Secret to Avoid Frustration in Chess

Many people seem to become frustrated from the types of positions they get into. They play certain openings to increase their chances of getting into more dynamic or more positional positions that suit their styles. When this works, they are happy with the resulting position, and tend to score well in such positions. However, when their opponent sidesteps into a different type of game that calls upon a different type of play, they then become frustrated with the resulting position, and throw away the game by trying to stubbornly transpose into a different type of position that better suits their style.

The secret to avoiding this frustration, caused by entering a type of game outside of your comfort zone, is actually very simple. Adopt 2 styles! Here is where the famous saying comes into play: Always have a Plan B. If you can't get the positional game you tend to thrive in, become that excellent defender, who makes their opponents scared to attack. Many great players such as Artur Yusupov, Vladimir Kramnik, and Vishwanathan Anand were well known for balancing multiple styles effectively in their over-the-board prowess. In this post, I am going to focus on an excellent endgame player, Ulf Andersson. Before I go further, here is a prime example of Andersson outplaying his opponent in the endgame.

Andersson was an endgame specialist, who would often go to great lengths to ensure that he transposed his game into an endgame. However, in certain cases, when his opponents refused to let him go into the endgame, Andersson would effectively launch an attack against many of his opponents. This made him a very flexible player as he could attack if his opponents opted to avoid trades, and he could play his beloved endgames if his opponents went along with his trades. Here are some games that effectively demonstrate his attacking prowess.