Do chess psychology coaches exist? Where do I find one?

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Avatar of gaereagdag

Are there any chess coaches in the world who specialise in the areas of chess pscyhology and chess concentration? In particular what to do if you are aware that your mind is wandering.

Avatar of AlCzervik

I have a concentration coach, but I always seem to forget the lessons.

Avatar of gaereagdag

Will Stewart might have been good in this area. But on his website he seems to have vanished.

Avatar of ekorbdal

California....?

Avatar of billyblatt

Try practising mindfulness meditation. Have a look at Kabat Zinn, he has got academic credentials. So does Russ Harris. good luck.

Avatar of gaereagdag

cation? Laughing

Avatar of gaereagdag

My problem is more overconcentration ; I put so much effort into the first 50 moves that I have no energy left.

Avatar of ChessKingFred

I'm a sports psychologist, most ideas and techniques in my field are certainly applicable to chess

Avatar of billyblatt

cation? what is that? 

Ok so I really don't know what to say. Your rating is higher than mine, so I don't have anything really useful to say. 

(But that has never stopped anyone here before)

So, I don't know what time controls you are playing and your opening repertoire. But if you just limit yourself to a few, and take time to study them, going over it slowly and not straining yourself, so that you know what is going on in each critical position, then when you play games you won't have to strain so much to find good moves. 

You should know what moves are the winning lines and which ones losing for both sides. That way you are not killing yourself for at least, say the first 20 moves. 

Ok that is a hight number, but with enough home preparation, you'll save energy for the middle game. So you'll be full tank for the rest of your 30 moves.

Avatar of pdve

if your mind is wandering you're probably better off focussing on the things that your mind is wandering to.Tongue Out

Avatar of gaereagdag

I was adding cation to the previous post that someone did of California = californication Laughing

Um. Billyblatt, that's a good suggestion. But my opening repertoire is what they call a rubber band repertoire - that is KIA, Reti, Larsen opening etc where there are no real "lines". You shuffle pieces around. Hopefully towards a positional end, of course. But it's not like say the Dragon Laughing

The game in question  was not on this chess site. I don't want to post it. Suffice to say that I was winning for 50 moves and then lost concentration with a horrid blunder that gave me a dead lost endgame that I lost at move 70.

Put it this way. Concentration is a bigger barrier than technique for me to get to 2200ish OTB. I woul;d say that I am 1800ish because I need 100 pts of technique and 300 pts of concentration.

I overconcentrate. That's what I do. I work TOO hard at the board. Most people don't work hard enough. But I work too hard. I need to work less. I will be the world's first LCM [ lazy chess master] Laughing

Avatar of gaereagdag
pdve wrote:

if your mind is wandering you're probably better off focussing on the things that your mind is wandering to.

Yes. It willwander to a long and winding road.

Avatar of billyblatt

You need to talk to Dr.Phil

Avatar of gaereagdag

Imagine saying to Dr Phil "I have a rubber band opening repertoire".

Dr Phil "in the 30 years that I have been doing this job I've never found anyone describe a sexual aid and chess in a sentence".

Avatar of billyblatt

lol

"The quickest way from A to B is not always at the most feverish pace."

actual dr phil quote...
Avatar of Mainline_Novelty
billyblatt wrote:

cation? what is that? 

 

A cation is a positively charged ion, although I'm not sure how it relates to the topic...

Avatar of Mainline_Novelty
billyblatt wrote:

cation? what is that? 

 

A cation is a positively charged ion, although I'm not sure how it relates to the topic...

Avatar of AndyClifton
billyblatt wrote:

Have a look at Kabat Zinn, he has got academic credentials.

Ooh...goosebumps.

Avatar of red-lady
Estragon wrote:

Only in California.

But the good news is that most of them offer free colonics with paid sessions.

We have the same Dr. in mind? 

Avatar of AndyClifton

Yes, now I just have to get a Natural Instincts coach!