Breathe!

I have no idea on how to make this interesting. But let's do it anyway:

In this monthly issue we will talk about breathing - and you are doing that now: You breathe. However, odds are, that you aren't controlling your breathing at the moment - or maybe you rarely ever do so. But you can influence and even change the way you breathe.

Now, I am not gonna sell you a wonder drug - and I am not gonna say that it will change everything in your life for the better. What I am going to do, is to advice you to think about breathing sometimes. It can't hurt you, can it?

So, with that being said, let's do it anyway: Sit up straight. Now, hold your breath shortly (and with shortly I mean really shortly - you don't want to suffocate nor have the feeling you're drowning on land) and now, take a deep (a really deep) breath in.... And out. And in again, and out again... You get the idea.

And while you do it, try to breathe in for around 4 seconds (note: Do not hold for 4 seconds, try to breathe in deeply within these 4 seconds) and breathe out for 4 seconds. Now repeat this 10 times.. 1-2-3-4, 4-3-2-1, and again (and again).

You may feel a little more... relaxed. Lemme know if it worked for you down in the comment section. Anyways, these breathing excercises also work great for meditation (yeah, there will be a blog commin' in the future!). They seem to slow down your pulse a little - makes ya feel more relaxed, And if you combine this with meditation, you might be nearer to emptiness of thoughts and realization (I guess?) than you've been before.

But what has all this got to do with chess? "Not much - it's just breathing!" Yes, breathing isn't a fancy tactic you can employ during the game (well I guess you could hyperventilate, though this is not recommended)... So what does it do for your average chess player? One key thing it brings: It calms you down. Just these 4 words: It calms you down. Think about it. Have you been in a situation in a tournament let's say, where you were very excited and couldn't sit still. I've been there. Have ya been playin' against the guy with the real high ELO and thought to yourself "This can't be a blunder, he has probably a tactic I can't see. It just looks like a blunder, no tactic no nothing, but that guy's better than me." The way you can evalute it, is by slowly examining the position, stay calm in the heated moments.

What about blitz games? Surely being too relaxed or calm or even slow would be a death sentence! In a way, yes: You shouldn't be too relaxed, some kind of temporary stress increases your performance. Moving too slow in blitz (or too fast in classical) is... inappropriate. However, what do you need for calculating moves (fast)? Brain power, and breathing... well, it may increase even that. In case you've ever played chess after you've taken your coffee (or a better comparison: Green tea), you might know what I mean.

The next time you play a game of chess, just take a few deep (not shallow!) breaths, and then start with your first move. Maybe you can share your experience here, I hope it will help you to calm down a little.

Well, that's it. Remember: I am not a doctor, so take everything here with a grain of salt - oh, and for further material, I recommend TEDxTalks about breathing - as well as reading on meditation. Remember to stay happy and don't forget to breathe. So, here's the song you've been waiting for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrojrDCI02k