Games streaks : winning or losing many games in a row : what is the secret ?
What is it about streaks ? and about the tilt ?
Same day here are my 8 losses in a row
started at chess.com rating 2443 and ended after 8 losses in a row at 2383.
and then untilting myself, the same day ! here we go,
10 wins in a row !!
from rating 2446 to 2512 !!
It takes just one bad game to get tilted and play almost randomly and losing game after game. and the same way after 5 wins, feeling the rhythm and scoring points. as you can see my opponents have decent chess.com ratings in both cases.
Did I study chess in between ? openings ? tactics ? Nope !
Lets analyze the wins and lets see what is going on
in the next position at beginning of the 10 games winning streak, I am playing with Black
Black to play
I played e5-e4 and my opponent cannot take on e4 because of Rxf2 !
My opponent took on a2 and here we go
Black to play
this was a tense game but nice tactics at the end.
lets see another one, this time with White
White to play
Black just played Ne7. Can you spot a juicy set of moves for White ?
ok these 2 games went my way.
but within this 10 games streak, I got very lucky. Or I fought very hard defying the odds.
Lets see this position, I have the White pieces
White to play
Here the right move was to retreat the bishop on c4 to b3, i.e play Bc4-b3. Instead I thought I would capture on d5 twice. Here's what happened
Black played Qa5+ giving check and my bishop on d5 is lost ! I lost a piece in the opening !
but I did not give up. I was still "lost" for most of the game. Here's the end of the game
White to play
I am still down a piece and my opponent threatens my king. I give a check on e7 by Ne7+ which effectively gives another piece for free. lets look what happens next
Black to play
The king on c8 is in check. What would you play with Black ?
__
__
and here how the turnaround happened !
I like to think @Hikaru would be proud !
and just like that I am back in 2500+ territory
but far from my all time high blitz rating
I will need to channel my inner Hikaru to do that again !
hope you enjoyed this post !
Drop a comment and share your "streaks" good or bad ! Chess players unite !
