Originally posted by mikelom
😀 😀
You got psyched out by a kid? with your experience and powers? 😲
Working on a few openings, at your rating, might help you to become world champion!
(in cc , of course) 😀
Putting aside all humor, there is a psychological lesson that can be learned here, which I hope I am able to put into practice on future OTB games.
I. Try to play an opening that you feel comfortable with.
2. Spend some time learning the popular openings that you expect to be playing OTB.
3. If you know you will be playing a specific opponent, try to learn what openings he usually plays, so that you can prepare yourself in advance. But don't let it get to you psychological if he plays something different than you expected.
4. Follow accepted opening procedures of getting you pieces developed to their best and most natural position for the opening system you are playing and don't forget to castle early before your king can be attacked.
5. Try to avoid complicated variations that you have not studied throughly.
6. Using tricky or psychological moves do not always work on your oppenent, so it is good to have a backup plan if it fails. Sometimes it ia better on your own psychology to just take the time to find the best move in the position that you can.
6. Try to come up with a plan of attack and defense as soon as possible, especially after you have reached full development of all pieces.
7. Try to determine what your opponents plan is and counter it with a plan of your own.
8. Once you begin the plan, try to continue it unless you are certain there is sufficent need to alter or abandon the plan. If you have the time on the clock, use it to calculate your plan ahead as far as you can see within reason.
9. Don't forget to look for tactical possibilities from both sides as you execute your plan. If you do see an error in your plan don't panic, but try to calm yourself psychologically and spend time to device a new plan.
10. I think I demonstrated some things you do not want to do at the end of this game, which is to quit thinking and move like you are playing speed chess with only seconds to move when actually you have about an hour on your clock.
I think the psycholgy of both players play a part in how the game plays out. I might not have won that game anyway, but I would have been able to give my opponent a better game and at least it would not have been the first one to be finished that night. I hope someone, other than me, learned something from this game and are able to play better OTB games as a result.