Out of Form?!

Why This Topic?

A lot has been written (on this site and elsewhere) about players occasionally going out of form. Beginners and advanced beginners who, after a winning phase, suddenly experience a long losing streak, are understandably left wondering where all their skill disappeared to. In a fit of disappointment, almost on the verge of giving up their newfound passion, they make a final attempt to revive their self-esteem. They visit their favorite chess forum and start a post explaining what they are going through, seeking objective help and practical advice from the community.

However, I have not yet come across an "out-of-form" post that has actually been nursed or cured. Instead, in most cases I have seen responses such as "tactics, tactics, tactics"; "try not to hang pieces"; "study end games"; "study opening principles"; "don't study openings at this level"; "read (author/book)"; "learn to plan around imbalances on the board"; "take a break"...

Now, there is nothing wrong about any of these suggestions per se, except that they are cliched. But the point is, none of them seem to address the central question of the post. Of course, that last "take a break" sounds practical, but that's the closest they come to the solution.

AYR (FB Link) (Chess.com Link) is a growing community of chess players world-wide. We have beginners, advanced beginners (such as myself), tournament players and experts as our members. I am sure many among us have occasionally gone "out-of-form" at some point (somebody like me may go in and out of form every now and then). Some of our members (specially the experts) may have some useful suggestions about what to do when one is out of form. It is with this hope that I have created this topic on AYR.

The Real Questions?

 Let's be clear for the sake of this post:

• The question is NOT "How do I improve my chess?"
  

  We have many good answers for that: "tactics, tactics, tactics"; "try not to hang pieces"; "study end games"; "study opening principles"; "don't study openings at this level"; "read (author/book)"; "learn to plan around imbalances on the board"...

Consider a player who is already following most of the above advice, and who is seeing steady improvement. Yet, every once in a while such a player goes out of form for some time. It may be for one game, or the phase may extend even over a week (it happens at least with me)!

So the real questions of this post are:

• Is there a cure for the "out of form" ailment?
• What can the player do to fight such a phase?
• Can anything be done at least to reduce the frequency of such occurances?

You get the idea. Anything helpful in this direction is welcome. 

The topic is open to the house. Let's discuss. :-)

Many thanks.

Prady.

There are at least two types of apathy.  1.  You win, but you are still bored with the sport. 2.  You lose, but you really don't care, even if you drop 300 points.

There are at least two types of "caring".  1. You lose, and in joy you eagerly examine and learn from the loss; there is no diminishing of motivation here.  2.  You lose, but in frustration, you are on the verge of giving up; becoming apathetic to the point of quitting, or apathetic that you don't mind losing 300 points.  

So we need to designate which "vice" is troubling the player.

a.  frustration at losses.

b.  joy at losses, because I am eager to learn if someone tells me my blind spots.

Honestly in situation "A", I do think "taking a break" is good advice.  The solution of fixing blind spots will be added to the medication, but even so, there is a pyschological therapy which needs to happen.  When students take a final exam of 100 questions, their minds are exhuasted, and they are not going to learn anything by taking 100 questions the very next day.  Airline pilots and Truckers have driving limits per week because their body and mind cannot maintain the demands, and it does not good to say "become a better pilot by flying MORE hours".  In weight lifting, as I have lifted weights a little in my life, includes the principle of allowing the muscle to rest and recover.  You do not improve your Bench Press by Benching 30 days in a row, and even when you take 72 hours cycles you are still suggested to take a full week off every 3 months or so.  Thus I make the case that our brains may need 10 days off from absolutely anything related to chess.  This then, brings us back to the root of the matter, okay, I am rested, and I fear more losses, there must be blind spots and it aggravates me with the same equality that I had 10 days ago.

For me, one influence is: Concentration and Patience.  During Turn-based games I have 3 days to make a move, but I move in 5 minutes, and regret it, because in laziness I do not want to stop, concentrate, and do the real work of analysis.  There are painters who blare music and just get the "vibe of inspiration" to paint, but chess does not happen that way.  The builder must go very slow to measure twice and cut once, double checking many measurements;  but in chess I may be lazy to check 6 candidate moves and the 4 variations that each candidate move offers, so instead of laboring with the 24 branches, I hope for the "vibe" to hit me will skimming 3 lines;  

Yes, I know there are GMs and games when that "instinct" is good-enough, when they are working more by principles and pattern recognition than by calculation; but my point is, the more we labor in calculation, the more we foster a data-bank for instincts and pattern recognition.  So here is my summary.

1.  Principles, Principles, Principles.

2.  the HARD WORK of calculation of many lines and sub-variations.

3.  having a friend point out blind spots. i.e. You always are a sucker to start a pawn march when that only over-extends your position and also exposes your king, etc. 

(just my spur of the moment reaction)

Romans920 wrote:

If I understand correctly, you are saying two things about form:

• If out of form, take a break
• Take regular breaks to help maintain form

Though this makes sense, I am looking for something more. There must be something else you can do!

A student cannot afford to waste whole academic years by taking a break between exams. Professionals cannot afford to take days off every time they get out of form.

Yes, an occasional break is good. But there will be times when you just cannot afford one. What do you do then?

There must be something else we can do to get back in form quickly, so that we can continue competing in whatever it is we compete. 

Well i only skim read this. So, the only way I find that I keep myself performing at a 2200+ online, is by simply stopping after 3losses at a time. If i log on and lose three in a row, i'll stop and play the day after or after 5-10hrs. But I find that if you are in a slump before an OTB tournament and you aren't playing well online and all. Just make sure you don't play any games for a short period of time. Eg. about 2-3 days before the tourn, and then smash out the online with about 20-30 games a day and follow the three losses rule. Also, anaylse each loss and try to find little tactics which you can use in other games. But all in all, it really comes down to your inner enjoyment for chess. If you don't enjoy it, and start finding it boring, just stop playing and go do something else. Because you'll be soon to realise that if you're loving the game, then you'll unarguably start to play well once again. This is just my 2 cents though.

"If i log on and lose three in a row, i'll stop and play the day after or after 5-10hrs."

Hmmm... Another vote for "take a break". 

another idea is experimental play. I've mentioned this on another post in AYR, of creating exciting yet dubious positions. I took a d4 opening, which are considered less exciting and more equal than 1. e4 play, and performed a variety of sacs. I saced 2 minors and a pawn, but the kingside was completely ripped open and black blocked himself off from his kingside. So I essentially had run of the board even tho I was down in material which I regained, and later won via mate. Sometimes to just try new waters, even in radical ways can breed inspiration. 

There are benefits to trying dubious positions, because the player can then analyze and deduct "Why is this risky, and what is the solution to making better moves prior to this position."  This is a way of learning by diagnosing what fundamentals are involved: lone ranger pieces, over-extended pawns, no king saftey, no open files, creating pins for for your opponent, etc. 

Solutions 

Play tactics 

Watch attacking chess games

This will help any player to come back in form

I started on this platform in July and reached 1230+ twice.  Dropped back to 1000+ once and again went to 1230+ ..that was first phase and enjoyed those learnings. But now after 1230+ slowly dripping down and at 1150+ now. I wonder why suddenly I am not able to think the way I used to. 

Anyone have ideas to get back in form?