Ever played in a chess tournament where everything seems to go right? The brain is humming like a well-oiled machine and the mind and body appear to become one.

"Studies of athletes, artists and other have shown that being in the zone generally means being in a state in which your mind and body are working in harmony. You're calm yet energized, challenged yet confident, focused yet instinctive."

CNN.com posted an interesting article titled, "In the zone: Training your mind as well as your body" which takes a practical view of physical and mental conditioning.  Three of the key aspects for mental conditioning are: relaxation, imagery, goal setting, positive thinking. Sounds about right. In the chess genre, we may remember books like Nikolai Krogius, Psychology in Chess, which captures many of these ideas.

Being able to combine the powers of the body and the mind is the quest of many of the higher forms of expression such as martial arts. Perhaps when one has mastered the mind and the body, then the pursuit of knowledge can begin.

Posted by The Chess Drum: 9 October 2003