What to do about bad form?

This applies more to OTB and real time chess than correspondence chess I guess. What do you do when you are faced with a run of bad form, do you try to play through it? Take a break away from chess? Study harder? etc

Iv always tried to play through it especially online. Although this isn't great for your rating.....my playchess (slow) rating has lost about 100 points over the last 8 games, 2 wins 6 loses (grrrrr). While this might slaughter my rating till some sort of form comes back I feel that it does some good......losing is painful and even more so when people 400 points under you seem to be taking you apart without effort, however this pain tends to motivate me to study harder/look at weak points of my game etc and once I find form again my rating bounces back.

How do you lot try to deal with bad form?

Nice thread here bedlam

Originally posted by Bedlam
This applies more to OTB and real time chess than correspondence chess I guess. What do you do when you are faced with a run of bad form, do you try to play through it? Take a break away from chess? Study harder? etc

Iv always tried to play through it especially online. Although this isn't great for your rating.....my playchess (slow) rating has lost a ...[text shortened]... nd once I find form again my rating bounces back.

How do you lot try to deal with bad form?

For the messages that will follow we need to define what "bad form" is.
I think what you are stating as "bad form" is actually a point where you lose a lot of games. Is that correct? Cause this could be a lot different if the post were actually about "bad form".

So, assuming I'm correct and you want to talk about what to do when you get into a slump (American dialog), here's what I would suggest.

STOP PLAYING! Yes, you must stop playing at once! Give yourself a break, ol' chap. You are not a machine... you are an artist! Yes, and a gifted one at that!

So take a couple of days off. Wander around that pleasant green environment you have available to you... spend some time with a woman. Go do something that has nothing to do with chess - don't even think about it.

Come back in 2 days and resign all lost games - then whup the crap outta the remaining opponents. Cause you will. You'll enjoy the game more. 😵

Cheers

Originally posted by arrakis
For the messages that will follow we need to define what "bad form" is.
I think what you are stating as "bad form" is actually a point where you lose a lot of games. Is that correct? Cause this could be a lot different if the post were actually about "bad form".

So, assuming I'm correct and you want to talk about what to do when you get into a slump (Ame tta the remaining opponents. Cause you will. You'll enjoy the game more. 😵

Cheers

hm, its more real time chess so I resign all the games at the point of loss anyway 🙂

Yes losing games is part of it but by bad form I mean you miss things you would normally see or moves are harder to find. I normally play quite quickly and freely and things seem to slot into place but when ever I hit a bad form patch I feel as though I need 20 mins on ever move and still more often than not miss the opponents replies arrrrrggghhhhhhh 🙂

One thing I will say for continuing to play in a bad form patch is that you tend to get a lot more games....on playchess my target rating is 1900 and above anything less than that im and pretty niffed so being say 100 points lower than my target keeps me playing with something to aim for.....after 1900 im in my comfort zone so tend not to play as many games.....stupid I know 🙁

I've had a run of paid form OTB for the last few years with my OTB (ECF) grade dropping from 146 to 126 in that brief time and my Rapidplay grading dropping from 166 to 146. I could do nothing right. Got mated in 1, just put my Queen en prise, etc. Really basic errors, for some reason I just was not seeing things anymore and no matter how hard I tried I just kept missing things. Thought about giving up but thats admitting defeat and then I found RHP so thought I'd try working on things. This year OTB I have won 4 (including beating a 165) and drawn 1 and I'm back on the up, so it seems to be working and I'm feeling more positive about my chess again.

This has happened before and you always come out the end.

Originally posted by Dragon Fire
I've had a run of paid form OTB for the last few years with my OTB (ECF) grade dropping from 146 to 126 in that brief time and my Rapidplay grading dropping from 166 to 146. I could do nothing right. Got mated in 1, just put my Queen en prise, etc. Really basic errors, for some reason I just was not seeing things anymore and no matter how hard I tried I positive about my chess again.

