
Stocking chin, scratching head and touching different part of face was obvious. However, in such kind of team activities, it’s really hard to keep each other in sync for better performance. Both win and loss is shared by each team member so personal stakes are quite less. Throughout the competition, it gets reflected through body language of whole team members. We know that being in a team is good to compete but what about competing on your own? Individual body language speaks by great volume. Those who are good observer can easily pick both distress and delight clues given away by players.

Yesterday, I went to watch a chess competition held my company. It was an inter-company event and many friends were competing to assure their challenge in next round. Watching chess matches on television (which I never did yet) and in still photographs is entirely different than watching players in a close proximity. When people you know from several years participate in any competition and challenging situation, it definitely occupies some space in your mind as like those people. It affects on emotions of an observer and ultimately its body language.
Probably, you might know that game of chess was originally invented by Indians. In ancient era, people of India used to call it as Chaturang (चतुरंग). It can be entirely mythical that Chaturang or Chess was used to be played with real men in different characters standing on a large board (painted or marked on ground) and two competitors controlling their moves. Perhaps, today's chess board and pieces might be an exact replica of same arrangement. Unlike poker or card game, playing chess takes lot of mental energy because both competitors can watch each other’s move.
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Vishwanathan Anand (India) |
We can easily observe a player paying great attention at board and sitting (or choosing to seat) in a shrunk or submissive posture - narrowed shoulders, one or both hands touching to face, leaning forward by torso (upper body) and legs entwined at ankles. Players has to engage itself into getting visual clues wiz current location of pieces of its own & of competitors and number of pieces available (alive) for competition. We can call it as an Intellectual or Tactical posture. Players submit themselves to the game, keep anticipating next move of an opponent and juggling with tactics.
Mature and veteran players show very less emotions on their faces because they think an opponent might take unfair advantage by knowing their emotional responses. However, body gives away certain clues through alteration in posture, eye ball movement, self-touching, scratching of different body parts and face. They unconscious make macro, micro and subtle muscular movements on their faces which an external observer can easily pick and decode in given context. Since players have to concentrate on facts and tactics, they seem to pay less attention towards an emotional body language of their opponent. Audience not only watch the game but try to make predictions.
As players age and becomes mature, it gives away less obvious clues. Clues remain miniaturized and complex, often intermixed with displays related with cognitive or physical processes. Hence, it becomes really hard for both opponents to gauge each other on emotional basis. However, a seasoned or trained observer can systematically observe both players and accurately predict that who's going to win or loose the game. As players are deeply submerging in game, an observer has to pick both obvious and not so obvious clues by burying its eyes in their moves.
Related articles:
1) Observation is the key 2) Micro Expressions
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