Psychology in sports is extremely crucial. A player goes through several emotions during a game or a tournament as well as before or after the event. Thus, understanding the essence of sports psychology is essential. In regards to this vital feature of psychology in sports, Project Checkmate 2.0 undertook a second session on the topic led by Ms.Sanika Divekar. She has a Master's degree from the Brunel University in London, U.K. in the subject and is a trained instructor, having worked with several organisations including her own Pink Project that supports athletes through psychological training. The discussion led by Ms.Sanika was extremely interactive. She started off with a question itself posed to the audience comprising of the top 15 blind chess players in India. She asked the participants what sports psychology meant to them. Post analysing this inaugural question, Divekar mentioned that if we think of our minds as a muscle, only then can we gain the toughness required to concentrate on one's sporting journey. Being an athlete herself previously, competing for the country in Table Tennis, Divekar often shared her own thoughts and techniques that she used during her matches, which helped the participants relate on a personal level. She told the players that psychology is individualised and focused on each one of them in a different manner. So, essentially, what may work for one person, might not go well with another despite concerns about sports psychology being generalised in nature. She shared her three insights that she focused on throughout the session. These were how one could have a calmer mind when playing (or handling pressure), what focus meant to the players, and dealing with failure. She topped each one of these topics into sub-themes that were highly interactive and discussion based, making it more relevant for the participants to open-up and share their own experiences. One of the highlights of the session was her idea of self-talk, which really made the players think about how they could use this tool to their success while competing under so-called pressurising situations in a game or a tournament. Another method that stood out for the attendees was her technique called "Spotlight thinking". She told the audience to visualise a stage that is dark with no light at all. Suddenly, there comes a spotlight onto that same podium, which will make those things that come under that spotlight clearly visible. The moral of the story is that one will have ten things that might distract one's mind but one has to build a focus similar to the spotlight, switching this on when playing. The thing to remember to use this spotlight strategy effectively is the ability to be self aware about the factors that one can control and those that one cannot. The final tip given by her during the session was a self-driven exercise called "478". This implied counting from 1-4 and breathing in, holding one's breath for at most 7 counts, and then exhaling for as long as possible, which is usually close to 8 seconds. Overall, the session with Ms.Sanika Divekar helped the attendees to think about their own selves in a different light and pump up their moral while playing chess. It made them understand some key strategies that they can add to their tool kits. Project Checkmate 2.0 organised in a joint venture by AICFB and DR Foundation would like to thank Ms.Sanika Divekar for her support towards the program. Kuntal Joisher is an Indian mountaineer and computer scientist. He is the only Indian vegan mountaineer, and he has conquered Mt.Everest twice, once in 2016 and then in 2019, after two previously unsuccessful climbs. He readily agreed to be a part of the Project Checkmate 2.0 Program and was a great motivator for the participants. The session revolved around him explaining his journey right from where it started till the 2019 Everest summit. Kuntal gave a detailed analysis of his story, sharing some of the minutest details about his career as a mountaineer, which began only by chance as he was an established computer software professional in the United States in California, and later in Mumbai, India. His recollection of memories were natural and could be related to the participants' lives as well. The key takeaways from the session were that one shouldn't lose motivation and be afraid of failure. Kuntal recognised that failure was actually the silver lining in his life. After two unsuccessful near-death attempts at Everest, he still didn't give up and finally managed to climb the summit. He mentions that he was the most unlikely person to succeed at mountaineering given his unhealthy weight condition in the beginning of his journey in 2009-2010. So, he encouraged the listeners by saying that if a person like him can achieve such an unthinkable task, then anyone who focuses hard on one's aspirations can succeed. Besides, he even told the players to go beyond the usual norms and find their own lives' passions and 'Everests'. The irony in his statement regarding his victory in climbing the peak of Everest was that despite having scaled Everest in 2016, he was still not satisfied as he realised the crime that he had conducted by wearing a jacket made by torturing animals. So, he made every attempt to create