Losing Unloseable Games

So I've started playing chess again after about 30 years and enjoying myself immensely. My Elo is around 650, mostly because I've lost about 15 games where I was up around 5-10 points of material. I'm not kidding--just today I lost two games where I was up a rook, and up a rook AND a bishop, and in both cases had my opponent completely cornered. 

How do I keep snatching defeat from the jaws of victory? Just about every way imaginable! I somehow managed to surrender like 5 back row mates before I finally caught on that I should maybe give my king an escape hatch. I surrender pieces that are under obvious attack and could easily be moved to safety. And I make blunders of such jaw-dropping stupidity and I can barely bring myself to watch the game review to "learn" from my mistakes. 

I feel like I have the "yips". Which is a golf term for people whose brains misfire when they have a six-inch putt. Their brains go kablooie and they can't make the easiest shots imaginable. That's how I feel right now with chess--I'm making mistakes that I simply can't believe. 

I don't have these problems playing bots, and I wonder if the fact that games are timed is causing my some sort of anxiety that's short-circuiting my brain. I literally just lost a game where I had mate in like three, I just needed to not move my queen to a certain square where it would be unprotected. There was nothing my opponent could do--so long as I didn't make a blunder a five-year-old could avoid, I would win. And I made that blunder. Just as I've made so many others. 

I don't know if anyone else has had these issues, or what the solution might be. I need to play slower, that's for sure. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to play more games, except that my confidence is kinda shattered right now. I was cruising past 700 elo and figured I'd keep going from there. Now I'm back below 650 and I've been stuck there for weeks, and its because I keep losing games where I am way, WAY ahead, and make mistakes that I just can't explain. 

Sorry to rant. It was either this or lock myself in the basement and scream. Which would probably wake the kids up. 

LOL just lost another game like this. Managed to turn a totally winning position into a loss because I got my queen pinned to my king. I might be done, time to take up Parcheesi.

I think there are lot of people who either create new accounts or sandbag their ratings. They like to beat up on beginners, gives them some sort of weird rush. My guess you're playing someone way above your rating.

Improving Your Chess - Resources for Beginners and Beyond…

https://www.chess.com/blog/RussBell/improving-your-chess-resources-for-beginners-and-beyond

Oh, it's good of you, and kind of you, to think that maybe I got sandbagged by an actually good player who'd come to ruin my life. But I don't think that's the case, because some of the games I lost were to players who were, well, as bad as me. Maybe even a smidge worse!

The one game, and it hurts to write this, I had the guy completely dead to rights. I had mate in three for like eight moves (I know, I know). I moved my Queen to checkmate him and...the game didn't end. I didn't get it--he didn't have a square to move to. It took me 15 full seconds to realize that I'd left my queen totally undefended (bishops move diagonally, oops). The other guy sat there for another 30 full seconds, I think also baffled why the game wasn't over. Then, and only then, did he realize that I'd made a blunder so horrific it flummoxed us both.

Even after he took my queen I fought back until I again had the advantage, then gave away another piece. Fortunately I was in my home office and not on a bridge at the time, else I might've jumped. It was a rough night.

So I continue to completely stink, losing about half the games I play, and more than half of those are games where I make a catastrophic blunder and lose. But I think I've figured out what my problem is, at least so far as why I keep losing games I should easily win.

It's the clock.

For some reason I refuse to take time to think before moving. If my opponent is ahead of me on the clock, I start to get antsy. Even if they have 8:58 and I have 8:31. I need to take my time before making a move. I need to THINK. And, imagine that, actual thinking might improve my chess results.

I cannot tell you how many times I've missed things that in retrospect are so obvious that when I watch the replay I start to worry that I've suffered some kind of brain injury. I just played a game where my opponent started well, and then he made a mistake and I turned the tide and had him nicely boxed in. I actually missed a mate in one (because I didn't stop to examine the situation) and then, when he desperately moved a knight to give his king some breathing space, I completely ignored the fact that his knight now threatened my Queen. Instead of seeing an obvious and desperate threat to my most important piece, a move that only delayed the inevitable, I made a nonsensical move that my opponent probably didn't believe was real. I think that because it took him nearly 20 seconds to take my Queen, he probably thought it must be some kind of brilliant trap. No, I'm just terrible.

Need to play more, take more time, get a bit better in the opening, and stop giving away massive advantages through rank stupidity. That's the key, if I can just eliminate the RANK STUPIDITY I think my rating will increase.

Welcome back to chess! I completely empathize with losing games you *should* have won. It happens to everyone, especially after a long break. Digging into some Chess Analysis might just reveal those hidden mistakes and help you convert those advantages!

I'm just about 1200 and still manage to do this sometimes. For the most part, I'm not one to get flustered when time trouble sets in, but occasionally it does happen. And then there are times where, even with plenty of time left, I'll play an obviously bad move and immediately cringe.

Chess is fun.

maybe you should play unrated games to practice. if you are worried about the time controls, you could play longer games like 30 min or 10 min rapid games. you could also do a lot of puzzles. it helps you to see ways you could win.

me a 200 giving a 600 advice