The Psychology of "Nursing"

As any good psychologist or psychiatrist will tell you, the hardest person in the world to analyse, is yourself.

We all know winning "won" games is a nightmare for beginners, and I'm no exception.  :(

Please have a look at the following game, and if anyone can offer any advice on how to snap out of "Nursing" mode, it would be greatly appreciated.  :)

I don't agree with your assessment of this game. 

When you win the queen, Black does have a material advantage.  But White's decisive control of the h-file may be sufficient compensation for the material defecit. 

Certainly at that point in the game, Black must play very accurately to avoid losing, while White's attack seems to play itself.  It's very hard to see how Black can defend himsef, but it's easy to see how White can punish the slightest Black mistake. 

Also, Black's play after that point is fairly passive, but it's consistent with Black's earlier play throughout the game.  So I don't think you suddenly started playing much differently after gaining the material edge.  This is just one of those games where being ahead in material doesn't mean you're automatically going to win. 

Thanks for the valuable feedback.   :)

I agree I played terribly throughout the game, thankfully its not a typical game, though... maybe it is.  Its definitely not one I'm proud of!  :)

But the move 30 ... Qf7 really is VERY typical.

As I mentioned in the notes, analysing afterwards, looking at the position with pieces off 30 ...F5 is the obvious move. Even with pieces on, its the better way to at least slow down Whites play on the H file (which QF7 was an attempt (a very wrong one admitted) to cut out), with RAH1 losing a Knight instantly to F4.

Its these "moments" that bug the heck out of me.  These decisions.

A gain in material, and its like autopilot kicks in and I look to hunker down and hold that advantage, where clearly in that position, the better move was to press on with F5 causing White extra problems and at least slowing down his counterplay.

I'd love to rid myself of this timid cowering but can't seem to shake it.

Any tips on correcting that poor type of thinking?

Stubborn Donkey's example not too good 1 Qd6! better than unnecessary sacrifices.

Thanks for the comments, not a great game and I obviously missed much, but I HAVE taken on board the comments about passivity.

I posted a new game, where I looked for activity with a material lead, and walked straight into an idiotic blunder......  

However, all was not lost.... until .... well, its quite horrible to watch.

Post: http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-analysis/wrong-endgame-stupid-1500s-game