Playing Chess on the Gridiron

Virginia Tech linebacker Xavier Adibi credits chess with helping him improve as a football player.

A 6-2, 221-pound junior out of Hampton's Phoebus High, Adibi said dealing with the mental part of football is as much a part of his success as his physical gifts. Chess has helped him become more of a forward thinker....

"You have to understand the game, the possibilities, be able to put that all together. The mental part of football is really important, and I think last spring is when I really started to notice how much it helped the game slow down."

Read "Tech's Adibi plays chess to hone his thought processes on the field" from the Richmond Times Dispatch.