a customised jacket from a manufacturer in Italy that was 100% vegan and climbed two peaks, Mt.Lhotse and Mt.Everest, in 2018 and 2019 respectively, wearing that merchandise. This attitude of his was something that he said made him achieve true happiness in his life. It was his own goal and dream that he had achieved without losing his spirits. Finally, Kuntal says that nothing is impossible. One has to just make it I-M-POSSIBLE (I am Possible). He refers to his four P's of victory- Planning, Perspiration, Perseverance, and Patience to ultimately reach one's own summit in life! As Project Checkmate 2.0 launched on June 5th, the first session was conducted on sport psychology with the renowned Indian sport psychologist Dr.Janki Deole from Samiksha Sports Pvt.Ltd. Dr.Janki has a PhD in the field of sports psychology from the Straffordshire University in the U.K. and has been practising in this sector since a number of years. She has worked with a variety of sports players including those at the initial stages of their career along with those at the very peak of their journeys. Some of the partnerships that she has had are with the Olympic Gold Quest, BCCI, Indian Men's Hockey National Team, Paris Saint-Germain, amongst others. She has also worked with a number of chess Grandmasters, which made it quite useful for our players, who received a first-hand account of some of the experiences that such GMs have faced while competing on the circuit.
During the session, Dr.Janki emphasised the importance of knowing what pressure is all about. She spoke about three kinds of pressures that exist for chess players- first about their ratings, second about time trouble during matches, and finally about the hurdles of the last game in a tournament. She mentioned that one's current rating has no value for the actual worth of the player on that particular day. It has no indication for the vision that one has for oneself. She spoke about how to control one's thoughts during time pressure in tournament games. She emphasised the importance of not panicking as this will make one take incorrect decisions on the board and have a serious effect on one's intuitive power. Talking about the pressures of the last match in a competition, Dr.Janki said that it is vital to prepare from before about the consequences of the game. She explains that players don't take this seriously enough and only start worrying in the end, which makes them lose focus on their match. A strategy that Dr.Janki mentions to follow is to concentrate on oneself while playing and not on one's opponent. On being asked a question about how to avoid distractions during a game, Dr.Janki says that it is only one's own mind that one can control, so one should just prioritise that instead of worrying unnecessarily on other external factors that may arise. Besides, she also mentions that one must learn how to trust one's instinct, intuition, and experience. She speaks about the vitality of controlling one's breathing and paying attention to it during one's games. Constant practice of a routine is crucial for success in tournaments. Moreover, she exclaims that anxiety is not always bad. Sometimes, a bit of anxiety is necessary to be a competitive player. So, the trick is to not have excessive amounts of anxiety, and when such a situation arises, one must learn to focus on one's thoughts and channelise them into positive ones. The ultimate goal for anyone should be to stay in the present and not focus on the past or the future. In conclusion, she also mentions about the importance of being consistent even when one has won a match. Thus, the regular post-game analysis should be done irrespective of the result of the encounter. Overall, Dr.Janki had a great impact on the participants. Learning about sport psychology and how they can use some techniques enhanced their vision for their ongoing chess careers. Project Checkmate 2.0 would like to thank Dr.Janki for her valuable time for our program in partnership with the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB). Project Checkmate 2.0 launched on June 5th in association with the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB). The main purpose of the program is to empower the blind chess community of India and make our nation amongst the top most teams in the world when it comes to professional tournaments and the blind chess circuit. Keeping this in view, Checkmate 2.0 aims to provide players with a short-term online training program that comprises of masterclasses with various professional mentors in different fields as well as top Grandmasters and other titled chess players. Learning from the experience of such guides and coaches will have a direct impact on the visually impaired player's performance in the game and help in the overall improvement of the competitor's intentions in chess and beyond.
The selected players have been chosen by the All India Chess Federation for the Blind (AICFB) according to their latest rules and regulations of seeding participants. There are 15 competitors who have been identified for Checkmate 2.0 and each one of them will be receiving a chance to ask their questions during these sessions. These participants are-
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