends. Until next time. And until then you can read more on themes to help you win - here. You can also join the discussion - here.
