Inside the Mind of A Chessplayer - Common App EC description, need outside opinion

It's my turn. With less than two minutes on the clock, my heartbeat is louder than my thoughts. Time pressure makes me question the accuracy of my calculations. I've had similar positions, but never the exact same. No time-I make a move, press the clock, relying on my instinct and pattern recognition. Now his time is ticking, my opponent replies instantly with a move I didn't expect. There was a reason it eluded my calculation, it wasn't one of the best responses. I gain the initiative, and increase the pressure on his newly created weakness. Move by move, I build up a significant advantage. He shakes my hand, resigning. Contrary to popular belief, chess etiquette prevents him from playing until checkmate.

This is the first part of my extra curricular description. I already asked for some proof reads, but my chess playing friends said non players would not understand terms like initiative, pressure, instinct, pattern recognition etc. Or, at least not in the same way, or it would be too boring. I'd appreciate any input, I'm open to starting from scratch again. Thanks.

Why not substitute the terms with more familiar terms

So you can substitute "initiative" with "tempo" or how the match is going with your flow
Substitute "time pressure" with looming automatic defeat when the time run out
etc. just find more normally understand words and substitute them in.

Besides that I would also explain to the reader that when you run out of time you automatic looses the game.

For an essay aiming at general reader, I think you can make some comparisons or metaphors (e.g 2 minutes left, which is even less than the time you wake up from your bed). To make sure that you're on the right track, I suggest you read the book "How Life Imitates Chess" by Kasparov. Hope this will help you a bit :)

Hi softie1995,


Awesome! ... Lovely opening :)


Very impressive :)


I'm a non chess player... so you can count on me ... I loved every line you wrote and comprehended them well while enjoying your reading!

Well done and Good Luck!