I have noticed that my opponents (1000-1400) typically make a mistake during the game. Thus, most of my victories result from me just making decent positional moves and waiting for my opponent to screw up. So basically, I am waiting for my opponent to lose the game, rather than making moves to win (if that makes any sense?). At what level of play do you really have to "go for the win".
Originally posted by zambonyIf there were no mistakes, no one would win. Even engines make mistakes. It's the severity and the frequency of those blunders that matters.
I have noticed that my opponents (1000-1400) typically make a mistake during the game. Thus, most of my victories result from me just making decent positional moves and waiting for my opponent to screw up. So basically, I am waiting for my opponent to lose the game, rather than making moves to win (if that makes any sense?). At what level of play do you really have to "go for the win".
Ok, maybe I'm not understanding. I get the gross blunders causing one to lose a game. I've made them myself, will continue to make them I'm sure. Aren't most chess games a trade off between material and position? Most high level games I've seen seem small accumulations of unfavorable trades instead of any one big glaring mistake.
I've found that this technique works well against strong players too. Often when playing players much higher rated than me I will just make ordinary moves, trying not to concede the centre and basically say to them "if you want the whole point, you're going to have to come and get it".
Sometimes they will weaken their position slightly in an attempt to make something of a drawish position, and that's when I try to strike. Of course it can be difficult to decide exactly when the right moment is!