Ok, a big issue, if your position is hopeless, ie:, your king cannot castle, you are down a couple of pawns early with no mercy in site, perhabs down a peice, maybe down TWO peices, should you set traps? No1Marauder says I should buckle down and defend and quit setting traps that make things worse if my opponent spots them, Silman thinks along the same lines, but are they wrong? I mean, seriously and honestly, if you are in a losing game, what do you have to lose by trying and hoping a trap works? It's phycology folks, the trap gives you HOPE to win a hopeless game, and opponents often underestimate you in games they are winning easily. So what if the trap makes it worse if he/she spots it? What do you have to lose? You were losing anyways, I think Silman is wrong here. . .
I have to say I agree with you...
If you believe that your game is totally lost, but think that your opponent is capable of making a blunder (which includes everyone) then why not give it a whirl. The worst thing that can happen is they won't take the bait, you can resign anyway after giving it a try.
Go down swinging! It is important that you only do this in positions where you KNOW you've lost, and you know why...If you don't know why, then you have alot to gain by playing it out (I already know that you don't see much value in learning from your losses, we'll just have to agree to disagree on that).
BLR
Originally posted by mateuloseThe reason Silman wants you to keep playing is to learn. Also because there is a chance your opponent will blunder and give material back. What Silman says (and I don't have the book here, I'm at work) is this - "Don't just play a one move trap and then if your opponent sees it resign".
Ok, a big issue, if your position is hopeless, ie:, your king cannot castle, you are down a couple of pawns early with no mercy in site, perhabs down a peice, maybe down TWO peices, should you set traps? No1Marauder says I should buckle down and defend and quit setting traps that make things worse if my opponent spots them, Silman thinks along the same lin ...[text shortened]... e spots it? What do you have to lose? You were losing anyways, I think Silman is wrong here. . .
I agree with wib....And I have to disagree with my parrothead clanmate BL. If you are down a piece, there is no better time to learn than when you are at a disadvantage the importance of position. The better you can last down a piece, the better your game will be when you are up a piece. Never deny yourself an opportunity to better yourself. Besides, unless you are a relative novice, any player watching the opponant carefully can see the nature of your moves...
Originally posted by wibWell, surely, if we look at your rating, it's better to give the traps a shot, seeing that you will lose anyways. I don't see any point of playing on a game down a rook hoping your opponent will somehow leave his own rook en prise, what could you learn from playing a king vs rook endgame? 😴 At least with the traps, you set him up, and if he sees them, well, you would of resigned anyways, a resign 20 moves later or 20 moves earlier, is still a loss. Why waste time? Give it your best shot before you die. . .
The reason Silman wants you to keep playing is to learn. Also because there is a chance your opponent will blunder and give material back. What Silman says (and I don't have the book here, I'm at work) is this - "Don't just play a one move trap and then if your opponent sees it resign".
Originally posted by mateuloseWhere did I say such a thing?
Ok, a big issue, if your position is hopeless, ie:, your king cannot castle, you are down a couple of pawns early with no mercy in site, perhabs down a peice, maybe down TWO peices, should you set traps? No1Marauder says I should buckle down and defend and quit setting traps that make things worse if my opponent spots them, Silman thinks along the same lin ...[text shortened]... e spots it? What do you have to lose? You were losing anyways, I think Silman is wrong here. . .
Originally posted by mateuloseA) You were not down a piece or two pieces in those games;
You told me to quit playing around with tactics in my games against chilli and gimbitzoid when I was losing those games badly by move 10.
B) I never said don't use tactics, I said if you develop your pieces you'll be in a position to use effective tactics;
C) Please stop saying I said things I didn't; you'll confuse people who might want to actually learn something as you obviously don't.
Originally posted by KWCoronaNot to disagree...but rather to clarify.
I agree with wib....And I have to disagree with my parrothead clanmate BL. If you are down a piece, there is no better time to learn than when you are at a disadvantage the importance of position. The better you can last down a piece, the better your game will be when you are up a piece. Never deny yourself an opportunity to better yourself. Besides, unless ...[text shortened]... relative novice, any player watching the opponant carefully can see the nature of your moves...
What I meant by "know when you are losing and know why" was simply, you already know from what you have read and from experience the correct way to defend the position. I should have been more clear on this.
BLR
I am sure that the best think to do when your a piece down is to create as much compilcations as possible, make the game as sharp as possible and play as active as you can.
Closing up the possition is what the player with the extra piece wants ( so you don't get any counter chances and he can trade off to a won endgame.)
but you shoud never play on traps if it does not gain you anything lasting like a strong innitiative or a possitional advantage.
mateulose,
If you really want to improve, you need to stop caring about winning so much. Even if you are a few pieces down, there is still an opportunity to learn. You should set yourself a challenge to make it as hard as possible for your opponent to win, even if you are behind in material. I never resign, unless a loss is inevitable. Not many people are good in end games, so there is always a chance that you can turn things round in your favor. Today I lost a game against a colleague. He was in control during most of the game and I knew that unless he made a mistake I was gonna lose the game. I gave it my best shot though, and even though I'm rated 500 points higher, I could find no way to avoid a loss. Despite the fact that there was a huge difference in rating, I'm not depressed about this loss, I even enjoyed the competition. The guy invested hours of thinking in this game, played solidly and never made a mistake, so he deserved the win. I can already see the big smile on his face when I walk into the office tomorrow 🙂
Honestly, chess is not only about winning....