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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
Chess Game
OF TENNIS
The
49
THE AMERICAN CLUB
SEP / OCT 2016
TENNIS
By Jaime A. Rodriguez