My conglomeration of chess articles and my sporting life
I have been encouraged to have all my chess related articles reflected under “my roof”, so to speak. I was surprised to see the interest that still exists in chess in our world of today; I thought interests were more on computer games especially via the internet. The initial difficulty in learning the absolute basics of chess is daunting to many. So what is the mystique of chess? Is it still fueled by the romance of the cold war battle between the ideologies of capitalism and communism when Fischer and Spassky met in the early 1970’s? Admiration for the Olympian heights the minds of these super-grandmasters function at? Probably all these and more.
https://steemit.com/chess/@gavvet/chess-and-my-evolution-in-logic-featuring-fred703-as-author
I received some excellent insights from other chess players who commented on their life experiences and what chess did for them. After leaving school I started to take games like table tennis and squash quite seriously. I did achieve a certain level of skill but it nowhere in comparison to levels achieved in chess. In chess I could feel sorry for an opponent but still play the correct move to gain the best result. However in sport, that sort of mentality was a complete disaster for me! Why? Spontaneity! I required a total focus of my mind and my body if I wanted to win. Any hesitation, any weakening of resolve, will result in the opponent gaining the initiative over me.
The best squash player I personally played with, demonstrated the amazing ability to strategise while on court with his opponent. So his tactics would be adapted to his observations of his opponent and then developing tactics to exploit the observed weaknesses. In this context strategy means long term planning (the entire match) and tactics means the current point being played on the court.
When I occasionally watch top level tennis, I realise that the technical stroke making abilities of both players are extremely close but the difference is in the mental arena. I get so irritated when I hear moronic comments on the television like, “well, Djokovic wanted to win more”. What a load of nonsense that we get fed, didn’t the other guy want to win too? Just because a player loses, it doesn’t mean that his desire to win was any less! To me it means the winner's focusing ability was better on the day. His skill at changing the pattern of play to suit his own skill set was greater. But to say that the other guy didn’t really want to win is nonsense.
So even though I thought I tried really hard at table tennis and then squash, the spontaneity and coordination of my mind and body did not match the skill sets of some of my opponents.
I found golf was a great game to apply a mental approach to assist your physical skill set, personally I felt I played better golf from the mental side as compared to my physical skill set of golf strokes. Chess was really of great assistance here, as you play your shot when you are composed and prepared, unlike in table tennis and squash. Golf is probably the best game where players of differing skill levels can play together, primarily due to the handicapping system.
The great result of sharing my memories and thoughts around chess has created a hunger to play again, so back to good old “gameknot.com” I have gone, and am starting to exercise the old cerebral cortex again
