Master Preparation: Psychological Themes

The psychology of chess deals with how you feel about yourself, how you feel about your opponent, how your opponent feels about himself, and how your opponent feels about you. To achieve good sporting results, it is imporant to have a killer instinct, to have a strong will to win, to make your opponent uncomfortable, and to be in control of your emotions.

Yourself

  1. Will to win
  2. Confidence (overconfidence, lack of confidence)
  3. What makes you comfortable? Uncomfortable?

Your opponent

  1. What makes your opponent uncomfortable?

Time

  1. How do you and your opponent deal with time controls, pace of play, time pressure, game length, and use of the clock?

The tournament

  1. Tournament score, prizes, titles, rating points.

Environment

  1. Lighting, space, sounds, smell, distractions, temperature.

Team

  1. Team score, board positions, team sprit.