Playing emotionally was a problem for me, but I took a different approach. Rather than trying to subdue and harness my emotions, I simply identified the most prominent one and abandoned the wheel to it. As such, I now play chess exclusively in a state of blind rage. The biggest downside is that I've accrued a high number of timeouts in the process because of a tendency to black out from sensory overload, waking up to a headache and textual accusations of "cowardice".
Emotions behind moves
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BlargDragon wrote:
Playing emotionally was a problem for me, but I took a different approach. Rather than trying to subdue and harness my emotions, I simply identified the most prominent one and abandoned the wheel to it. As such, I now play chess exclusively in a state of blind rage. The biggest downside is that I've accrued a high number of timeouts in the process because of a tendency to black out from sensory overload, waking up to a headache and textual accusations of "cowardice".
Solid COTY material right here... 😂
Seriously, though, do you know any books that deal with "seeing ghosts" in chess and overcoming the visions and emotions that they entail?
luitjen1 wrote:
if you don't like your opponent getting those kind of positions maybe you should consider playing other openings
I get what you're saying, but in every opening there's at least this one move that marks the previous opening play as successful for the given side (i. e. either it gives White a long-term advantage, or Black equalises), and usually one can't expect to prevent it forever... for example, in open games it's e5 for White or d5 for Black, in closed games it's usually e4 for White or c5/e5 for Black etc.
The point is, why should I avoid facing "scary" moves instead of learning how to deal with them? I know that it seems like I just gave myself the solution, but I think I might be hitting my personal limit when it comes to learning.
I can give you 3 pieces of advice to cure your problem:
1) Read Max Euwe "Chess Master vs Chess Amateur" and his other good books.
2) Learn more about the openings.
3) Learn that the knight himself on e4 ins't scary at all and have fun.
That was a stupid example against a really bad player, but I hope you got the idea
Another one (also silly, but 
...)
If you really want to improve - consider having lessons with me 
1) Hey, an actual book recommendation! Thanks, I'll make sure to check it out!
2) I think my opening knowledge actually took a blow because first I knew too much, then I lost all of my chess training material in a freak portable hard drive accident, and when I couldn't reconstruct and double-check any important variations again, I just kinda threw in the towel and started trying to irrationally weasel my way through. Sometimes I get beaten in an opening so badly that I abandon the opening due to an emotional shock. It sucks not being able to see things straight.
3) If I can get rid of my own positional hole whilst my opponent can't, that's not scary. The problem is, what if I can't?
As for the lessons proposal, thank you, but I don't think I can afford actual coaching. Still, good to know.
If you really want to learn an opening you should buy (download) a book about this opening first (with a lot of explanations, not only variants and games), then you study GM games played in this opening (using database or here on chess.com). That's a way how good chess players learn an opening.
About annoying pieces. If you can't trade an annoying piece, block it or chase it away - I suggest controlling it with your pieces. Like if you can't do anything about an annoying knight on e4, then be sure he can't hook over on important squares, that's it. I believe you can afford coaching - I charge only 10$/per lesson, so if you' collect with your thoughts - feel free to contact me in PM. So I wish you luck in improving!
I've been having problems with playing too irrationally in the opening - well, mostly in the opening, because afterwards my positions become bad enough that it doesn't matter. The thing is, depending on the opening context, there are moves that I positively dread... for example, if my opponent (playing Black) plants a knight on e4 and plays f5, I REALLY don't like that, so I play overly prophylactically and fall behind in development more than I ought to. Same goes with some Bishop pins on b4/g4/b5/g5.
Can you recommend me some books that deal with the emotional side of move selection? I've read "The Amateur's Mind" by Silman, but it doesn't cover it in too much detail. Or maybe I don't need a book after all and there's a better way/approach/technique based on common sense or something? All I know is, I should make a breakdown of imbalances and all, but in all of the sound openings there are certain concessions that each side must make, and I hardly feel comfortable in any of the main lines.
I dunno, it's a long-term tilt at this point, I lost almost any and all confidence in my playing abilities.