I have this problem sometimes too. I heard a saying somewhere that I try to remind myself of. Winning comes from experience. Experience comes from losing.
Just make sure you learn from the losses. Good luck.
afraid to play chess
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Don't be afraid. Just get over it.
Some days you play great, others terrible, most somewhere in between. Thats life! Just keep playing, the good days will outway the bad days.
May 15, 2013
0
#5
Why bring to question your enjoyment of chess in such a knee-jerk manner over repeated losses in paltry 5-0 blitz games?
Most people call this a slump. He was having a better day than you ... that is all.
If you really want to get introspective, analyze those games and look for common mistakes you are making ... and strive to not make them any more (put a post-it note on your screen!)
Finally ... if you are trying to convince yourself that "I can beat rating X so rating Y is too easy for me", you actually have more of an over-confidence issue rather than an under-confidence issue. Sorry to sound extra harsh here ... but people give up playing chess for a whole lot more than you do.
Coolbluesky wrote:
Don't be afraid. Just get over it.
okay, coolbluesky, i will try
i think after that experience something has just snapped in me. i spent the entire afternoon going through nic yearbook and i understood every concept and idea. i found it so interesting i read almost the whole of it! now when i look at it again i dont understand anything and all i see are details. hopefully, by tomorrow i will be better. besdies, i have to take my anti-anxiety medication which usually makes it better. wish me luck.
yesterday and today i was having these weird visions. yesterday i could barely go to sleep i was seeing all these weird patterns and just as about i was going to drift off, i would just remember or realize something and my head would snap back. it was almost like having a seizure. i have been playing non-stop chess for the last three days. every single game i played i enjoyed to the maximum. the best thing was that i was just seeing everything and everything was tactical and i mean very tactical. then it ended with this experience of meeting this lower rated guy and i beat him a few games and then started playing gambits. then i lost and then i tried to start playing seriously again but never really won again. and then everything crashed. now i will try reading nic yearbook tomorrow. if it doesn't fall together then i will consider brain surgery.
If you care about the game and you care about your performance, you will have anxiety. That's normal. My hands start to sweat even when I'm playing against a Chessmaster cyber opponent. Since anxiety affects decision making in a negative way it makes sense to find ways to manage it to enhance performance. But anxiety and adrenalin also heighten the senses and can assist performance, so eliminating it is not desirable. It sounds like you have challenges with anxiety and you may be overdoing your obsession with chess. Dial it back a little and play when you feel more comfortable. Otherwise, it's like hitting yourself in the face repeatedly with a hammer. It feels much better when you stop.
May 15, 2013
0
#9
chess can be a mental torture breaking your ego shattering your confidence.let s remind Steintitz aphorism:chess isnot for the faint heartened.
Dont give up=It is only a game
May 15, 2013
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#11
pdve wrote:
i have been playing non-stop chess for the last three days.
Dude, go outside! Smell the trees, watch the clouds, all that jazz.
May 15, 2013
0
#12
You're forgetting to have fun. #1 rule. Have fun. Discovering what you're doing wrong after a loss can also be very enjoyable. The discoveries lead to more victories if you work to correct them.
Does it affect you if you lose or how you lose? When I lose to someone and feel he has outplayed me, then this doesn't even harm me. If I lose because I made stupid blunders, I won't play again for this day. Maybe play against a computer on the next day and see if I still make obvious blunders.
Most of the time blunders result from a lack of patience and not doublechecking before making a move.
lately, for the last two or three days i was on a great winning streak. now today i lost to one guy repeatedly and the loss has has such a debilitating experience on me that i have lost confidence. this is despite the fact that i beat many players much higher rated than me. does this kind of thing happen and what do i do to become unafraid again.