Your Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I read an article where a grandmaster coach advised players to have two separate chess accounts: one for when the conditions are conducive to optimal performance and another when you are inclined to play poorly. It's different for everyone. 

For me, the best conditions mean morning to early afternoon time, and a quiet atmosphere. Poor conditions mean it's night time, I'm tired, sick or stressed out about something. (I must have gleaned this advice from a blog in ChessMood, an online chess academy run by GMs). 

Basically, you create a Dr. Jekyll and a Mr. Hyde account. I believe Chess.com allows users to have up to two accounts. 

I actually tried this. I started using a "Mr. Hyde account" at night time, while listening to music, a podcast or anytime I'm not intensely focused. Remarkably, I performed much better as Mr. Hyde! Perhaps, I was less averse to losing elo points. This allowed me to stay calm and focused. 

This was a lightbulb moment. I realized that if I adopted an attitude of being more absorbed in the process, I could actually play better. I stopped using Mr. Hyde and instead, started practicing this mindset in whatever setting or time of the day. I also felt like I could analyze my games more accurately with just one account. 

I'm not countering the GM's advice -- he's a GM ! It actually led me to this insight, and it reminded me how fun it was to just play without making the game 'all or nothing.' 

But I'm keeping Mr. Hyde -- because certainly, there will be times I will loathe chess and play  badly for weeks. I've experienced these many times. 

The "bad account" helped me recover while not totally disconnecting from the game. 

Right now, I'm putting Mr. Hyde aside but keeping him just in case 😉