Thursday, February 24, 2011

Endurance

I've been thinking a lot about endurance this week ... especially since my loss earlier this week.  Wasn't it Dan Heisman who said your game is only as good as your weakest move ... or something like that.  I felt I was playing pretty well the whole game.  Then I saw a way to promote my pawn.  Being under a bit of time pressure as well as being a bit tired (it was around 11:30pm at this point in the game), I simply didn't calculate well - I didn't count the squares the king was from a8.  And so I threw the game away.

Here is a link to the game.

So my thoughts, this week, have been directed at how I can maintain focus for the length of the 2-3 hour game.  I personally think this issue of lack of focus and enduring to the very end is a broader issue in my life and it just manifests itself in my chess.

One thing I've tried to change this week is in my exercise routine.  Instead of giving up when I'm feeling tired, I been trying to stretch myself into working out longer.  Before, I would bike for 20 minutes and jog for 20 minutes.  During those workouts, I'd take frequent breaks.  This week I've been focused on riding consistently for the full 30 minutes and then to push myself for the full 30 minutes at jogging.  I've been successful so far (Monday through today).  This is just one example, but I've been trying to keep the topic of endurance in my mind in all the things I do.  I aim to improve my endurance and capacity in all aspects of my life.

2 comments:

  1. Hello

    Are you playing in the S. Houston Open

    http://www.cajunchess.com/tourns/tournament15_details.shtml

    Ivan

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  2. I would certainly like to. If my wife and kids leave early for spring break, I may enter.

    ReplyDelete