On physical and mental intuition

By: Max Mihaylov

What do running and chess have in common, and how does it relate to intuition?

Running and chess: two things that I do quite a bit. And while they may seem like contrasting activities, they both feature intuition in a surprisingly connected way. The easy one is chess: every game is a unique and ever-changing puzzle that must be solved over and over again, in real time. That’s precisely where the notion of intuition comes in.

Before I go any further, let me explain how timing in chess works. Each player gets a set starting time (for most of my games it's three minutes per player). The game starts when the clock of the player going first is started; once they make a move, the clock of the other player starts. Having only three minutes per side means you don’t have much time to think when deciding on a play; oftentimes games will be over in less than five minutes!

In simple terms: since you don’t have time to think in blitz chess, you just gotta move. While playing, you start to develop an intuition for where to move a piece,  or if a certain position is good or bad for you. The better you are at this, the faster you are at time controls—and I’m one of those people. The more I’m forced to think, the less accurate I become; in other words, when I play chess I rely on 80% intuition and 20% calculation. For me, it's the most freeing way to play the game: when I’m playing well, when I enter the flow state—now  that's where the real fun in chess lies. On the flip side, when I’m losing, it feels like my brain isn’t working properly, like the pieces in front of me are stuck to the board just as my thoughts get lodged in my mind. But that's the thing about intuition: it’s never gonna be perfect.

On the other hand, running is pretty straightforward: one foot in front of the other, for as long as you want, or can. Running every morning allows me to clear my mind and fully leave all of my responsibilities behind. Therefore, I find intuition in the physical side of running. I don’t run with a watch or any high-level tracking device, just my phone and some wired headphones. Because of this, I don't know what my pace is during the run; I fully run on intuition. I push myself to the limit of what feels like a comfortable, yet fast run. Some days my times are really fast—I loop around the park before the sun starts prickling at my skin—other days a bit slow—the Monday after a weekend spent on the streets of Brooklyn taking their effect. But the feeling of a successful run is the same.

Comparing the two—chess and running—sheds light on the use of intuition in two different ways, one mental, the other physical. The outcome is the same, though: a flow state where I allow my intuition to guide me. I like being there—it’s freeing and relaxing, never too long, and never too short. Just pure, quick, decisive decisions. With no regret, always looking forward.