The Road to ELO 2000: Patience, a key attribute.

In my 5 years of playing online chess, I realized that it is important to be patient and not to hurry. I have lost many a won position because I overly-pressed for the win, only to give my opponent too much counter play and lose. Patience is critical in chess. Often a player will find himself in a bettter position, but with no win is in sight. It is at those moments when one has to focus on improving his/her position and hang tight. Eventually, if your opponent is in a worst position, he/she will will have higher chances of playing a blunder in the next move.

I have also realized that it is bad to play chess when you have just lost a hard fought game, and are desperate to gain revenge or win back some ELO points. Dont! That is the worst sort of mentality you can have when entering a game. Chess requires objectively at all times, and when one is angry it is easy to throw caution into the win.

The next featured game shows exactly what I mean. Enjoy.