Road to 1600 Rapid, trying to improve after every game.

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 . 

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 

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

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

Inspiring thread, maybe I will make one of my own

Game 61 was instructive. 7. Bxf7 is I think better than 7. Nxe4. The pawn fork trick gets many players!  Your opponent played well.

I think you can get some usefull advice from my blog http://improveinchess.wordpress.com