Having the advantage and then losing...TWICE

Howdy beings...is there anything specific i can do to turn my advantage into victory?i played an OTB tourney this weekend and twice i had an advantage of 1.5 when i checked tge engine after the games...lost both games vs a 1300 and 1500...so...how do i work on this?solely playing through master games?

This brings back some painful memories of the first tournaments I played in... I still do this a bit, and my OTB rating is only in the 1500 region, so take what I say with a pinch of salt, but here are my thoughts on what you should be doing...

I'd say more important than going over master games is to analyse your own games to see where you're going wrong. At any move where the engine says your advantage has decreased by more than, say, 0.5 to 0.6, try to work out why that's happened. Compare the move the engine says you should have played to the one your actual move. Work out why they're different - is there an important positional difference or is it because of a tactic you didn't see? If it's a tactic, make sure you play it through to the end, then go back to the position you had in the game where you went wrong and try to visualise the whole thing from there.

This can be a bit slow and frustrating but you only need to do it in cases where there's a fairly big change in the evaluation in your position. For the likes of you and me, a change of 0.2 isn't all that meaningful. Going from +1.5 to +0.75 probably means you made a significant mistake, though.

haha engine dropped to equal position...+0.00 from 1.5...no blunders...just gave myself an instantly worse position

Oh, I'm about to be the victim of a quick KO..... Humiliating:(

dont worry about online chess too much☺

Study the endgame first, forget about tactics for a while until you get better at the endgame....looks like that is your weak-point, like most of the players on this site. I remember when I first started and watched few endgame videos for only a few hours and my OTB rating went up about 100 points immediately. Also play your games out even if losing until you get good at the endgame, that's the best way to practice it.

Remember to not initiate "cruise control" just because you've won a couple of pawns or achieved a barely winning position. Also, don't worry about what the computer says- just analyze the game from a human's perspective. Converting a computer advantage of 1.5 to an eventual checkmate is one of the many aspects of chess that doesn't have a formula. Something which I've noticed though, is that most comebacks are caused by peice activity, so keep restraining your opponent even if you have a winning advantage.

An engine evaluation is deceptive. As long as there is a single forced sequence for a side leading to a single position where the computer's static evaluation gives some distinct advantage, then the computer will rate the current position, no matter how much counterplay exists or how complicated it is, as equal to that forced position.

Having an advantage of "+1.5" to convert may be a much bigger task than simply having "basic technique".

I'd always suggest examining the position and coming up with your own conclusions when it comes to analyzing your mistakes.

Yup endgame is my problem and probably for you. We both need to be able to convert!

 

Did you realize that you had an advantage during the game?

An engine evaluation of +1.5 isn't really much in many positions, I think. Maybe even most positions there's still a long, long way to go.

As far as converting an advantage, well, you have to take pride in your tactics and the accuracy of your moves and have a will to win. You can't just play moves that are comfortable for you. You need to play moves that are uncomfortable for your opponent.

 I am more comfortable in endgames (certainly not a master). You should post the games in question and see if the lot of us can hammer through them with you, masterfowler.

thanks☺ i will post the notation for these games as i am using the android app and cant post the games properly☺

 

I disagree and agree. Engine evaluation more than 1 pawn is winning unless it is a difficult to find winning tactical combination.  In that case, if you miss it well then you could be losing.

 

But your 2nd point is very useful and I am just starting to learn to apply it, put pressure on your opponent. 

 

 

I dunno if you are asking me or the OP. For me yes, I thought comon there has to be a win here somewhere. But I was in time trouble in the OTB game. I was maybe 4 or 5 moves from queening, but decided to delay the forcing queening sequence and instead got cute.

Reminds me of a beginner who was upset after Fritz said in his tournament game he missed a mate in 8.

The number the engine gives by itself is meaningless, as many other people have told you.

0.00 in practical play may be totally winning because it's so difficult for your opponent.

+10 in practical play can be a draw, or lost, because of the specific situation.

You want help on positions where you have +1.5? You're asking the wrong questions.

I t is a general question. if during the game you don't realize the advantage then working on evaluating the board and your position is what needs to be worked on. if you know you are a head then working on strategy to exploit the weakness

so Round 1...i saw hos rating and honestly i was terrified...my worst game of the tournament 🙈

[Event "Ekhuruleni open section A"] [Site " THS Springs"] [Date "March 24, 2017"] [White "MJ Fowler"] [Black "B Mthunzi"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1417"] [BlackElo "2009"] [TimeControl "60/60"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. Nge2 Bg7 6. O-O Nge7 7. d3 O-O 8. Be3 b6 9. f4 d5 10. exd5 exd5 11. d4 Ba6 12. Rf3 Nf5 13. Bf2 Ncxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Re3 Bb7 16. Rd3 Re8 17. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 18. Kf1 Ba6 19. Nxd5 Bxb2 20. Rb1 Bg7 21. Kg1 Bxd3 22. cxd3 Bd4+ 23. Kf1 Qd6 24. f5 Rad8 25. fxg6 fxg6 26. Qb3 Kh8 27. Re1 Rf8+ 28. Nf4 Rxf4+ 29. gxf4 Qxf4+ 30. Ke2 Qf2+ 31. Kd1 Qxg2 32. Qf7 Qf2 33. Re8+ Rxe8 34. Qxe8+ Kg7 35. Qe7+ Qf7 36.Resigns ...i played badly here...i admit it...after the self destructive Rf3 i was lost already

I played 3 games that I lost while being up queen.