Taking something positive out of every game of chess
Will take a break from my life story again today to being you a bonus free chess lesson!
It's about keeping your chin up after a loss or a string of losses, about finding something positive to help keep you motivated.
This lesson was created by me last year, drawing on my knowledge of chess, junior sport and life in general.
If you would like to share it, more than happy for you to do so, but would love a mention!
Positive Outcomes
Why do we play chess? · It’s fun · To win
Friendly vs Serious Games
Friendly games are games against your friends or parents where the main aim is to have fun, the result isn’t important. That said, chess is a competitive game, so you should always be trying to win!
Serious games are interschool matches, tournament games etc. Winning becomes more important, although you should still be having fun! We are going to focus on serious games for the rest of this lesson.
The most important outcomes from any serious chess game you play are that: · you played well · you learned something · you won (or drew against a stronger player) · you enjoyed yourself
You played well This doesn’t mean that you have to play a perfect game. It might be that you play a good combination, find a nice checkmate or implement something you learnt in a chess lesson.
You learnt something This one is easy enough, did you learn something new, either from spotting a shortcoming (and a fix) in your own play or maybe identifying a technique your opponent used. Postmortems are a good way to learn here, more easily from a game against a better opponent, but they can be useful even against weaker ones.
You won (or drew against a stronger player) This does not necessarily mean a win. A draw against a better player is also a good result.
You enjoyed yourself Chess is meant to be fun!!
Serious games If you have decided that the game you are playing is a serious game, then you should be focusing on the 4 positive outcomes.
If you play well, learn from each game and enjoy yourself then the results will come.
