Game 56
White
"Free point donation"
This is another exhibition of bad chess. It was particularily excruciating because it was against the Philidor defence..
Road to 1600 Rapid, trying to improve after every game.
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I would like to give my 2 cents.
You played bad move since move 5....... d5???
Those moves are suicidal if you face stronger players. Reasons,
1. You are behind in development ( as you are black)
2. Opening the centre just boost the activities of opponent pieces which are already developed.
3. Psychology tips-- Everyone would like to attack and win in every game. But it is impossible in many situations. As black, play very carefully until you develop all pieces ( up to move 10, 15 etc). Most opening for black are defensive just to minize the development advantage of white.
drmrboss wrote:
I would like to give my 2 cents.
You played bad move since move 5....... d5???
Those moves are suicidal if you face stronger players. Reasons,
1. You are behind in development ( as you are black)
2. Opening the centre just boost the activities of opponent pieces which are already developed.
3. Psychology tips-- Everyone would like to attack and win in every game. But it is impossible in many situations. As black, play very carefully until you develop all pieces ( up to move 10, 15 etc). Most opening for black are defensive just to minize the development advantage of white.
I don`t think d4 was the bad move in this game. My opponent played a slow move so he didnt have development lead anymore. But you are right about 3. Since I had just won some nice games and gotten my rating to 1559 I felt like I could play more aggressively and recklessly. I didn`t stop to play a prophylactic (defensive) move and from there I gave away too many tempi and put myself in a bad position.
These games are a nice ice breaker to forget about the rating and refocus on improving.
In game 54 after exd5,Nxd5 white has a great initiative .For example if white plays Re1 you can't play f6 because of d4 , and you will likely have to give up that pawn .
wajeya wrote:
These games are a nice ice breaker to forget about the rating and refocus on improving.
In game 54 after exd5,Nxd5 white has a great initiative .For example if white plays Re1 you can't play f6 because of d4 , and you will likely have to give up that pawn .
You are right, after my last loss I was so frustrated I wanted to break something. At that point I realized I need to step back from chess for at least 2 days. I`m starting to take this game way too seriously, and start playing unsoundly and overly aggressive just to chase some rating points. I seem to have forgotten about the original purpose of this challenge: Simply learn good chess habits and don`t blunder. I used to play poker before, and I guess there are some similarities between those two games when it comes to psychology. Rule number 1 is to never play if you don`t feel like you can play optimally due to frustration or tiredness. I broke that rule big time "chasing my losses" so to speak. I will hopefully learn a valuable lesson from this.
Besides, this challenge would be boring if it were too easy, If I could achieve 1600 already by next week, then these bad chess habits would anyways come back later to haunt me. Better learn these things earlier rather than later
Game 57
White
"The four pawns charade"
So this is the next game I played while frustrated and chasing rating points. I think it is important not to dismiss these games as simply badly played games that don`t require a deeper analysis. I need to learn from these painful mistakes so I will not repeat them again.
The major mistakes committed in this game came as a result of playing an aggressive opening, but then switching gears at the wrong moments. I gave away too many valuable tempi by being greedy with my bishop pair and the pawn centre, then I just straight up blundered a piece due to frustration and/or inattention.
I think playing crazy openings like this, though theoretically a book opening, plays right into a Alekhine players` hands, as that is exactly what they want: They want you to commit to a big centre which they can then undermine. Next time I`ll play a slower more reasonable opening and try the patient approach.
I found a goldmine of a youtube channel, containing lots of videos on chess psychology. This one helped me a lot.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0ZV8eVSK0o
Game 58
White
"Breaking Bad"
Last weekend I should have just known when to call it a day, but I somehow kept telling myself I had to end on a win, and that resulted in games like this one.. I am honestly ashamed to post it, but I posted some nice miniature wins here too with poorly concealed glib comments, so I deserve some punishment 
Just found this thread, and it is extraordinarly interesting. Although you are on a bit of a losing streak, I definitely think you should get to 1600 soon. My suggestions would be to be very focused during the games that you play and try to anticipate what your opponents should or will play. I also think it is important to try and create middlegame plans in the opening and try to develop your pieces with a purpose. I also find myself playing too quickly so sometimes I just slow down and consider other options, and I like to analyse the position and calculate even when it is not my turn; using some of your opponent's time rather than your own is not a bad idea!
