A chess player’s life: Mental fitness and toughness

A chess player’s life: Mental fitness and toughness

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By SARA FRANCINE TORRES OLENDO

As a chess player and a student-athlete preparing myself for a major tournament, I stay fit for the competition by taking at least eight hours of sleep as much as possible.

I also make sure that I get enough rest after each training session, building up to the tournament date, since my event entails a lot of critical thinking, total focus, deep concentration, and swift decision-making.

I consider time management as a way to stay mentally fit since doing things at the right time reduces the possibility of cramming and overloading.

Time management is the one thing my coach-trainer-father would always remind me, especially during the tournament proper, as my event evolves into different and faster time-controls format using the ever-upgrading chess clocks, either with increment or the delayed mode, making the game even more complex.

Standard chess is the usual old man’s “long game” wherein each player is given at least an hour of thinking time or a maximum of two hours per game on multiple day schedules that sometimes would last the whole week.

Then we have the schedule-friendly, mostly one-day events of Rapid chess and Blitz chess with faster time-controls, and usually held on weekends or on holidays.

While the Standard chess is very exhausting and mind-draining — although more rewarding in terms of prizes and awards — the Rapid and Blitz games are more of the “fun” type of chess with less pressure and which are not too stressful, results-wise.

Having played in international tournaments for the past three years has brought so much joy and honor to myself, my family, our school, our City, our Province and our country, as I represented the Philippines in the ASEAN chess championships. For me, the sweetest and most fulfilling part would be the awards, and the most coveted chess title of ASEAN Chess Master from the Malaysia tourney in 2017.

The difficulties along the way would be the preparations with very demanding training sessions from my recent in-house trainer from Bacolod.

ASEAN games would cover all formats: Standard, Rapid and Blitz; in a 10-day span with only one day-off, with a free tour around the host city visiting their local attractions.

A bonus in these international tourneys would be the superb hotel accommodation.

Meeting and gaining friends from other countries also helps loosen my nerves remarkably, even if I have a hard time communicating with them.

Ranking our ASEAN neighbors, the Vietnamese are the most competitive group and the least communicative.

Our rivalry with Vietnam in the chess scene may have contributed to the cold treatment and a highly-engaged and surefire encounter once a Filipino sees her name paired against a mighty Vietnamese, particularly in the penultimate and heading into the medal rounds.

For the record, Vietnam has been the two-time defending over-all champions.

The last time the Philippines won the over-all crown was in 2017 in Malaysia, my first stint in the ASEAN chess.

As what my earlier mentor, the late International Master Rodolfo Tan-Cardoso, once said, “Play chess and see the world!”

Taking vitamins, food supplements, and lots of milk intake are part of my regimen, which come in handy in my preparations to be mentally-fit in upcoming chess battles.

The same regimen also helps me in my new post as Don Bosco’s chess trainer for all elementary and high school varsity members and under-trainees.

Truly, you could lose your voice, and sometimes your patience, in handling and training kiddie players, but I take these challenges in stride.

Maybe our ever-supportive varsity coach, Mr. Sandy Hurtado, has just too much confidence in me that I cannot let him down.

St. Louis School-Don Bosco remains as the powerhouse team and school, Province-wide, six years running, after my brother and I switched schools in 2014.

The physical aspect of my preparations is almost automatic in my part because one of my earliest trainers, the great Florendo Zamora, gave me a lengthy emphasis on active conditioning with light fitness exercises.

For now, being a member of the school’s Minorettes and Twirlers of the multi-Buglasan champion marching band is my way of balancing the mental and physical preparations.

Under the baton of Mr. Absalon Boladola, our thrice-a-week field practices, preparing for major city-wide parades, entail so much sacrifice as I am one with my band mates in pursuing twirling routines to near-perfection.

At the end of the day, what has helped me become what I am now is that mental fitness and toughness already in my system.

Through enough rest, supplements, and time management, I am able to not only perform, but excel in my field of choice, and that is chess.

Given that responsibility as student-athlete, I continue to put premium in my studies and the academics.

I’m just loving what I engage in, every minute of the day.

____________________________
 
Sara Francine Olendo is a graduating Senior High student of St. Louis School of Don Bosco. She comes from a family of chess players: her father Antonio Martin, a multi chess champion during his Silliman days in the 90s, is a certified arbiter of the Chess Arbiters Union of the Philippines, and is now Sara’s main coach/trainer and constant companion during tournaments. Her mother Ma. Hazel is a national arbiter of the Greece-based Federation Internationale des Echecs (World Chess Federation). Sara’s younger brother, Alfonzo Louis, a Grade 11 student of Don Bosco, is also a top-notch chess varsity player. She’s a huge Taylor Swift fan, and loves to take care of her dogs. For now, her preferred college destinations for a medical degree include USC or USJR in Cebu, and DLSU in Manila, all offering full athletic scholarships.

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