JUST COULDN'T FINISH OFF THIS WINNING POSITION. SICK OF LOSING ADVANTAGES

Sick of losing winning positions, and this one made me almost throw up. Completely winning, I knew I was, but just couldn't land the final blow. Granted, it was my first time playing the Scotch Gambit but losing like this is unacceptable. Let me know your thoughts!!!

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/65836937311

Sorry I'm having trouble posting the game for some reason, so can only show the link here.

oh lawd

At least you were winning! You could post this position in an analysis board or your own physical chess set (if you have any) to see how the positions could develop over time with different moves.

Not to worry, I have blown up an opportunity to win a 2267 rated player about ten years ago in a tournament on board one which I was rated 1612 (it was my first and only time being in board one in any real-life tournament - the rating system in my country has since been abolished)

In that sixth-round game (out of seven) I somehow forked a king on e1 and a rook on a1 by a c2 knight. I kept this advantage later on in the same game, but in time pressure, I failed to find a winning combination (which my opponent showed me post-game) to simplify the position and emerge easily winning (with a rook + pawns vs bishop + pawns endgame in which my rook had an entirely d- or e- open file, I forgot which).

I ended up falling in time pressure several moves later. This had a major impact in my tournament and lost my seventh game by making an easy unforced error - hanging a knight openly by moving it to an attacked square. I finished the tournament with 4.5/7 as a result and ended in tenth place, just within the last place to win a prize (of a chess book).

The worst thing about this game is your time management. Don't get into horrible time trouble. And when you are down under 2 minutes, don't spend 20 seconds on every move.

If you can't play faster, play a longer time control.

@1

Play 15|10 time control instead of 10|0. Thanks to the increment you always have time to find the right move without fear of losing on time.

Thanks everybody. I spend longer sometimes because so scared of making mistakes

I do agree I gotta go faster

And it happened again. A 1900 played the Latvian and I was up a rook. Just feels horrible to lose such commanding positions. Is this normal for players my rating?

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/65878292051?tab=analysis

Sometimes I feel I'm mentally retarded

Followed up that disaster with yet another masterpiece. Missed wins galore. The missed wins weren't even under time pressure. Am I really BAD for my rating?

https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/live/65879571027?tab=analysis

Indeed...

Chess is played on the emotional as well as intellectual level...

I don't suppose I'm the only player who does this, but over the board when I'm "winning", I project ahead to when me and my opponent are in the bar discussing the game and I'm telling him where he went wrong with opening references etc...then I blunder :-)

As they say, and it's true, the hardest thing to do is win a won game :-)

You can train your tactics skills with puzzles. That way you'll have a better chance of spotting a winning continuation.

For example, in the second game 18. - Qg3+ is an entirely obvious winning attack, while Bh4 (the move you played) is just a random legal move, it does nothing.

It looks like we share the same issue - we both like to invest our time early on to punish our opponent's play, and try to avoid bad positions. However, in 10|0, our opponents can get away with their slightly unsound play, complicate the position, and pounce on us when we don't have enough time to find the best continuation.

I stay away from no-increment games like the plague (Unless it's bullet). 10|0 introduces the element of flagging into rapid games, which is not why many people want to play rapid. I would suggest switching to 15|10.

Haha I never do that. I never get complacent I know it's never too late to blunder. Yes it is indeed the hardest thing to close out the game!

Thanks! I spotted the queen check straight after I made my move. I just didn't even consider the possibility of it on my turn.

You're correct. I like to punish poor play too and obtain winning positions. I prefer 10-0 though as with increment the game can go on for a long time. Will try do more increment games to mix it up!

Hey, at least you didn’t lose on time while in a completely winning position because real life intervened and you had to step away from the board for 20 minutes. Like what just happened to me.