This has happened before and you always come out the end.

Iv never had bad form last that long, the most has been a few weeks at the start of last season I lost 5 games on the trot.....went and won the next 5 which sort of made up for it but still very grrrrrrrr.

Just played 4 rapid play games on playchess (25 mins each) got 3 wins and a draw against 1750ish opponents which isnt too bad. I think one of the benefits of trying to play through bad form instead of taking some time off chess is that you get used to playing off form, so when it happens in club or tournament OTB games you have some experience as to what to expect from your chess and maybe can impliment damage limitation.

I recall Shirov hit a bad patch a few years back, he was losing to 2100s....shame we cant hear his thoughts on this topic 🙂

Originally posted by Bedlam
Iv never had bad form last that long, the most has been a few weeks at the start of last season I lost 5 games on the trot.....went and won the next 5 which sort of made up for it but still very grrrrrrrr.

Just played 4 rapid play games on playchess (25 mins each) got 3 wins and a draw against 1750ish opponents which isnt too bad. I think one of the benef ...[text shortened]... tch a few years back, he was losing to 2100s....shame we cant hear his thoughts on this topic 🙂

I feel the way to play through it is too just go back to basics and to stop trying to do anything clever for a while. Only trouble is the clever things are what win against stronger opponents although at our level everyone makes some sort of mistake in a game. The thing is to avoid doing it yourslef and pounce when they do.

Even here I have lost quite a few games by trying to be too clever too soon.

I think it depends on whether you're still enjoying it. If you are, then play through it. Don't try and force things (go for speculation, try new openings etc), just stick with the style you're most comfortable. And try not to worry about it too much.

If you're not enjoying it, though, then taking a break wouldn't be a bad idea.

Originally posted by mtthw
I think it depends on whether you're still enjoying it. If you are, then play through it. Don't try and force things (go for speculation, try new openings etc), just stick with the style you're most comfortable. And try not to worry about it too much.

If you're not enjoying it, though, then taking a break wouldn't be a bad idea.

I find I pretty much always enjoy chess, I even enjoy playing from bad positions (just as well since I play the KG 😉 ) I dont let the game get too personal I wont feel disheartened in a losing position but just keep trying to find the strongest move over and over.....although losing itself ticks me off 🙂

What I dont like is having the feeling that im only a spectator to a game that im playing in, say im playing a bad position and im still finding moves, seeing their ideas and identifying the features of the postion then im pretty happy, however when I start to lose the thread of games and 1600-1700s are doing good move after good move which I had missed that starts to niff me off a bit.....I dont mind losing (too much) I just dont enjoy the feeling that I was never in with a chance against people I should do ok against 🙂

Had that OTB just yesterday. Playing a guy with an estimated grade of 70. Turns out hes an irregular player and actually rated around 140ish.

Was never really "in" the game. Felt very much a spectator. He was avoiding traps I hadnt even thought about setting for another move or two!! grrrrr.

usually I get it because I don't sleep enough. sometimes I try to ride it out, but it's always pretty catastrophic. taking time off chess and doing something else, until I get a good night's sleep works best for me. after a good rest the moves just do themselves, it's like magic.


4h of sleep last night, so no chess today...

Grandmaster Nigel Davies (who I have heard is an excellent trainer) has written a short essay about this:
http://tigerchess.nigeldavies.net/Artic039.htm

Basically he seems to be saying "Remember your good games!"

Originally posted by Bedlam

How do you lot try to deal with bad form?

I usually play through it and pass it off as under-rated opponents rather then bad form. Also, I think of losing as an opportunity to apply my mind to my lost game... in order to figure out what the hell went wrong!

If its only a few games, dont worry about it. When this slump drags into a few weeks or months, take a break from chess or switch things up. Play some new openings.

Sometimes you just ran into a few people who were peaking or on their way up and it wasn't you at all. Its hard, but try not to think about rating points too much, its not like they are worth anything tangible.