Coping with a sudden loss of a loved one (The Q)
By 12 Apr 15 on
4760 views | 2 edits | Last edit on 13 Apr 15
Enjoy
So you are playing with your queen and before you know it she gets captured by a blood sucking vampire. Are you going to lose your cool and have to be restrained from doing something rash?
∞
When playing chess there is no one else there that will do this for you. This is a shame to be honest because most players fall victim to their own emotions before they fall victim to their opponent. So this means you have no one else you can rely on other than yourself. No one loses their queen intentionally unless it is planned this, it can happen because we have overlooked something. The other way is we get too confident and over extend on our attack and end up getting the Queen stuck or trapped and the final way is by an attack from our opponent that has paid off and ended up trapping your queen into a corner with no way out.
So What then?
For whatever the reason our queen is off the board, when it happens it will affect us (Queens are so distracting.) First of all since there is no one to do it for us we have to restrain ourselves from doing anything too rash and blowing any chance we may have left. Remember it normally is not the first mistake that costs you the game; it is the 2nd and 3rd mistake that follows.
Are you the type that will just resign the moment she is off the board because to you without her there is automatically no hope because you are just that attached to your Queen, I’m truly sorry for your loss! Pun intended. (Yes, there are players like that, I have sat across from them, boys, girls and full grown men also played them here on RHP)
Side note: Mind Trick
Messing with your opponents mind is always fun when you can do it without confusing yourself, when I made a mistake that cost me a queen, I used to make some sort of gesture like a gasp or speak out saying “damn” which tells your opponent they have succeeded in getting you off your game and confirmed you have made a mistake.
I trained myself to always say “Good” even though it was far from good failing that say nothing and do nothing at all. True story the one time I lost my queen and said good out loud, my opponent heard me and actually asked me “Good, how is it good?” To which I replied, she was annoying too distracting. Which made my opponent laugh which got him off his game, however I could see I changed his perception that perhaps it was an intentional mistake instead of an unintentional mistake, again making him work for that victory.
The Moment it Happens.
Just breathe slowly!
You have overlooked something and miscalculated the position on the board and it cost you a queen, however losing a queen IS NOT CHECKMATE. So look around at the entire board examine every single piece of your opponent see where they are and where each piece can go I mean to every single square even if it would be what you consider bad, you already over looked something so you need erase what you previously thought and start from the beginning again and re-exam everything.
If the Queen was trapped perhaps you can get something in exchange, instead of just losing a nine (9) pawn point piece for nothing. If the queen was taken examine to see if you can re-capture the piece that took your queen safely before you crashing in.
Let Her Go. - As a King you do not have the time to morn your loss, she is gone stiff brit of life if you haven’t nailed her to the ground she be pushing up the daises, she has joined the choir invisible. You have to snap out of the tunnel vision you are going to be in “Great, now what am I going to do?”, “I have no chance to win now!”, “There is no way to win without her” I have heard it all and if you carry on playing while you still have such thoughts in your head then the opponent has beaten you mentally.
Trust me I know it is hard to let her go and this is coming from someone who used to name his Queens so they became more important to me so I would play better. You as a King need to honor the faith she put in you and be strong enough to carry on without her. This is where the queen be your greatest weakness because we know her death can hurt you. Sorry.
Let the Plan die or carry on?
Sometimes losing your queen means there is a flaw in your way of calculation of moves. So you really need to intensively exam your options in front of you before your counter or reply to the loss of your queen. Do you carry on with your planned attack, do you need to make adjustments or abandon the attack.
6 likely by 6 best
--------------------
Every plan has 6 potential likely scenarios if not more and when you’re starting to develop your skill of looking ahead. I suggest not looking more than 6 moves deep into each scenario. There very well could be more than 6 likely scenarios however the minimum I always found is 6, except at the very start of the game before anyone has moved.
Now normally looking six moves in can give you a sense of how it will play out also remember to look for the all the possible replies to everyone one of yours and judge what is the best move not what you want them to move. How would you beat you if you were playing you against your current plan?
Your plan should be designed towards playing against the best they have, so if they do anything else you know it is a potential mistake or something you have not looked into carefully. This skill is developed with experience however once finely tuned one you come to love.
So getting back on track when you come to lose the queen it is normally you that has made the mistake, so look at the plan you had intended is it dead in it tracks or can you compensate by using other supporting pieces? What about their plan how did you over look this mistake?
If you can make adjustments then go ahead, however it normally best not to carry on attacking unless you know you can gain back some material or play advantage in exchange for the loss.
Don’t Forget The Boys
The Rooks almost have the same potential power as the queen and you have two of them to your one queen, It is quite possible to force a draw with two rooks and a King vs a Queen n King. Normally at that stage both players are careful to watch for forks so it normally ends in a forced draw. I mean hey it takes just one mistake to get your foot in the door. If they leave the Queen in front of the King you could pin the Queen against the King.
Don’t like to think?
One of the other main reasons people detest losing their queens is it means they are going to have think now, chess gets incredibly complicated now, the wrecking ball has gone so you need to do math now and we all know how everyone feels about math.
