![]() ![]() In such cases, repeated or chronic engagement in cognitive activations such as worrying, rumination and cognitive arousals, together termed preservative cognitions, keeps the stress-related content from resolving. The prolonged activation of the stress response occurs when situational demands exceed players’ capabilities to meet demands over time, for instance if they lose game after game and their FIDE rating scores decrease ( Schneiderman et al., 2005). Such circumstances will normally lead to the experience of stress – both during chess games ( Kaya and Öztürk, 2015 Fuentes-García et al., 2019b) and after games because of a potential prolonged activation of the stress response ( Brosschot et al., 2005). These challenges represent relevant and potent acute stressors for the players. Thus, the players’ performance scores are always in focus, their every move on the chess board has direct consequences on the international FIDE rating scores, and their competitiveness is always visible on the FIDE’s web page. Indeed, chess players are ranked on a worldwide ranking list by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) based on the matches they play. In addition to the pressures of performing on the spot, chess players are also faced with being constantly evaluated for their performances. In this way, the chess player is under significant pressure to make the best possible use of the cognitive abilities underlying the chess performance ( Fuentes-García et al., 2019a). ![]() These cognitive abilities enable chess players to perceive the board pattern of own and opponent’s chess pieces positions, to predict the best move based on the memories of chess positions and experiences from games and trainings, and to make a quick generation of the best next move ( De Groot and Gobet, 1996 Gobet and Waters, 2003). ![]() Cognitive processes such as strategic thinking, deep concentration, constantly seeking in episodic memory and comparing chess positions with earlier experiences, involvement in problem solving, calculation and decision making, are all essential to reaching high performance levels in chess tournaments ( Kaya and Öztürk, 2015). The findings are discussed in terms of existing knowledge on the importance of sleep stage distribution and sleep durations for athlete functioning, and in light of applied implications and possible future research.Ĭhess is a game described as “mental torture” for the player because of the involvement of the many complex cognitive processes, often over a long period of time ( Kaya and Öztürk, 2015). The sleep patterns of the chess players with positive performance development were different from the players with negative development – with higher amounts of deep sleep, less rapid eye movement (REM) sleep and lower respiration rate in the positive performance development group compared to the negative performance development group. Seven of the chess players in the current sample had negative development in their International Chess Federation (FIDE) ranking score in the period of sleep monitoring, while 7 had positive development. The main purpose of the current study was to investigate the associations between performance development and objectively measured sleep in a sample of 14 Norwegian chess players over a period of 120 consecutive days. Sleep is a crucial recovery strategy, previously implicated in athletic performance. An inherent part of elite-level chess are high emotional and cognitive stress loads related to performance development.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |