Losing at chess: an unpacking
Losing at chess brings concurrent feelings, thoughts and emotions. It’s important to deconstruct the different factors to manage and overcome systematically. Let’s introduce a biopsychosocial framework – this sounds complicated, but simply recognising that losing affects your body (bio) your mind (psycho) and your perceived social standing (social). Biological factors After losses in soccer games,…
Guest Interview #3: Casey Thomas, Esports Performance Nutrition Specialist
Welcome Casey Thomas, Nutrition Specialist and Registered Dietitian. Casey works with a lot of professional esports players. I always look with a keen eye on innovation in esports to translate to chess, so I’m always interested in Casey’s presentations and content. He kindly agreed to answer a few questions on nutrition. His answers are incredibly…
The xG of Chess: Shark Points
Quantifying chances in Football Football (soccer) is a low-scoring game, with a large part of randomness. Counting the amount and quality of chances helps describe the balance of the game. The so-called ‘expected goal’ or xG are now ubiquitous. If a striker has a chance worth 0.2 xG, we expect that on average, he will…
Teach yourself to be a Resilient Tournament Player
If you’re a dedicated chess player: up and coming, professional, amateur, adult improver, or new to the game … you work a lot on your game. So much effort goes into all aspects of chess improvements. And yet, when it is time to perform during a chess tournament, a whole array of different skills is…
Leaning into discomfort
Stop trying to trick yourself into focusing on what is important and address the root cause of distraction. Two positions, two different challenges Position 1: Black to play, and to make it even easier it’s mate in two: For most chess players, this is in the realm of ‘hot cognition’, aka system 1 thinking. Let’s…
My notes from the esports coaching and performance summit 2023
Esports are at the forefront of optimisation and taking lessons from the world of traditional sports – to the chagrin of some chess purists, who see esports as ‘just video games’ and chess as a noble board game of rich history. It is undeniable that chess is a noble rich game but the video game…
Heart Rate Variability for chess players
What is Heart Rate Variability and how to use it for performance improvement. What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV)? HRV is a proxy for stress. It is an overall measurement of your stress levels and encompasses physical stressors like physical workouts and nervous stressors. Having a quantified measure of stress is valuable to help navigate…
Guest interview #1: PhD in Psychology and chess player WFM María Rodrigo Yanguas
This week is the first ever interview on this blog, I am talking to Dr María Rodrigo Yanguas. María has a PhD in psychology and is a titled chess player. She was very gracious to spend time answering my questions on chess and psychology. Enjoy the interview and follow María for more of her great…
“When I finally …”
For decades I have lived with the feeling that somehow true life was going to start at some point in the future. As a child I grew up in a modest household and inspired by the hard work of my parents, I went on through the education system to build a future for myself. All…
Is team chess a team sport?
From club players of the 1890’s to today’s Global Chess league, what does it mean to play team chess? How can teams be successful and have players that play at their best? Chess became extremely popular in London in the late 19th century. As early as the 1880s, clubs like the Metropolitan, the Athenaeum and…
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