To win in chess: master your emotions
"You sit in front of a board and suddenly your heart skips a beat. Your hand trembles as you pick up a piece and move it. But what chess teaches you is that you must remain there calmly and think whether it's really a good idea or if there are better ideas." - Stanley Kubrick
You arrive at the tournament, excited, dreaming of winning the first prize, but at the same time, you're afraid of making a mistake. There's a whole range of emotions that pass through your body, and it's for this reason that chess makes us feel alive.
Raise your hand if you've ever allowed yourself to be checkmated in one move. 💔💔💔.
Raise your hand if you've cried after losing a game. 😭😭😭.
Raise your hand if you've wanted to be alone because you feel like nobody can understand you after a loss. 🥺🥺🥺.
So here we are...
How can you harness your emotions to help you in a tournament?
I have some advice for you:
Accept your emotions: don't try to minimize what you feel; it's okay to be nervous. Imagine that you can turn these nerves into energy that will help you find good moves.
Breathe: I can't stress this enough, it might seem obvious, but sometimes we forget to breathe properly when we're very emotional. Take deep breaths and exhale slowly, do it as many times as you need to calm yourself down.
Understand your frustration: stemming from losses or mistakes, it's a sign that you care and that you know you could have done better. Frustration is the path to improvement in chess, as it drives us to train harder.
Seek intense concentration: Chess Grandmasters can concentrate easily; it seems like they simply do it at will. However, for the rest of chess enthusiasts, this activity is a bit more complicated because it seems like the mind likes to make jokes while you're trying to find your way out of the maze of variations. An exercise I like to do to improve concentration is to count all the moves for each side while my opponent thinks. (Advice from Argentine Master Roberto Grau in his “Tratado General de Ajedrez”)
Enjoy the euphoria of winning: we even feel wings on our feet when we win a game. Congratulations, you've worked hard and winning a game is the fruit of your effort. "You will be successful if you're lucky, and you will be lucky if you've done something to deserve it." - Vishy Anand
Strengthen your confidence: Work hard and detach yourself from the outcome. This is the most important principle. Tournaments are won in training. The more disciplined, enthusiastic, diligent, and responsible you are with your training, the better you will do in tournaments. When you train, you have the confidence that things will go well, and confidence is very important in tournaments. There are many ways to train; Chess.com offers a lot of training material, and you also have the option to contact a coach who can assist you with a personalized plan.
"From my end, I'm here to assist you. I offer personalized training sessions, tailored to address your specific areas of improvement and enhance your skills. With a deep passion for the game and years of experience, I can provide you with advice, strategies, and techniques that will help you grow as a player.
It's essential to remember that chess is not only a mental battle but also an emotionally enriching experience that pushes us to improve and learn from our experiences, both victories and defeats. In the end, the key is to enjoy the process and have fun with the game, as that passion and enthusiasm for chess will accompany us in our growth and development as players.
WIM Alejandra Guerrero Rodríguez
FIDE Trainer
+52 618 273 36 14
