An Incredible Chess Match on Ice

A little “off topic” here, but this is my blog.

I don’t know about you, but I really like the sport of curling. As my title suggests, I think this is a chess match played on ice. Curling often gets a reputation (fair or unfair, who is to say) to be a game that features people screaming “hard,” “hurry,” “easy,” (this is not meant to be suggestive, but I notice it will be), people carrying brooms and brushes, and people just gliding on ice with these strange-looking shoes. Yes, curling is all of that, but it is also a game of strategies. 

If you have spent any time watching the Scottie’s Tournament of Hearts the last two weeks, you would know what I am talking about. From the first rock thrown by the lead to the final one curled by the skip, curling is a see-saw battle that involves a competition of will and wit, on top of the skills that are required to play the sport well. 

I am especially impressed with the way Team Canada played. Similar to last year, skip Jennifer Jones and her team did not get off to a good start, and was actually on the very brink of being eliminated from playoff contention. But, in exactly the same way as the team did last year, they came back to win a tie-breaker game against PEI to qualify for the playoffs, followed by three straight wins to capture the team’s third national title and a chance to represent Canada at the World Championship. To achieve the feat once is impressive; to achieve the same feat twice is just incredible – it demonstrates that, mentally, this team is impossible to break. 

This incredible mental fortitude can be best explained by their performance against Quebec (I actually missed the championship game against BC, but read that it was even more the case). Taking advantage of Quebec’s sloppy play at the start of the game, Team Canada easily went up 5:0 after just two ends of play. Quebec came back strong in the next two ends and tied the game at 5. Canada went back up 7:5, only to see Quebec tie it again. At that time, Team Canada could have gotten frustrated, rattled, angry, etc., but they did not. The team just somehow felt that they were better, and would prevail no matter what. And they did. Opposition can rattle Team Canada’s confidence; they can frustrate them, but they can seemingly never defeat them. 

The Brier is coming up (that’s the men’s national championship). For those who have not watched curling before, I would strongly suggest that you put in some TV time for the sport – it is easy enough to understand that you don’t need someone to explain the sport to you. Once you get over the screaming and yelling, and see the strategies and mental conflicts that are displayed in the game, I believe you will enjoy the game too.