Magazine Sep-Oct 2016

TENNIS

Chess Game OF TENNIS The By Jaime A. Rodriguez

At face value, tennis and chess could not be more different. While one requires speed, athleticism and power, the other is a sedentary pastime often performed at a leisurely pace from the comfort of one’s armchair. Despite the vastly different amount of physical activity involved in both sports, it is not the first time the two have been compared. One of the factors that makes tennis and chess so similar is the strategy that is required in both sports in order for one to be a winning player. A good tennis player has excellent conditioning, technique and mental strength. He knows his strengths and weaknesses like the back of his hand and how to make the best of his abilities. But what sets a good player apart from an excellent one lies in his strategy and tactics. An excellent tennis player goes above and beyond – especially when it comes to strategy. In this case, the tennis court is like the chessboard; if a player wants to win, he has to anticipate his opponent’s shots and read the latter’s game tendencies. He must know his opponent’s strategy in order to have an edge over him. Just like how an excellent chess player is able to accurately predict his opponent’s moves even before he has made them, an excellent tennis strategist already begins observing his opponent during warm-up to determine his style of play, then

49 THE AMERICAN CLUB SEP / OCT 2016