How the Blue Jays Rewired Their Mindset on the Way to the World Series
They didn’t look like the chess sets you remember.
On long tables inside the Blue Jays’ spring-training facility sat rows of Poison Pawn Chess Sets. Black and white, minimalist, and unmistakably bold.
This wasn’t about an ancient game. It was about a new way of thinking.
When the organization reached out to Seth Makowsky, they weren’t looking for novelty. They wanted results.
Makowsky had just helped engineer remarkable turnarounds with two other programs — a US Olympic national team that medaled for the first time in decades, and a collegiate powerhouse that reclaimed its championship form — all through his Poison Pawn mental-performance system.
The goal in Toronto was the same: elevate decision-making, composure, and consistency across the organization.
What followed was one of the quietest yet most dramatic shifts in baseball — a mental transformation that changed how an entire team prepared and played.
---
Poison Pawn Enters the Room
Rows of Poison Pawn boards lined the tables — crisp black and white, their redesigned pieces clean, modern, and unmistakably bold. Each set looked as if it belonged in a performance lab more than a game room — sleek, intentional, training equipment built for clarity and performance.
They were objectively cool, but they weren’t for show.
They were instruments of focus, part of a larger system designed to train decision-making, patience, and precision under pressure.
Around the players’ wrists were black “Player Not a Piece” bracelets engraved with reminders like Protect the King and Control the Center. These weren’t accessories. They were anchors, connecting mindset to movement and thought to action.
What began as mental-performance training soon worked its way into the Blue Jays’ own coaching manuals and playbooks — shaping how staff built systems, how players discussed tempo and patience, and how the team defined control under pressure.
Poison Pawn had become more than a training tool.
It was part of the organization’s identity — a framework for preparation, focus, and execution.
---
More Than Chess
“It’s about more than teaching chess,” Makowsky says. “It’s about teaching people how to think — how to stay composed, adapt, and make better decisions when everything’s on the line.”
For Makowsky, chess is only the medium.
What he teaches is a system for performance, how to process information, manage emotion, and execute under pressure.
And the results followed.
■ The U.S. Artistic Swimming Team won its first Olympic medal in 20 years.
■ UCLA Men’s Volleyball captured back-to-back national titles for the first time since 1995–96. ■ And now, the Toronto Blue Jays are preparing for the World Series.
Across every program, the foundation is the same: clarity in chaos, awareness in action, and control when it counts.
---
The Boardroom
During a morning session, the clubhouse looked more like a strategy lab than a meeting room.
Players leaned forward, analyzing positions with the same intensity they bring to the ninth inning.
“The board is a mirror,” Makowsky told them. “Every move you make reveals how you think under pressure.”
Each Poison Pawn principle mapped directly to the game.
Control the Center mirrored controlling tempo and the strike zone.
Protect the King meant guarding priorities — knowing what truly matters when the pressure builds.
Soon, that language showed up everywhere — from bullpen talk to batting cages.
The mindset that started on a board was now showing up in how the team thought, prepared, and competed.
---
Proof on the Field
One big leaguer who trained under the system put it this way:
“I’ve learned about the parallels between chess and life and how similar the two are,” he said. “I understand player not a piece. Your goals and dreams are your king. Your work ethic, knowledge, decision-making, and planning are your queen.”
He said the sessions changed how he viewed every decision — not just in the game, but in how he prepared, led, and recovered.
“It taught me that performance isn’t about control. It’s about clarity. Once you know your board, you can see everything differently.”
---
Culture Shift
That mindset caught on fast inside the Blue Jays clubhouse.
When Makowsky returned for “Season 2,” messages from players poured in:
“I didn’t know I get to see you next week! I’m so pumped! Sophomore season here we come!”
The excitement wasn’t about chess — it was about culture.
Coaches began integrating the same performance language into their own instruction.
Drills, team meetings, and film sessions started reflecting the principles of Poison Pawn: tempo, timing, and trust.
One leader of the coaching staff described it this way:
“This was some of the most impactful coaching our team has ever received. He didn’t just teach them chess — he taught them how to think, stay composed, and trust their process under pressure.”
Around the facility, Poison Pawn boards sat beside scouting reports.
The bracelets stayed on players’ wrists during lifts and travel days — small reminders of focus and discipline.
It wasn’t a lesson anymore. It was a lifestyle.
---
From Rebuild to the World Series
Two seasons ago, the Blue Jays were in a rebuild. Now, they’re preparing for the sport’s biggest stage.
Ask anyone close to the organization, and they’ll tell you the shift wasn’t only physical or analytical — it was mental.
Players processed the game differently.
Coaches saw sharper awareness, more deliberate tempo, and quieter confidence.
It was the product of a system built not around control, but clarity.
Poison Pawn had done what it was designed to do: redefine how top performers think, play, and win.
---
The Bigger Picture
What began as a training session with a chessboard has grown into a global mindset system applied across pro clubs, college programs, and Olympic teams.
Poison Pawn continues to evolve into immersive workshops and digital tools that help athletes and coaches build mental precision at scale.
“Every athlete is in a game within a game - the mental one,” Makowsky says. “Poison Pawn helps them win that.”
From the clubhouse to the biggest stage in baseball, the philosophy remains the same: Train & Trust Your Instincts.
Because in life, as in the game, the difference between a good move and a great one is how you think before you act.