Some OTB mirages

On an OTB tournament I have recently played, I saw several mirages.
To justify myself - in the search for a beautiful combination.

Mirage No 1.


I am Black and 19. ... move was mine.
I knew I stood better. My opponent was a hopeless amateur, old pensionist who was delighted by his probably OTB tournament, clocks, writing the moves etc. I was blushing because of possible shame: what If I don't win?!
I shouldhave played by Queen without fearing capturing of my Rook> White doesn't have time for that.

But... I spent 35 minutes calculating "glorious" combination 19. ...Nxc4!!?

Mirage No. 2


I am White, it is 29.-th move, I have little more than 1 minute on the clock.
I played loosing 39. c5?? because I saw a "fantastic trap"
39. ...bxc5 40. bxc5Nb7 41. c6+ Rxc6 42. Rxc6 Kxc6 43. Nh5 ---
I missed the in-between check . ...Nc5 and Black can defend their pawns.

39. c5?? was losing because of 39. ...axb4.
39. bxa5 was supposed to hold a draw.

Mirage No 3.


I am Black on my 22.-nd move.
I wanted so badly to play 22. ...Ne3 and I was "calculated" for 45 minutes (!!), and I didn't see this:
22. ...Ne3 23. Rxa1 Rxa1+ (*I was dreaming of sacrificing the Queen, like Nezmetdinov... 😉---) 24. Rb1 Rc1+! 25. Qd1 Rxd1+ 26. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 27. Bf1 Rxf1 checkmate.
I dind't see 24. ...Rc1+
I played 22. ...Qa2?! and only after 23 Rb5 I played bad 23. ..Ne3??
I was in better position even after 22. ...Qa2?, but on 23. Rb5 I had to reply with Bf6, return a Pawn and then fight for the win "with other measures".

Mirage No 4.


I am Black and waiting for White's 28.-th move. I sat a 'trap" excpecting 28. f5? That's why I blocked a Pawn with Queen and opened F-line. (*I was fighting for whole point and I threw away even a draw.)

I saw the following mirage --->
On 28. f5?! I would have played
28. ...c5 based on the "calculation" 29. fxe6 Rxf1+ 30 Kxf1 Bb5+ 31. Ke1 cxd4. Here I stopped and was proud on myself. 😕 After 32.Bxd4 White has a huge advantage. Probably won position.

It didn't occur to me that I could have played this->
28. ...Rxf5 29.Rxf5 c5 30.Rxg5+ hxg5 31.Qd1 Rf8 and White has to play 32.Rf2 Rxf2 33.Kxf2 which gives my a little advantage.

Mirage No. 4.b

Little bit later in the game, White has just played 31. e6? and lost all advantage.

I "calculated" 31. ...Rf4 but after 32. Rxf4 I "realized" I don't have time for 32. ...Rxf4. I missed 32. ...Qd1+! which gives little advantage. That's why White shouldn't take Rook on f4 but move his Rook on the 1.-st row, which gives me opportunity for perpetual check with 33. ...Rf1+!.
I should have been satisfied with this.

...
Blindness.

That looks like a smashing post Vanders.

Don't have time to look at it depth just wasted my mini break looking
at Big Dogs game. But I've thumbs up (rarely use that feature) for a reminder.

Originally posted by vandervelde
On an OTB tournament I have recently played, I saw several mirages.
To justify myself - in the search for a beautiful combination.

[b]Mirage No 1.
[fen]1r1q2k1/1p2p1bp/pn1p2p1/8/2P5/1PN1Br2/P2Q1PRP/R6K b - -[/fen]

I am Black and 19. ... move was mine.
I knew I stood better. My opponent was a hopeless amateur, old pensionist who was delighte ...[text shortened]... perpetual check with 33. ...Rf1+!.
I should have been satisfied with this.

...
Blindness.[/b]

I could have written this myself from samples of my own OTB games. It's like I have an alternate version of myself on another continent. You are not alone!

I especially appreciated the time references. I tend to play OTB chess a little too fast, but some of my most spectacular blunders have occurred in positions where I took a lot of time before moving. It's like I get lost looking too deep into the forest and run into the tree right in front of me.

I have heard the expression "Think long, think wrong" applied to chess. It doesn't apply to me because I so rarely think right. I don't know if it correlates with any particular length of thought.

Hi vandervelde,


Mirage No.3.


Black to play.

The good news is that you won and yet still find fault with yourself.
I tended to ignore my wins even though I was usually lost somewhere
along the line and had to resort to tactics to swindle my way to a win.

Your instinct was telling you to play Ne3 (you spent 45 minutes fighting
your instinct.) Trust yourself. All the work you are doing off the board
is bearing fruit. Though maybe looking at tactical positions with them set
up on the board should be tried. (I'm guessing you are screen solving -
solving in 2d and playing OTB in 3d. It's a possible explanation for not seeing it.)

If you had gone for it I'm sure after White played Rb1 you would have seen Rc1+

Would have been a glorious finish.