Originally Posted by Grant Szuveges
What I do find interesting though, is whether people like to study tactics right before a game. Its probably different with different people. It works well for some people because it warms them up for the game and gets them into the zone where they will calculate and look for possibilities. Whereas it doesnt work well for others because it burns them out and they find that they dont have the energy to work hard at the board. It may also be bad subconsciously because the player will subconsciously think "Ive done the hard work already" instead of "Im playing now, now is when I must work hard". What do others think? Id particularly like to hear from Carl Gorka actually.
I think it is up to each individual to work out their own pre game preparation and once they've found what they're comfortable with, then stick to it. There is certainly no harm in warm up blitz or solving a few puzzles. Most players will at least look over the shoulder of a blitz game even if they don't play. To say that studying tactics before a game burns them out is probably nonsense. To say they don't like to do that is fine with me. Just as long as they don't start whinging about not being sharp.
If tennis players can spend an hour on the practice court before a game, I don't see why chess players shouldn't try some warm up exercises so they don't pull a muscle in their brain