That is just a small example of what is going on in my mind before and after every move. Yes there is a lot more in there, remember that was just one scenario and I will have a least 6, each 6 moves ahead I will know all the best moves you should play.
The more skilled players like Josh in the chess master games is able to go as far as 22 moves deep into a plan. Really it is just logical thinking so it should be simple.
The snag to it all is remembering it all after you worked out your plan for 30 minutes you do not need to sit for another 30 minutes going over everything you just did before.
Granted each move made deserves its own respect however there is a difference between wisely cautious and overthinking. So try to develop your memory skills so when you come to develop your plans you can see your plans on the board happen in your mind without the pieces being moved.
Here we come to the point of it all: of why people are so attached to the Queen.
Because with the Queen on the board she can make the game simple enough to fit into their minds so they do not have to over think. The game does not have to get overly complicated and there aren’t twenty two different complex patterns to work out. It’s just “bada bing bada boom.”
The Cure
The best way to get used to dealing with out your queen, is playing without your queen on the board, Like if you play someone a lot weaker than you, great chance to practice you don’t need a queen to beat them your better than that right?
Move sanctions: - Impose a 20 move sanction on your queen where no matter what you will not touch, move or even look at the queen. Instead work on your position strengthen your side by which time you should see a world of difference between using your army and just your queen you may not even have to use her at all if you play right for most of the game.
The other kind of sanctions I impose on myself which you seen me do already is 20 moves before I attack which to mean not going pass the 4th rank. I can defend myself but not take or attack beyond my land. Again this encourages you to develop your side and makes you think other than about just attacking but how to stop their attack and counter it.
6 likely by 6 best:- 6 Likely scenarios by 6 best moves each position while it is your turn and their turn always have a 6 by 6. When you move you are down by 1 so you need to replace it with a move you have previously worked out – if your memory is good. The same goes when he moves you need to replace it hold it in your mind from what you had previously worked out.
Memory games:- The mind is a muscle in the body and such like any other you need to work it before it improves try find some exercises that helps improve the memory – Like after you played a game for 3 hours are you able to play it back again the next day without looking at the score sheet and remember what you were thinking then? - This is how and why after so many years even I can remember games from my league days. Playing chess actually strengthens the mind in itself just concentrate.
So you are playing with your queen and before you know it she gets captured by a blood sucking vampire. Are you going to lose your cool and have to be restrained from doing something rash?
∞
When playing chess there is no one else there that will do this for you. This is a shame to be honest because most players fall victim to their own emotions before they fall victim to their opponent. So this means you have no one else you can rely on other than yourself. No one loses their queen intentionally unless it is planned this, it can happen because we have overlooked something. The other way is we get too confident and over extend on our attack and end up getting the Queen stuck or trapped and the final way is by an attack from our opponent that has paid off and ended up trapping your queen into a corner with no way out.
So What then?
For whatever the reason our queen is off the board, when it happens it will affect us (Queens are so distracting.) First of all since there is no one to do it for us we have to restrain ourselves from doing anything too rash and blowing any chance we may have left. Remember it normally is not the first mistake that costs you the game; it is the 2nd and 3rd mistake that follows.
Are you the type that will just resign the moment she is off the board because to you without her there is automatically no hope because you are just that attached to your Queen, I’m truly sorry for your loss! Pun intended. (Yes, there are players like that, I have sat across from them, boys, girls and full grown men also played them here on RHP)
Side note: Mind Trick
Messing with your opponents mind is always fun when you can do it without confusing yourself, when I made a mistake that cost me a queen, I used to make some sort of gesture like a gasp or speak out saying “damn” which tells your opponent they have succeeded in getting you off your game and confirmed you have made a mistake.
I trained myself to always say “Good” even though it was far from good failing that say nothing and do nothing at all. True story the one time I lost my queen and said good out loud, my opponent heard me and actually asked me “Good, how is it good?” To which I replied, she was annoying too distracting. Which made my opponent laugh which got him off his game, however I could see I changed his perception that perhaps it was an intentional mistake instead of an unintentional mistake, again making him work for that victory.
The Moment it Happens.
Just breathe slowly!
You have overlooked something and miscalculated the position on the board and it cost you a queen, however losing a queen IS NOT CHECKMATE. So look around at the entire board examine every single piece of your opponent see where they are and where each piece can go I mean to every single square even if it would be what you consider bad, you already over looked something so you need erase what you previously thought and start from the beginning again and re-exam everything.
If the Queen was trapped perhaps you can get something in exchange, instead of just losing a nine (9) pawn point piece for nothing. If the queen was taken examine to see if you can re-capture the piece that took your queen safely before you crashing in.
Let Her Go. - As a King you do not have the time to morn your loss, she is gone stiff brit of life if you haven’t nailed her to the ground she be pushing up the daises, she has joined the choir invisible. You have to snap out of the tunnel vision you are going to be in “Great, now what am I going to do?”, “I have no chance to win now!”, “There is no way to win without her” I have heard it all and if you carry on playing while you still have such thoughts in your head then the opponent has beaten you mentally.
