Invincible & bullet-proof like Ironman? Think again.

When was the last time you played against a much lower rated opponent and thought "Okay, so there's a huge gap in our ELO ratings, this must be a piece of cake" ?

Throughout my chess 'career' or rather the period of playing chess for more than 8 years OTB and online alike, I never failed to at least at some point 'underestimate' my opponents whenever I get to know their ELO rating.  In fact here's a recent 5 minute blitz game where I got roasted:

In a recent stream of NM @SamCopeland where @myteachersam was giving away subs at the time, someone from the audience have asked the National master an intriguing question "NM Sam, does your move depend on your opponent's rating?" And the master, being a true professional, modestly replied "Oh not exactly, I would still find the best move possible regardless of my opponent's rating." (not really Sam's exact words but the idea is something similar to that )  -- after that stream I quickly thought of this game as a reminder to myself to stay "grounded".

Being confident is okay, but being overly-confident most of the time back-fires as it breeds complacency.  If masters who've attained their titles manage to keep their feet on the ground, what makes us, amateur players, think otherwise? I don't know.  I guess the saying "To be a professional, one must be an amateur" is very true.

What about you?  What do you think is holding your growth and in attaining your personal chess goals this 2018?  We'd like to hear it in the comments section.

Until next time! See yah!