Jul 24, 2019
0
#129
One thing I notice is that while I am a 1600 rapid player, your goal, you honestly think through stuff probably more than I do. The difference is I seem to have a better endgame understanding.
Do you have an endgame book? I used to be horrible, and the main difference in my playing seems to me that I went from dreading an endgame to hoping for one.
Game 59
Black
"An awkward encounter"
This is the last game I played on my horrible tilt streak. I honestly managed to gather myself somewhat and played a decent game against my first 1700+ rated opponent. I ran into an opening trap again and was just kind of laughing at myself at how horrible I was playing. But my opponent missed a few tactical shots which I were able to execute, leading to a winning endgame for me. Of course I blew it, as I managed to get all tangled up trying to attack..A very instructive game. I will DEFINITELY not run into this opening trap again.
I think you would benefit from taking time to consider prophylactic moves in positions that look better for you. Even if you don't actually wind up playing one, it is good to keep an eye on what your opponent's ideas are and how you can try to stop them 
MatthewFreitag wrote:
One thing I notice is that while I am a 1600 rapid player, your goal, you honestly think through stuff probably more than I do. The difference is I seem to have a better endgame understanding.
Do you have an endgame book? I used to be horrible, and the main difference in my playing seems to me that I went from dreading an endgame to hoping for one.
No i don`t have an endgame book. I should definitely get one though as I tend to get absolutely destroyed in the endgame. I definitely know what you mean by dreading the endgame. My nightmare scenario is a queenless middlegame/endgame where most of the pawns and the rooks are on their original squares. I have no idea what to do in that type of position, except "get the rooks to open files".. but then what.
WilliamShookspear wrote:
I think you would benefit from taking time to consider prophylactic moves in positions that look better for you. Even if you don't actually wind up playing one, it is good to keep an eye on what your opponent's ideas are and how you can try to stop them
I got Aron Nimzowitsch` "My System" in the mail the other day, so will use that as my starting point for getting a better understanding for positional chess. He seems to be the father of prophylactic moves so will definitely take a good look at the chapter on that. He has a very confusing and eccentric writing style at times, I must say.
Ahhh, good ole "My System". It's good value, but take his assertions with a grain of salt. Many of his claims are overexaggerated or simply false. There is some simple truth in there, however, and with a critical mind you can learn many valuable things.
Always enjoy all Nimzo books and learn alot.
Game 60
White
"Good things come to those who wait"
I`ve gone over this game many times, and couldn`t quite put my finger on what went wrong. My opponent just played quickly and defensively and even castled manually just to waste time. Then I finally figured out that my problem in this game was to ignore the positional requirements of the game almost completely.
I`m not talking about some advanced stuff like creating a passed pawn in 20 moves. It`s just simple positional chess 101 stuff: 1) try to play where your pawns are pointing, 2) if the centre is closed play on the flanks. 3) try to create weak points and put pressure on them
I`m not talking about some advanced stuff like creating a passed pawn in 20 moves. It`s just simple positional chess 101 stuff: 1) try to play where your pawns are pointing, 2) if the centre is closed play on the flanks. 3) try to create weak points and put pressure on them
I did not do those things.
I had a ready made plan by having more space on the queenside and a target there, but got scared of my opponents play on the kingside and played a bunch of moves which were not connected to eachother in effort. Every move in chess has to flow from the previous one, or at least, that is what I should attempt to do. I might not have won this game, but my opponent would have had to commit pieces to defending the queenside and I would have had a much better game.
I had a ready made plan by having more space on the queenside and a target there, but got scared of my opponents play on the kingside and played a bunch of moves which were not connected to eachother in effort. Every move in chess has to flow from the previous one, or at least, that is what I should attempt to do. I might not have won this game, but my opponent would have had to commit pieces to defending the queenside and I would have had a much better game.
Game 61
White
"The Pircs of being a wallflower"
So after getting completely destroyed in the Pirc I did my homework on that opening and will probably be better prepared next time. This game also shows my sore lack of endgame skill, and ability to play for a draw.
Game 62
White
"Ladies first"
In this game my opponent blundered and I had a chance to get into a very strong position, but I had little time to calculate, so I went for the "scariest-looking" capture. (15/10 gets me every time) Then I got greedy and my fate was sealed.
