The internet chess community has somewhat stagnated in recent months. There is even a shortage of chess news that is in my opinion worthy of this site at the moment. SO ... in the interest of increasing communication between chess enthusiasts I'm going to offer myself as the "internet connector".

Below you will find a list of the sites I'm on with links to my profile on those services:
Facebook
MySpace
LinkedIn
TwitterI have several groups for you to join on the sites listed just join me and ask about them.

OMG! if you found your way to this post through a search or a link then Robert was right.

I suspect this article will serve as a hub to get quite a number of links because the 'science' seems sound ... see Robert's post on his blog.

Of course his post is filled with the odd links that are bound to get him some link love ... but I prefer to keep things totally chess-related.

What? You're looking for the Cutest Chess Pic EVER? Try this one ... Hou Yifan & Alexandra Kosteniuk:

The last day of Bootcamp is a rest day. Whatever you do DON'T think about chess. You don't have tostay in bed all day or anything drastic and potentially hazardous like that but stay away from overexerting your brain. Reading is a common restful pastime and I recommend that but not anything that uses too much of your brain. Let the concepts and tactical themes you've gone through soak in a bit today.

Don't be surprised to find your mind wandering toward chess ... it happens to all of us. Don't force the thoughts out but let them run a short course. REST! REST! REST!

Day four of the Chess Boot Camp here at Chessvine is where the mental ties all start coming together. In one sense this is a day of rest but in another sense this is a day of real hard work. Anything that a player has to do to get into his zone is exactly what he should do today. For me that involves movies.

I'm not sure why but for some reason when I watch a movie with an upbeat tone (rocky, bloodsport, and yes ... Searching for Bobby Fischer et al) my mind feels somehow clearer and I can visualize myself winning my chess games and remaining composed when I want to panic.


As I said earlier I am a very mentally susceptible player. Once I start losing the trend continues. This day of mental preparation is therefore really necessary. Another concept you may wish to explore is the idea of undoing psychological damage from the boot camp. For example if you played tough opponents on the blitzday and lost a large number of games you should on this day play opponents you're confident can be beaten. My most common foe in this circumstance is a computer chess program that plays only around Class C level. If I'm really focused I can beat it 90% of the time and this sort of one-sided fight is the idea.

Today is a day of playing. Blitz is the only way to get in enough games in a single day to make a difference. Mistakes aren't terrible here. If you mess up keep playing. If you lose all of the games you're still alright. The idea is to just play. Good, bad, or ugly ... take it all and keep on playing.

3 Reasons for Today being part of the bootcamp training:

1. This is in part a continuation of day one, testing your tactical knowledge. This day also continues the opening refreshment of day two. The point is saturation. You want to be consumed by playing.

2. We also want to test your mental toughness. When you lose a game how hard is it to come back in the next game? If you're like me it's a downward spiral. Once I start losing I can keep that up all day. Knowing this about yourself should help you in preparation. Don't worry about losing today.

3. maintain a social relationship with other blitz players. This helps your mental toughness. Too often players cut their online opponents out of their life. Half of those people you'll likely see again so why not be nice. It adds another element to your mental toughness ... beating friends or acquaintances. I remember once having to beat a very old friend in order to stay alive in a tournament. It's the hardest thing to do in my opinion. Watching a friend squirm because of something you're doing just kills me ... it pulls on the heart strings like nothing else I've ever experienced.

This is all leading into day four which I'm on today ... see you on the flip side!