why am I nervous? - Chess Forums

FrankiesLane

Dec 16, 2019

0

#1

I posted the stuck at 700+ thread, and now finally I’m above 800. Now I’m very nervous. Before I played without fear and now I find myself sweating over every game. I feel confident that I can win, and I’ve been beating my opponents regularly. I lose many 1 or 2 games out of 10 from the 10 min blitz games.

Im afraid to lose games and I’m feeling more stressed than I used to. Although I have been doing very well since I adapted a more defensive approach. Is it normal to care about winning or losing that much? How do I shake the fear lol

benhunt72

Dec 16, 2019

0

#2

Now that is a really good question!

The thing about fear is that a bit of it will help you, whereas too much of it will cripple you.

You need some healthy fear to play chess well. That will help you to be cautious, which is no bad thing. You should always check for possible threats, even when you think you're winning.

But, when the time is right, after you've checked for threats, you also need aggression. Put the pressure on your opponent, make them feel the fear, keep them on their heels, knock them back against the ropes, keep them blocking your attacks and never able to launch their own.

I would be happy to coach you through some (unrated) games against similar-rated opponents, via Skype or Zoom, if you'd be interested.

FrankiesLane

Dec 16, 2019

0

#3

Ben, thank you.

It’s not crippling yet, I don’t act on the fear so to say. I still use my brain and feel confident. I do worry about losing and getting a lower rating. I used to play whenever I felt like it, but now I have to make sure I’m in the right mindset and have no distractions. I would love to play you in an unrated game. I sent you a friend request

daxypoo

Dec 16, 2019

0

#4

getting focused on rating is the wrong thing to get fixated on

focus on learning and developing

your rating is just a way to play against players of similar strength

in fact, as you start learning more it is likely your rating will drop as you begin to try and practically implement the information you are learning anyways

i know how you feel and go through the same thing but when i get fixated on rating everything seems to go in the wrong direction

when i remind myself that by learning and developing my game the rating will follow on its own then i can play much freer

KeSetoKaiba

Dec 16, 2019

0

#5

daxypoo wrote:

getting focused on rating is the wrong thing to get fixated on

focus on learning and developing

your rating is just a way to play against players of similar strength

in fact, as you start learning more it is likely your rating will drop as you begin to try and practically implement the information you are learning anyways

i know how you feel and go through the same thing but when i get fixated on rating everything seems to go in the wrong direction

when i remind myself that by learning and developing my game the rating will follow on its own then i can play much freer

+1

I also want to add that although rating shouldn't be taken as too important, many players (I myself too on occasion) catch themselves caring about rating this way. My advice is to try playing unrated for a while or playing a different time control. This way you will let some time elapse where you "kept" that rating for a bit and the "feeling" of that rating sinks in. Eventually though, you must continue playing like you used to since playing defensive constantly is not going to help you long-term.

Try placing more emphasis on learning than the rating numbers. Forget 800, if you reach 1000 (or any other higher rating), then you can say you reached that rating. Nothing can take that fact away! Your rating may dip below that point, but you have reached it before. You have reached 800, and nothing will ever change the fact that you were there. Same for 1000, or 1500, or 2000, or whatever milestones you create for yourself. In fact, milestones don't even need to be rating based. A goal could be something like playing a game versus a player x-rating stronger than you. Something like being 800 rating and playing someone 900 or 1000 rated (even if the game is casual and unrated) because the learning experience may push you to the next level.

InnerSpoon

Dec 16, 2019

0

#6

This is an excellent thread

HarryTaylor1511

Dec 18, 2019

0

#7

I do exactly the same thing. started off about 3 months ago and managed to get to 1200 quite easily. set the target for 1300 by the end of November. got to 1290, and crumbled, went back to 1210. everytime i get near my milestone target, i crumble. today, i hit 1304 though. then lost the next 4 games in a row with silly mistakes. i think what i do, and probably what everyone else does who feels like they crumble is we play differently. ie, we play to win the games with no pressure going towards our target. once we know we can get it IF we win the next game, we play not to lose. too defensive, too passive, overthinking combinations. we seem to forget how to play simple solid chess. thats my take on it

magictwanger

Dec 18, 2019

0

#8

You simply must let it go!! Enjoy the game and analyze the losses.

Best of luck.