Chess is more similar to soccer than you think

"Don't run so much. Football is a game you play with your brains." - Johan Cruyff

In the words of the legendary Dutch soccer player and coach, mastering a sport, in this case soccer, does not necessarily involve being all the time running after a ball, of course, this is a basic skill that players must develop but in essence, any "game" obeys a concrete strategy, a logical and organized approach, an analysis, a plan.

For many, the outcome of a match can be defined by the physical condition of the athletes, which is the half truth, I can't imagine what would become of a basketball team if the players play in a disorderly manner, without clear perspectives. I can tell you that the vast majority of fans underestimate the work behind the curtains that goes into every game, maybe this is not well known but every sport has an extraordinary relationship with chess (which by the way, is a sport too) so, maybe that board game where the players "don't move" may be as similar as soccer.

In this post we are going to see a series of elements that perfectly highlight the incredible similarities of chess with the rest of sports.

Center Control

Mobility is an essential concept when performing any plan on the field/board, that's why identifying the game zones where players/pieces move will give you a better idea of where your strategy should be aimed. The center is a very important sector because it is where most of the actions are developed in a match, controlling the center is therefore one of the objectives of each team because by controlling this area, it is easier to move from one end of the field to the other, not to mention that the possibilities of attack and defense are increased.

In this diagram you can see that white has a solid control of the center, this means a great advantage of space but also, the attacking options for the king side have a high probability of being successful because the pieces have greater freedom, on the contrary, the mobility of the black pieces is quite restricted, it is difficult to think of any counterplay for this side because his army does not enjoy a good harmony.

Mastering the concept of central control comes in handy for other sports, in soccer for example, having strong midfielders will make it more difficult for the enemy to invade our sector of the field, likewise, if our center is strong it will be easier for us to invade the other half of the field.

Threats

Threats are intentions to attack the opponent, it is a way to put pressure on our opponent until he finally makes the decisive mistake. Threats don't have to be "right" if you create enough threats to confuse your opponent you will have achieved the goal. It happens a lot in basketball, players may not score a touchdown every time they invade the enemy territory but these attacking actions if they become constant sooner or later will untie the opponent, in other words, the more pressure the more chances you have to win.

Protection of vulnerable points

Another relationship of chess with the rest of the sports is the defense of the weakest points, specifically speaking, the goals, scoring areas are extremely sensitive areas and must have a very important care, otherwise the opponent would constantly wreak havoc. In chess it is exactly the same, if we neglect our king the enemy pieces will break through and the game will end with unfavorable results for us.

Nakamura vs Gelfand 2013

In this example we see how the position of the white king is desperate, the black pieces have unleashed a very strong attack by the simple fact that white neglected the defense of his monarch.

Lineup and coordination

Each piece/player serves a purpose. The initial position in chess is defined, however as the game develops each piece is placed in the most strategic place possible, fulfilling specific tasks, in basketball and soccer it is more or less the same, each player plays a key role to achieve the desired objectives. It is not enough to have a powerful piece, it is absurd to think that a single player can win the game, it is about teamwork and coordination, it is preferable that the weaker pieces have excellent mobility than a strong piece with little range of motion, the success of a game is about the sum of all these factors that contribute to the coordination of forces.

Error and beauty

As I mentioned earlier, sport is a fight, the contenders are people so error will always be present, no matter how good you are. You may have played exceptionally well throughout the match, but one fatal mistake is enough to throw it all away. Many chess grandmasters and other professionals in other sports have assured that it is not necessary to play perfectly, you just have to try to make as few mistakes as possible.

On the other hand, the most brilliant moves have been possible because the opponent made one or more mistakes, thanks to this the beauty of a match can shine quite brightly, for example, the incredible feat of Maradona to score a goal from half court, this is undoubtedly a brilliant move, but it was possible thanks to the mistakes of the opposing team, the carelessness was perhaps the main cause of the final error. Likewise, in chess the most "beautiful" moves are the sacrifices of pieces that if successful give a considerable advantage, but these brilliant moves are only possible if the opponent makes enough mistakes, that's right! the error is necessary to produce beauty in the games.

Having advantage is not enough

The fact that a team surpasses its opponent in terms of "domination" does not mean that it will take the victory, it happens a lot in soccer, that is to say, a team "A" registers a greater ball dominance than team "B", however, the latter managed to score more goals, - who is the winner, sport is like that, objective, sometimes "cruel" and is that the games are won by goals not by other "nice" things. The same thing happens in chess, taking the example of the center, if we have an advantage in this sense we must try to make it happen, after all the objective of chess is to checkmate the opponent's king.

That is why sport is a fight, the one who has an advantage must try to increase it or at least keep it, on the contrary, the team with a disadvantage must try to achieve equality and later overcome the opponent. Remember that if you are satisfied with what you have you lose it...

These are some of the links that chess keeps with other sports, as final considerations we can also affirm that:

Final considerations

Every sport holds a complex game strategy.

Play with all your pieces/players and develop an effective plan. Mobility is a key concept, try as much as possible to open space with your pieces and have them in harmony with each other. When you have the initiative try to look for more or you will lose everything, be patient but do not fall asleep, be concrete and make your advantage evolve. In every sport victory and defeat are possible results, in every case of suffering a painful defeat you should try as much as possible to recover your morale and move forward, do not let the negative energy of the previous game affect your future results.

And you, what other similarities do you see with chess and other sports, does this make sense?, let me know in the comments:

What's your plan...?

Credits

Original text by me @vjap55

The guy in the pictures is me @vjap55

the photos were shot by @sawko

The photos were edited by @eumorrell

The 2D chessboard images are screenshots using the Chessbase application