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 Storms V. Chess |
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Now, that was about Tropical Storm Irene, but what about Sandy? As it turns out, as noted, I was lucky with Irene. I did lose power, and the worst, in some senses unfolded, but the power outage did not last as long as I though. It lasted about 3 days. But everything I worried about with Irene, is exactly what happened with Super Storm Sandy. Sandy, was more powerful then Irene. In fact, it was a hybrid, so more then just a Hurricane. Two more storm systems joined together, so it was a hurricane combined with a noreaster, making a super storm. So, it was called Super Storm. It started doing damage in Haiti, and then slammed right into the northeast, with full force. With this storm, winds gusted up to 80 mph, and this was a prolong affect. Plus, this time, I lost power for over a week and cable for two weeks. I very nearly timed out, this time, despite the postponements. The only reason why I was able to avoid this was that I stopped at the library, which still had power and was able to make moves, once that postponement ended. The emergency postponement, settled in, though. However, despite just how bad it was and the amount of damage it produced, I was less nervous with Super Storm Sandy then that of Tropical Storm Irene. As a result, I played a lot better. I did make careless blunders, lost, and had my rating drop about 20-25 points, within a week, but it's way better then when it tumbled near 70 points from Irene.
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Plus, when the, "Fight or Flight", syndrome kicked in, it wasn't nearly as severe. Why? First, this time, I was not going to play any team games, at all. Whereas, right before the storm, I played way too quickly, and lost within 20 moves in some of my games for opponents, who were about my rating, at the time. However, with Sandy, I was nervous and got distracted, but I took my time. I had a little less games with less time controls. The worry, of course, losing power and timing out, but I realized that when you're preparing for a storm, the WTCH= The Weather Channel said that one thing you don't want to do is to get too nervous, but instead prepare and stock up on supplies, so that when the storm hit, it wouldn't be as bad. Plus, in one game, I did hope chess, unsound aggression, or as they call it cheapo tactics. Of course, this will often cause harm, as I was going for something that got driven off. But, why then would I do it, after already having been mentored not to. It was a strategy because with that cheapo tactic I was actually getting ready and gaining confidence for what would happen when this storm strikes and causes damage. While that move, caused damage, that same dirty trick is what helped me prepare for such storm because with that confidence, I was calming down and getting less nervous, which is what you need for such storm. And, by doing that, it also helped me in my games. Therefore, this Superstorm, as bad as it became was, at the same time, the equivalent to that of a chess mentor. So, what I learned is that as harmful as mother nature can be, in another sense, it can also help. Always, be prepared and get ready for storms like Sandy and Irene. But, at the same time, don't fret over it. By not letting those nerves take over, you'll be better prepared, and since you're a little calmer, you can absorb the information, resulting in better play. That's the moral of the story.
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BTW, a good example of what I'm explaining regarding how Sandy affected chess occurred in my game against checkmatethecaptain. And, that game is shown in the annotation below. gameknot.com What I annotated is basically the same thing as the other posts but in more details.
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Ever since then, there was only one other really nasty storm which I wasn't worried, but this was a whole lot worse then I thought. It was the equivalent to a blizzard on top of an ice storm, in the last storm. It dumped 16 inches of snow, with a thick coating of ice, on top of it. In addition, there were occasional wind gusts of 40 mph. This happened the day prior to Valentine's day, this past year. I knew, in advance that it would be bad, but had no idea that I'd lose power for a few hours. Didn't affect me, but even if I knew it wouldn't have affected. And, it's the first time, in history, that a storm like that did not affect my games. Yes, I was prepared, but the key which is what I noted in my game with geniusacamel is that I didn't overthink things. That's what it takes to not get too nervous about a storm, even if it proves to be a terrible things. You prepare but don't get so anxious that it affects you. Doing this will help you in chess, as well as, life.
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A perfect example is what's happening, as we speak. Ok, so no one knew, but there is a blizzard warning for the area. At least, 1-2 ft of wet and heavy snow is expected, and winds could guest up to 65 mph. So, this is another example of where power outages are possible, as was the case with Super Storm Sandy, as I talked about. Therefore, what used to happen is that I'd get nervous would rush, make terrible mistakes, and not play well. Not this time. Instead, I did not move, at all today and have just postponed all my games for a week. Even if power was out for less then a week, it's possible that I would also lose cable and it'd take that long. So, instead of getting nervous, I postponed, and even if I lost power, I'm pretty confident that losing power will not cause any issues, if that happens. So, it's also about knowing what to do, when mother nature hits.
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