Saving a lost position

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taseredbirdinstinct
jetoba wrote:
taseredbirdinstinct wrote:
jetoba wrote:
taseredbirdinstinct wrote:
jetoba wrote:
taseredbirdinstinct wrote:
...

This might work on weaker players but it would never work on an 2400+ elo rated player.

ELO has a significant effect on what is considered resignable but I've deliberately gone into an ending against a 2400+ USCF (figure 2350+ ELO) with my material equal opponent having a protected passer two squares from queening and (correctly) feeling confident I could hold it. I played in the US Open against an IM and reached a position that knew was a draw, and eight moves later when the IM blew a tempo was when it really was a drawn position (still took a number of moves before the IM conceded a draw - both players had plenty of time on the clock and were moving slowly).

You are on chess.com rated about 1900ish elo daily, how come you had managed to beat a 2300 FIDE (2400 USCF) level player?

Winning with equal material or in a drawish endgames is completely different to drawing with a King Vs King + two pieces, or a King + Knight + pawn Vs King + Rook + five pawns.

I said I held the draws, not won. I have the occasional wins against NMs, and very very occasional against FMs, but those are usually based on early blunders and more rarely based on overlooking the hidden idea behind the "obviously silly" move that a (then) 2100 USCF would make (30 years later I'm about 150 points below my strength then). A higher rated player couldn't have gotten away with it because the opponent would have looked for the hidden idea, but the same move made by a lower rated player has a chance of being taken at face value. The difference in rating indicates the average chances of losing or winning and if enough games are played there will be all types of results (albeit strongly clustered at one end).

So back then you were about 2000-2100 elo.

And today I still have the experience and positional knowledge to find difficult moves, though I also have less endurance and lapses of tactical sight that results in positions requiring saving moves.

As an example of that I had a recent daily game where I analyzed a lovely knight sacrifice where I had both of my remaining pawns vulnerable to being captured but the capture of one would ensure the queening of the other. The game review unsurprisingly classified it as brilliant. On the flip side, I was so focused on the brilliancy that I overlooked a knight fork that would have won a piece and led to a simple win (no brilliant move needed).

I am an arbiter and don't play that many tournaments but I did well at the US Open a few years ago beating multiple players 100-250 points higher rated while drawing when outrated by almost 400 points. The slower time control gave a chance for age and experience to overcome youth and brilliance.

Would you describe yourself as a positional player these days?