I performed 1557, won 3 out of 4 games, and only lost to the tournament winner in the final round... a Russian whose last game in the US was in 2002.
And I'm completely miserable about losing.
The games:
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About Me
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I love endings and helping others learn to play. I placed 5th in my section at the World Open, won a recent U1600 with a perfect score, and aim to one day be a chess master. :)
I'm Secretary of the Knights Errant.
17 comments:
Partly, the loss was so infuriating because I know I can play better chess than this! I think I didn't handle the pressure of the last game very well, and missing 21...g6 did nothing to settle my nerves. Grrrr.... I hate losing for stupid reasons.
You can remember opening lines,middlegame tactics and endgame positions.
But nothing in a chess book can train you to handle pressure.
We all get caught out by it,we all know it's their but we can't deal with it.
I suppose if we could we would be pro chess players.
Yeah, but what the hell?!
In the first three games I was calm and collected. I managed my time well. I knew what my opponent thought before he did. I saw a few moves ahead. This game I was off-tempo, moving too fast and then too slow. I was surprised by moves. And the finale? How could I fail to look at a simple CHECKING CAPTURE?
Something is seriously wrong with my brain. I fed it vitamins, and DHA, and sleep, and plenty of water. I gave it balanced fuel, but not too close to game-time. And it failed me.
"I suppose if we could we would be pro chess players."
Some champions take their losses very well. Or perhaps that's simply what they choose to show the public. This loss will haunt me for awhile. It will drive me to study harder, too.
What's so special on 21 ...g6, it's a better move than 21 ...Re6 but I don't see any forced mates or trapped queens?
Game 2 is nice. Good transition to a better or winning endgame and then well played.
Game 4 nerves. The French Exchange is better than its reputation especially at the club level.
Great tournament. You are being too hard on yourself, but alas that is probably why you improve.
Adrenaline is good until we pass a threshold. At board one, people watching, everything rides on it, hoping I can come to my blog and post that I won a tournament. It's fucking stressful.
I bet just relaxing with deep breathing or something would help, but I wish I had known that before I blew it at board one.
Tralala, during the game, after playing ...Re6 I was thinking I could probably trap his queen with ...g6 instead. In post-analysis, I no longer believe this. Then ...Ng5! and I lost my pressure, bishop pair, and imbalance in one swoop. I wanted to win badly so this was a very bitter pill to swallow.
...Rg6 was my way of saying, fine, we can draw if you really want to. Qe7 Re6 Qg5 Rg6 Qd2!? and now he's changed his mind. Argh. He senses weakness.
Glenn, the exchange was annoying, both because it takes me away from familiar pawn structures and because I needed a win to score the trophy. I went for ...Nc6 instead of ...Nf6 as it's less likely to peter out into a draw.
BDK, thanks. My rating went from 1403P to 1446. In a few days, that might be something to be happy about.
BDK is right, you are too hard on yourself. First 3 games looked like they were easy for you. In the 4th game your opponent played very well beginning from 22. Ng5, his plan with moving "f" pawn was really good. There is nothing to be ashamed of when you lose to a decent opponent, just learn and move on. Don't forget, chess school in former USSR was excellent, I can confirm that.
You didn't play in many tournaments yet as I know, so don't try to get ahead of yourself, everything will come in time. Second place and raising your rating by 40+ points is very good result.
I agree with the above two comments, you've played relatively few games and have improved alot.
However the fact it hurts is also good, if it drives you on to improve more.
Make a copy of the position and then add it to a folder, look at it and analyse it to see why you erred. Not I missed this or that but why, was it tactics, visualisation or something else to do with positional or stategic play.
My own folder with mistakes is pretty big and the folder with the inspired or interesting moves very small. It does ram it home though better than any annotated game can because of the feelings attached to it.
We can feed are brain well, and be very well prepared, but the psychology of playing for 1st place is a whole different matter. It's not something one can practice per se. However, visualization and meditation can help. I often will calm myself by meditating at the table, and concentrate on proper breathing technique. Trying to clear one's mind of the anxieties related to trying to win the important game is not easy. Some times I'm more successful then other times.
Don't beat yourself up. (LOL I'm one to talk.) Try to learn from the mistakes that occurred over the board, and the mental processes that may have played a part in your loss.
Loss in the final round can be because of fatigue, overconfidence, forgot thinkingproces, all the sudden chess blindness, playing cramped (thinking more about going 4/4 instead of just concentrating on the game).
Always look at a game what it is, just a game. Dont look at it as the championship game it brings to much stress.
Rolling Pawns - I thought that if the f-pawn advanced to f6 it would be weak and fall. I've learned an important lessons about monochromatic bishops!
Will - Good idea. Such a folder would also serve as a motivator when I don't feel like studying. I think I will limit it to serious tournament games.
Polly - My coach and even the TD told me I performed well. In the past three days I've zipped through 100 pgs of Mastering Chess Openings including 30+ games. So maybe I shouldn't balance my mind just yet--I'll stay mad until I get closer to the next tourney. ;)
chesstiger - I was rested and tried to prepare for this particular opponent as best I could with the info I had available to me. "Forgot process" is probably the best fit--I made several moves without checking the tactical implications carefully. ...g6 also showed a lack of understanding... I figured the f-pawn would be "weak".
Well, you didn't really lose. Because everyone knows the Russians do, er, chess steroids or something. So next time, try being miserable that you don't have the bravery to try dangerous performance-enhancing drugs instead.
Ooh, dangerous performance-enhancing drugs... I'll ask the next Russian I play where I can get those!
LOL.
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