Womens Sandals Orange Flat, running and chess don’t seem to have much in common. But once you’ve tried your hand (and feet) at both, he’s convinced the two pastimes can complement each other. That’s why he and fellow seniors at the University of Texas at Austin, Ray Chang and Joel Setiawan Chong, created the school’s Chess Run Club.
“My friend [Ray] originally had the idea of combining a mental activity with running, which we both love,” Ning told Runner’s World. “It turned out we both had a passion for chess. So we thought, why don’t we create a chess run club?”
Ning likens the combo to chess boxing, which combines, well, chess and boxing. According to chess.com, “Players play alternate rounds of rapid chess and boxing until one of them wins in either discipline or when their opponent resigns.”
Ning is a longtime runner, having recently completed the university’s Sandals UNITED NUDE Rockit Run 106170115612 Black (and shaved 17 minutes off of his time from last year), and his fellow club captains, Chang and Setiawan Chong, ran this year’s Austin Marathon.
“Our target audience [for Chess Run Club] is in this interdisciplinary area,” Ning says. “Even though, intuitively, running and chess may not complement each other that well, both require mental strength.”
Ning and his co-leaders want to show their members that they can think beyond the confines of their preferred activities—chess or running—and have fun connecting them.
The club meets regularly to practice running and chess skills—with mixed competitions to test members’ mettle.
Running workouts might include 10 x 400 meters, 5 x 800 meters, or mile repeats, nike zoom gravity womens running shoes.
“We aim to target all levels of runners,” he says. “Run the distance at a pace you’re comfortable with.”
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“The best way to improve in chess is to play with other people,” Ning says. Members will walk through tactics and work on challenging chess puzzles together.
And then, the group combines the disciplines in something that can only be described as swinging the pendulum between high energy and intense concentration. (But maybe not as intense as chess boxing.)
“Our club isn’t organized to compete in traditional chess tournaments, but we have our own competitions,” Ning says. “For example, we’ll set up our chessboards on the grass, and then we might run 400 meters on the track, and then play five minutes of chess.” (Alternating between activities if that’s the competition design.)
There’s no question in Ning’s mind that running helps his chess game.
“Chess is a game of focus, especially during long games,” he says. “Training for running allows you to not only focus on the task at hand, but it prepares you for a race by scheduling runs and planning what to eat.”
He goes on to explain that when it comes to looking ahead, running abstractly relates to chess. And just as it takes time to improve at running, the same thing applies to chess.
“Chess is a great game to get better for life,” Ning says. “There’s a lot of planning in life.”
Ning and his co-captains will graduate in a few weeks. Ning, a computer science major, will attend medical school in the fall.
“My goal is to use my [computer science] degree in some way to build some sort of medical technology in the future,” he says.
But despite being a runner and avid chess player, Ning says, “I can’t plan that many moves ahead.”
Heather is the former food and nutrition editor for Runner’s World, RICHTER Sneaker argento blu lilla The Runner’s World Vegetarian Cookbook, and a nine-time marathoner with a best of 3:23. She’s also proud of her 19:40 5K and 5:33 mile. Heather is an RRCA certified run coach.
