Republished with permission
Jennifer Shahade, USCF - February 13, 2009
In the midst of my toughest round at a blitz simultaneous at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis.
Chess could be extremely popular if it was integrated into a cardiovascular routine. (Are you listening, Wii?) I had one of my best chess workouts recently at a series of blitz simuls at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis, also the host of the 2009 U.S. Championship and U.S. Women's.
I played five boards at a time and had ten minutes on each board, with my opponents taking five minutes each. At first I thought that I could easily flag everyone, but despite my running and my sensible flats, I had to win most of the games on the position. In fact, I was in danger of losing on time on many boards; I literally had to run and jump in order not to lose the majority of the games. Those on the edges were the toughest. In the end, I lost two games, drew two and won 11.