Respect!

Don't get cocky! Respect for your opponents:

Of course, I do that all the time. Get cocky, that is. I almost always regret it when I do.
Not always, but almost.

On a rare occasion, it's just sinful fun!

Which brings me to the chess.com ratings. I find it rather absurd that my current “optional” rating range is 1165 to 1765. I'm pretty sure if I played someone with an 1165 to 1265 rating, I would kick their butt! And I'm also reasonably sure that if I played someone with a rating between 1665 and 1765, they would kick my butt!

So why such a large range? For myself, I'm happy with an RD of about 150 at the most. That means that my current rating of 1465 (before I win or lose my current game), should go up against those who have ratings of 1315 to 1615. I'm not positive how either game would go. For me, the fun of chess is the challenge of not knowing.

I have reconciled myself to the fact that I'm probably never going to play well against those with a rating of 1800 or above. I'm not even sure I want to play against those with a rating of 1700 or above, actually. I just saw one who is playing over 290 games at once. That's just nuts! (IMHO). No offense to you geniuses who are playing multiple games. It's just that I could never do that.

While I will admit to having a certain amount of ego tied up in my games;, I can always lose and go lick my wounds, I can't imagine thinking that I'm good enough to play 10 people at once (and win), not to mention 290+.

For those of you who do play multiple games, more power to you! Congratulations on each an every win! But, should you lose a game or two, ask yourself, “Could I have won that game if I had given it my undivided attention?”

For myself, I usually play one game at a time. When I've played more than one, I've lost. Sometimes I lose even when I'm only playing one. But I don't make excuses for my losses. I admit that my opponent played better than I did and then, I challenge him to a rematch!

jamesing