You know the sort. Where you're winning all game, putting together a strong attack, or actively foiling your opponent's plans, and out of nowhere, a horrendous blunder turns everything around.

How, psychologically, do you deal with those things?

I do drugs.

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/doping-in-chess

ZING! I was REALLY hoping the first comment wasn't going to be something annoying like 'Just gotta learn to do better next time.'

Cberman, know just how you feel.  I guess that's why I'm a 1300.  .  I'm excited to keep playing and learning, so I'm just going to have to look closer every time.  That has to lead to my improvement.  That is what keeps me going.

Those are the most useless comments ever(next to "god" comments)!

I go on rants about ManUtd.   (see another thread)

I offer draws, take as long as possible to move and if I'm really lost I'll go on vacation.

I get petty, verbally abusive and take solace in chemical substances.

I definitely understand the pettiness. I almost always have to inject some comment like 'Wow. I just love throwing away winning positions' into the chat. Lotsa grump.

I stay away from verbal abuse for the most part (it sometimes takes effort), but I'm definitely not pleasant.

The experience that plissed me off beyond all human comprehinsion was a while back.  I had the game won, and my opponent was able to cause me to blunder like an idiot, into a draw. No loss burned my arse anywhere near that. I would have much rather just lost outright.

Remind yourself that you are only human?

Learn from the mistake(s) you made, including the reason why you blundered away the win and remember it for the next game.

Every loss is GOLD.  It is how we learn. 

I have often blundered away games... SEE?... but I try to learn as much as I can from them and just do my best every time. 

FWIW:  I was joking.  Losing is a a part of life, if one is lucky.  There is always more to take from a loss and use in the future than there is from a victory.

It's all a zero sum game.  For every winner there must be a loser.  

Personally I think people that think winning is the end all of the game are myopic fools.

Remember dueds, its not about winning or loseing, its about ghetting your king to the otheir side man

I do drugs.

Those are the worst.  After managing to not kill myself I remember all players have these types of games, and not just in chess.

I like the one where Kasparov was destroying this kid out of the opening and it was all but over.  The kid (one of those teenage GMs) is desperate and might as well try a knight sac to complicate things.  Kasparov doesn't accept the sac (he should have, it was unsound) and went on to lose.  To add insult to injury at the end of the tourney they gave the kid the brilliancy prize even though all his moves were worse than Kasparov's and he only won because Kasparov blundered.

It may not help you, but this is what helps me.  I bet Kasparov still remembers this game and lost sleep over it for a month heh.  Not a great loser, Kaspy took the mic at the award ceremony and ranted for 15 minutes about how the kid didn't deserve it and how the judges betrayed him etc etc.

Sore losers are, unfortunately, a part of life.

Obviously.  It wasn't funny the first time

Hilarious!

Ah, here it is: http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=851

It was at Linares, he lost to Radjabov who was 15 at the time.

Lol, ironically, whenever I blunder horribly, it's when I'm in a losing position and am desperate for moves.  Sure, there's no chance whatsoever of me winning, but it's certainly better than a blunder when I am winning. (though sometimes I do mini-blunders. Fortunately, my opponent rarely catches on due to desperation)