Trust me I know it is hard to let her go and this is coming from someone who used to name his Queens so they became more important to me so I would play better. You as a King need to honor the faith she put in you and be strong enough to carry on without her. This is where the queen be your greatest weakness because we know her death can hurt you. Sorry.
• I also do realize that I am talking about chess pieces as if they were real people, the reason I am doing this is because to some they are real; players put themselves into their game their own personality into their game play that the chess pieces become an attachment of that person, again I have personally seen this.
Let the Plan die or carry on?
Sometimes losing your queen means there is a flaw in your way of calculation of moves. So you really need to intensively exam your options in front of you before your counter or reply to the loss of your queen. Do you carry on with your planned attack, do you need to make adjustments or abandon the attack.
6 likely by 6 best
--------------------
Every plan has 6 potential likely scenarios if not more and when you’re starting to develop your skill of looking ahead. I suggest not looking more than 6 moves deep into each scenario. There very well could be more than 6 likely scenarios however the minimum I always found is 6, except at the very start of the game before anyone has moved.
Now normally looking six moves in can give you a sense of how it will play out also remember to look for the all the possible replies to everyone one of yours and judge what is the best move not what you want them to move. How would you beat you if you were playing you against your current plan?
Your plan should be designed towards playing against the best they have, so if they do anything else you know it is a potential mistake or something you have not looked into carefully. This skill is developed with experience however once finely tuned one you come to love.
So getting back on track when you come to lose the queen it is normally you that has made the mistake, so look at the plan you had intended is it dead in it tracks or can you compensate by using other supporting pieces? What about their plan how did you over look this mistake?
If you can make adjustments then go ahead, however it normally best not to carry on attacking unless you know you can gain back some material or play advantage in exchange for the loss.
Don’t Forget The Boys
The Rooks almost have the same potential power as the queen and you have two of them to your one queen, It is quite possible to force a draw with two rooks and a King vs a Queen n King. Normally at that stage both players are careful to watch for forks so it normally ends in a forced draw. I mean hey it takes just one mistake to get your foot in the door. If they leave the Queen in front of the King you could pin the Queen against the King.
If you would like work at the 6 by 6 theory this video contains the part from the video that covers this. where I explain exactly everything that is going on in my mind
Don’t like to think?
One of the other main reasons people detest losing their queens is it means they are going to have think now, chess gets incredibly complicated now, the wrecking ball has gone so you need to do math now and we all know how everyone feels about math.
Example: How many moves is it going to take to get my Bishop to e4, and by which time can I stop his pawn from getting to e1 by the time I get to E4. Do I have time to carry out my entire plan or only partially do I have to respond to their threats? What about my Knight if I get it to d3 I can guard the e1 square but yet if I get the Knight to d3 too soon the pawn while still on e4 will be able to attack and take the Knight, I have to waste a move or is there a move that can improve my situation can strengthen my side while weakening his.
That is just a small example of what is going on in my mind before and after every move. Yes there is a lot more in there, remember that was just one scenario and I will have a least 6, each 6 moves ahead I will know all the best moves you should play.
The more skilled players like Josh in the chess master games is able to go as far as 22 moves deep into a plan. Really it is just logical thinking so it should be simple.
The snag to it all is remembering it all after you worked out your plan for 30 minutes you do not need to sit for another 30 minutes going over everything you just did before.
Granted each move made deserves its own respect however there is a difference between wisely cautious and overthinking. So try to develop your memory skills so when you come to develop your plans you can see your plans on the board happen in your mind without the pieces being moved.
Here we come to the point of it all: of why people are so attached to the Queen.
Because with the Queen on the board she can make the game simple enough to fit into their minds so they do not have to over think. The game does not have to get overly complicated and there aren’t twenty two different complex patterns to work out. It’s just “bada bing bada boom.”
The Cure
The best way to get used to dealing with out your queen, is playing without your queen on the board, Like if you play someone a lot weaker than you, great chance to practice you don’t need a queen to beat them your better than that right?
Move sanctions: - Impose a 20 move sanction on your queen where no matter what you will not touch, move or even look at the queen. Instead work on your position strengthen your side by which time you should see a world of difference between using your army and just your queen you may not even have to use her at all if you play right for most of the game.
The other kind of sanctions I impose on myself which you seen me do already is 20 moves before I attack which to mean not going pass the 4th rank. I can defend myself but not take or attack beyond my land. Again this encourages you to develop your side and makes you think other than about just attacking but how to stop their attack and counter it.
6 likely by 6 best:- 6 Likely scenarios by 6 best moves each position while it is your turn and their turn always have a 6 by 6. When you move you are down by 1 so you need to replace it with a move you have previously worked out – if your memory is good. The same goes when he moves you need to replace it hold it in your mind from what you had previously worked out.
Memory games:- The mind is a muscle in the body and such like any other you need to work it before it improves try find some exercises that helps improve the memory – Like after you played a game for 3 hours are you able to play it back again the next day without looking at the score sheet and remember what you were thinking then? - This is how and why after so many years even I can remember games from my league days. Playing chess actually strengthens the mind in itself just concentrate.
