Preparing for Battle.

Chess is a tough game. Equal parts stamina, knowledge, willpower, luck, among many other factors, winning a single chess game relies heavily on at least a few of these elements and rarely just one. Sometimes a lack of knowledge can be overcome by perseverance, persistence and stamina, while a lack of willpower and fight usually keep even the most knowledgeable master from the upper-echelons of greatness.

Today I'm going to talk about preparing for your chess games mentally. That is, deliberately trying to put yourself in the best state of mind in order to play your best game. We should never underestimate how important our moods are and how they inevitably affect our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Though it sounds painfully obvious, the vast majority of behaviour and conscious action are a result of unconscious brain churnings-- we are always downstream from ourselves so to speak. Knowing this, a good deal of mental sword-sharpening should help our play dramatically if we develop ways of putting ourselves into moods that are conducive to better play.

What does your perfect day look like? What are you doing? Are you with someone? What's the weather like? Where are you? What does it smell like?- Close your eyes and take a minute to imagine this. I'm serious. Do it.

What did you come up with? Playing video games with your best friend? Playing your guitar by a campfire alone in the mountains on a cool spring night? A simple image of  waves pounding against a rocky cliff? The more vivid your description, the better. Now why in the hell did I get to you to do that? Alright, I know you didn't, but here's why. This simple exercise of visualization, a skill as a chess player you've honed for years, can be incredibly powerful under the right circumstances. It acts as behaviour modifier to try and "click" you into gear so to speak, a flushing. It's a way of creating a positive mental environment when the conditions around you wouldn't normally get you all uppity. This is the mental equivalent of doing something physical in order to try and change your mood. A lot of people do this by going for a jog, doing a few push-ups, sprinting 50 yards etc. and as we all know, exercise is one of the best ways to keep a healthy mind, the endorphin's that are released during exercise produce immediate changes in the brain and often make people less anxious along with a whole host of other benefits.

Wait a second you ask, this sounds a lot like that bullshit book "The Secret". Yeah, it does, but stay with me for a few more minutes.

Getting to your "happy place" isn't terribly difficult. In my case, what I like to do is listen to music before games. I would sometimes go outside, pop on a song that I thought best fit my mood at that particular time and rock out, of course making sure that no one was around to hear and see my terrible singing and laughable air drumming. If I had time, I would sometimes close my eyes and imagine walking along a beach during a downpour. It can be anything for you. This kind of pregame preparation almost always served me well, I would be a better mood, better equipped to handle later stresses, and my games were usually of better quality.

May you discredit my new-age psychological nonsense and beat me up over the board later. Good night, and good luck.