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Role of Physical fitness in Chess
Dear Coach. How important is Physical fitness in Chess? I wonder if we must take into account the state of our health when we are about to play a chess game. Will it affect our performance in chess and if so, what are the precautions we need to take, to maintain a balance?
Yours sincerely – Abhishek.
Dear Abhishek.
We are not talking about casual chess games but a serious Chess tournament.
Chess is addictive.
We continue playing when given a chance regardless of how we are feeling mentally or physically. This is a sure recipe for blunders in chess.
Now, coming to your question.
Is Physical fitness that important?
It’s hard to overstate the importance of Physical fitness for your chess games.
At first glance, you might think that Physical fitness is not important, and you can always rely on your brain’s abilities alone.
Well, this is not entirely true. Of course, you are endowed by nature with a sharp analytical mind, for daily pursuits, but they might not meet your requirements in chess.
Since chess needs certain specialized abilities, you want to get the mind to function at a higher than normal peak to meet your milestones in chess.
Without making an appropriate selection of physical training, your physical fitness and stamina won’t be adequate for chess tournaments.
You don’t want your games to end badly due to the loss of concentration, after 3 hours of an intense grueling chess fight, do you?
One of the most crucial aspects of chess abilities is – focus in chess.
A chess player without consistent levels of focus in chess won’t be able to perform at optimal fervor. And that’s the exact recipe for disaster that you want to avoid.
Your Physical fitness can help with a powerful performance in chess that reeks of consistency.
Fortunately, ‘focus’ is a lot like a mental muscle. The more you work on it, the more powerful it gets.
My job as a Chess coach + trainer is not merely teaching chess, but building requisite resilience, focus in chess, and other impactful areas.
5 Tips on achieving peak focus in chess via Physical fitness
1. Play chess only when you are clear-headed.
We function better at different times of the day, and it varies from person to person.
For e.g., I play better at night, while you may play at your best in the afternoon. We need to figure out our optimal performance times and play only when we are focused.
So as far as mental health is concerned – yes, it is essential. But that is not the complete story.
In the case of a serious OTB (over the board) chess tournament game, the stakes are much higher.
You need all reserves of energy, and must also be psychologically focused and clear.
A simple daily routine, like early morning running or brisk walking, increases mindfulness and a state of being in the present.
And a good diet to enhance a chess player’s stamina is essential for peak performance in chess too.
2. Play when you are free from distractions.
That is because the human mind must not be disturbed while doing something that needs our complete processing power.
It could throw our brain into an imbalanced state of mind.
It also makes us feel irritated and lose focus in chess.
Furthermore, it’s all about putting away diversions, whether they are physical, your mobile phone, or psychological (your fears), and being in a zen state of mind.
Developing focus in chess along with Physical fitness is the key.
A simple rule of thumb to regain focus. Start by taking several deep breaths while focusing on every breath.
When you feel your mind begins to wander, gently guide your attention back to your deep breathing.
3. Do not stress yourself about the results.
The third most important piece of advice I give my students (and the parents), is to treat all training games as match games, and all match/tournament games as training games.
That way the pressure is taken off the mind and the transition, to a peaceful and thoughtful state of mind, is flowing.
This state of mind is essential to harness the full potential of our minds. And train with this neutral outlook, all the time.
4. The most important factor that helps in achieving all this, is Physical fitness in Chess.
Even though Chess is a mental game, the physical fitness of the chess player helps a lot, in generating the required mental energy.
To keep calculating, at sustained depths in a chess game, mental equilibrium is desirable, to say the least.
Try cultivating the habit of morning walks or better still running as it will provide the much-needed oxygen for the brain to function clearly.
Clearly, exercises are great stress busters!
5. Build up stamina and lung capacity.
Talking of physical fitness I must say that it is very important to have good stamina and lung capacity, to handle all the tension that arises during a serious chess game’s pressure.
One way to increase lung capacity is to blow rubber balloons that kids play with or do aerobic exercises for 10 minutes.
In case these are not possible, try climbing up and down a flight of stairs for 5- 10 minutes.
Or even cycling.
To sum up – Role of Physical fitness and performance in chess.
Play only when your mind is clear and capable of focus in chess.
Play when there is no distraction.
Take all training games as serious games and all tournament games as training games.
Make sure you build up your Physical fitness in Chess by regular training for that super performance in chess.
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