Chesscampeona on the Move; Don't Let Your Emotions Take Control of Your Game

 

This weekend I participated in the 2014 Texas State Chess Championship. It was a personal achievement to play in the championship category, which requires a 2000 USCF rating, after having played in the amateur category when I was younger.

Through the transition of changing categories, I have grown not only in age but in experience and chess knowledge. Where can I pinpoint exactly where I grew as a player?

My emotions.

Chess is more than pieces, more than tactics and strategy - we are chess.  Regardless of our coach, regardless of our knowledge and experience at the end of the day we are human. We get nervous, we get tired, we get blurred vision, and make mistakes.

So what is the greatest challenge we face as chess players?

Getting nervous.

Every chess player has faced the feeling of nervousness such as sweaty palms, butterflies in our stomach and even the feeling of second guessing our moves. Most coaches do not coach this because it falls outside the area of chess coaching, but I will share with you what my coach shared with me on this subject.

1. Nervousness is simply lack of practice. How do you get over being nervous? You defeat it by placing yourself in a position where you feel nervous and you have to overcome it. This is why practicing is very important. Before going to a major tournament, play constantly in your chess club and online with strong players. You will never grow in your chess level if you do not play with strong players. ChessKid.com is an important tool for your chess development.

2. Refuse pressure. Sometimes your coaches and parents insist that you need to win a tournament and that is great because they want to see you succeed, but take it one round at a time. You cannot win six rounds in one game; it has to be round by round. Listen to some music as you go to your tournament so that when you arrive you do not accept all the pressures and noises that come with a tournament. Although, when it is time to play, turn the music off and concentrate on your moves.

3. Do not focus on ratings. Never look at your opponents as "ratings" because a rating is simply a record of past achievement. It does not define what is going to happen. People play chess, not ratings.

Remember, being nervous is a choice not a law. Just like you choose to accept being nervous, you can also decline it by implementing these tips. By the way, I scored 3.5 of 7 points in the Texas State Chess Championship, but in two of my rounds I scored a win and a draw against two strong 2200-rated National Masters.

I decided not to let my emotions move my pieces for me, and if I could do it, so can you.

Here is a game I played on ChessKid.com - I hope you can see the power of the center pawns!

Here my rook battery on the 7th rank proved to be too much.