I’m always on the look out for good musical accompaniment to the morning Zhan Zhuang sessions and so was delighted to have come across Georg Deuter. I picked up a few tracks at Tesco digital, based on the criterium that they’re purely instrumental and roughly 5 minutes in length. At the moment I do a circuit of 5 postures and spend around 5 minutes in each one.
Music can also be of great value for someone’s pre-game chess preparation as it can help focus the mind and thus reduce the number of distracting thoughts that pop up. Many people experience difficulty concentrating after a tough day at the office, especially if they have to go straight to the game after work. One way of trying to combat this is to spend a few minutes listening to music in the car prior to the start.
Nigel,
I kind of related point… but only kind of!
I often wondered why my team (and me) seem to perform better at home than away.
We take great care to leave plenty of time to arrive and many of the places are familiar to us. Whilst not as “comfortable” as our own club, we know the location, the ambience and opponents.
The only 2 significant differences are the journey and the presence of our friends popping along to watch the games.
Often in the journey we take about a variety of matters and try to relax (after all the journey back will be seemingly endless rambles on mistakes and great moves)! I personally don’t turn up at any club feeling more stressed than another, but I’ve always blamed this, pre-game, trip as the source to the “away” problems.
Therefore, the crux of my comment/question here is whether the crowd, in your opinion, can change the match. Is it better to watched by people you have a pint with week-in/week-out better than being watched by a relative stranger? Are strangers more judgemental than friends and therefore this pressure significant during a game?
Mike
By: mq1982 on November 28, 2008
at 6:48 am
Mike,
When Botvinnik recommended arriving at a tournament early, only part of it was to get a state paid holiday. If you’re not used to a place there are countless small things to think about that take the brain’s attention away from the actual game. I think these can be quite enough to explain underperformance at away matches, even if you’re not consciously aware of them.
Addressing this issue is more difficult because people can’t go to club matches too far in advance! But even 10-15 minutes should be useful, just for everyone to get settled.
Nigel
By: ndavies64 on November 28, 2008
at 7:00 am
Thanks Nigel,
Actually, my worst away match EVER happened the other week.
I started the season very well with 3 wins and 2 draws from my opening 5 games. The 6th game was away and at a venue many players hadn’t been too. I was in the back of a 4×4 as we went down countless B roads thanks to TomTom. Arriving at the club 2 minutes after the clocks started I ran straight into the toilet and “experienced” my travel sickness.
A sip of water and fresh air didn’t help as I sat there, dizzy, playing a bizarre variation of a Nimzo-Indian (I was Black). I resign on move 45.
I got to sit in the front on the journey home, but by then the horse had bolted!
Mike
PS The next games at home, so no excuses!
By: mq1982 on November 28, 2008
at 11:53 am