When Scott McLean started playing chess in middle school, he was intrigued by certain aspects of the game while other parts eluded him.
"I loved the tactics, and the end game, and the middle game," he said. "But it was really studying the game and memorizing openings where I had trouble." That didn't stop him from entering tournaments and competing though.
But what did get in the way was rowing and school.
He discovered crew in high school and developed a passion for training and racing. Any time he had left was dedicated to school and the pursuit of a career. Now that school, and a stint as a college club rower at the University of Central Florida, is behind him and he has started a career as a civilian engineer for the Navy, he's rediscovered chess. But, he found it again only in the way a rower turned middle school coach with an engineering degree and time on his hands could.
He calls it "Erg Chess."
Now, McLean doesn't claim to have had the idea of combining chess and sport by himself. He was inspired by "Chess Boxing," a very real hybrid sport that combines three minutes of chess with three minutes of boxing in alternating rounds. Opponents win by either scoring a checkmate or a knockout.
(Yes, it's a real sport - check out worldchessboxing.com.)
What do you get when you combine rowing and chess? Erg Chess! You can only row when it's your opponents turn on the chess board. You win by crossing the finish line or checkmate, whichever happens first.
Posted by Scott McLean on Wednesday, October 26, 2016
"I was somewhat inspired when I heard about boxing chess, so I was trying to find a way to apply that to rowing and to basically replace the chess clock with two ergs," he said. McLean enlisted the help of a friend that rows with him in the Jacksonville Rowing Club and who has two ergs and an empty garage.
McLean set up the ergs side-by-side and put a chess board in the middle. The rules were simple - row one 2K and make chess moves during the piece. The ergs replace the chess clock. To win, a player has to score a checkmate or win the piece, whichever comes first.
"So you try to row faster while your opponent is taking their time with their chess decisions. It kind of presses you to make your decisions quickly and encourages you to pull hard to get the workout in," he said.
There is a strategy that amounts to this: When you see you're losing the chess game, row like crazy. McLean used this against his masters buddy.
"Toward the end of the game, I realized I was probably not going to win on the chess board, so that's where I focused on pulling much harder than my opponent and I narrowly finished my erg piece before he got checkmate."
Having successfully won his first taped match, McLean is now attempting to share his experiment with the rowing community, starting with other masters and with his middle school athletes at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Fla.
"So far I've tried to have opponents that already have enthusiasm for rowing and for chess," McLean said. "And I'm looking forward to showing it to more of my rowers at the Bolles School as a fun way for them to exercise. I am also going to use checkers for those students less familiar with chess."
McLean said he has played the games built into the Concept II ergs, Fish and Darts, and uses them as a reward for his rowers or for cooldowns. "Those seem focused on rating and technique control, which are very beneficial. But with erg chess, while you are focused on the game you are also focused on getting a strong workout and pulling hard.
"I'm more passionate about the sport than the game," he said. "But I am interested in seeing my rowers take an interest in both."
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