@daniel921126 said in #6:
> @TufiRazak
>
> first, don't feel bad for losing games in a row. Accept it as part of the game, "I'm having a bad streak and that will happen from time to time, let's see what I did bad so it won't happen again". It feels frustating I know. However it's a normal part of the game and also it's solvable. My own bad streak: 8 games.
>
> 1. Game against kubzzon: Move 12 ...Ng5 is kind of a waste of a tempo, since you had to go back, castling was the correct move, however you are still winning. Also, it simply dropped a piece, your opponent didn't notice.
> Move 18 ...Qc8 drops the bishop, but your opponent didn't notice. You are trying to exchange queens, however you should have tried that on move 16 instead of attacking the queen. Why did you attack the queen?, I get why, but you should have seen that the queen can check you again on that e6 square. Move 20... Ng5 drops the fork and the bishop, it wasn't time trouble since you still had 6 minutes on the clock. After that the rest of the game is irrelevant.
>
> 2. Game against otegaesi: Move 4 ... Nc6, generally in Queen pawn openings we want our C pawn to help us fight for the center, by either protecting our d pawn by playing c6 or by attacking the center of your opponent with c5, if you play Nc6 you can't do either of these things because the knight blocks the movement of the pawn. This is a minor mistake, and irrelevant for what happened the game, however, keep it in mind for next games. Move 10. c4, this gave you a capture opportunity, ...dxc4, opening your bishop, you take on g2 and then the rook. Move 19... Ng4, you are trying to relieve pressure however it was better to play dxc4 for this purpose, you will be able to trade some pieces after it with the recaptures on c4. Move 22... Rhd8 drops a rook, you won't be able to recapture the rook since you don't have luft. Move 29... Qc5 lines up queen with your opponent's rook, the rest of the game doesn't matter.
>
> 3. Game against AnnDD: There are several blunders however the most important one is the Move 22... Bh6, the knight isn't defended and the rest of the game doesn't matter.
>
> 4. Game against Vugi8: Move 11... d5 drops the e pawn. Move 18... Bxe5 drops a piece, the pawn is pinned to his queen, pinned pieces should generally be attacked again, 18... Nc6 saves the piece and wins that pawn. Your opponent's attack goes first and that's the reason for the loss of the game. That's what follows from the mistake at move 11, you could have attacked first by pushing your queenside pawns.
>
> 5. Game against SillyG: Move 9... Nxd5 simply drops a piece for nothing, the rest of the game is irrelevant.
>
> 6. Game against kawkawkaw: Move 21... Bxa4, that drops a piece, his knight can block in the backrank and there isn't mate. This trick costed you the game, after it you have a hanging piece and his threat, which you succesfully defended against before, of queen takes h6 is now more potent, since you can't save the piece and defend the mate. Move 25... Qh5 would have traded the queens. Move 27... Rad8, loses the game, you had to trade the queens with Qf8 and accept losing the piece, his attack is coming.
>
> 7. Game against Zizek: Move 8. Nd2, I know why you don't want to castle, you will get pinned after you castle which is uncomfortable, but this option is worse, this move allows a piece sac. If this is uncomfortable you should castle queenside, and have played Nc3. From this mistake follows the destruction of your king's protection.
>
> So what can we infer from this? We have several games you were winning at however ended up losing them and others in which your opponent won after taking advantage from your initial mistakes, how did this happen? Reviewing all of the games above reveals a clear picture, you lose because of one move blunders, none of them were lost because a deep strategical flaw, instead in all you were doing fine and then in a single move you gave away material. How does one avoid such mistakes?
>
> Masters usually use a method where they always, ALWAYS, check for checks, captures and threats. In a given position you take a look and see, how can he check me? after the check what do I do? With this method you wouldn't have lost game 7, which allows a piece sac, but if you look for checks you would defend the threat. Also game 1 would have been won, because you lost due to a check. Checks are probably the easiest things to notice because there's only one piece you need to focus on: Your KING, how can it possible get checked? This is even the most important step in a position, because if there's a check that can't be defended means you are getting mated. The rest of the game doesn't matter if you are getting mated.
>
> Captures: What can he capture in this position? After he captures what happens? With this method you wouldn't have lost games 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. All were lost simply by losing material, pawns or pieces. In a position look at your pieces and pawns, which ones are LEGAL to capture, some captures are nonsensical, however some will reveal hidden tricks and traps. In your case in the games 1, 3, 4 and 5 the captures are even easier to notice. You have to in a given position look at which of your pieces are unsufficiently UNDEFENDED, Does this piece or pawn have another piece or pawn defending it? Or, do I have more defenders on this piece that he has attackers? the knight dropped on game 3 appears to be defended because the queen is defending it, but it is UNDERDEFENDED, he is attacking it with 2 attackers (Queen and pawn) and you are just defending it with 1 (Queen) (1<2) therefore the piece is not actually defended properly, and you simply drop it.
>
> Threats: On game 2 you lined up your queen against his rook, even though there's a piece in between your rook and your queen. This allows a threat. Threats are attacks that you have to deal with, For example: If a piece attacks your queen that is a threat, you can't just simply not deal with it because if you don't you lose it, if a piece attacks one of your undefended pieces you have to deal with it because if you don't you lose it. If your opponent threatens mate in 1 you have to deal with it. You should ask yourself, What are the threats in this position? Possible mate threats, attacks on an undefended piece, etc. More importantly, after I defend the threat, what happens next? For example: If your opponent threatens mate in one, but at the same time there's a piece hanging, after you defend the mate he will take the piece, therefore you have to stop the mate in one threat before it happens. With this method you wouldn't have lost game 2. You line up your queen against his rook, and therefore an attack follows after he moves the piece in the middle, that piece in the middle (a bishop) moves attacking a rook, so you have to save your queen, but you can't save your rook. Game ends.
>
> So another question pops up, Do I have enough time to do all of this in a game? And right now probably rapid is not enough time to do this. You can try however you might be winning all games and lose on time. My advice: Practice this in classical, with more time on your clock, really give it a hard try. Eventually it will become so natural that just by looking at a position you will be able to tell: The only checks are these, the only captures are these, I see these threats and eventually you will incorporate that into rapid (and even blitz!), but you have to practice it, otherwise it won't work. Practicing and applying that method I got my best streak in rapid, 15 games.
>
> Hopefully this information helps you.
>
> Ps: Since being efficient is very important in chess a good way to save time is to notice patterns, thankfully lichess has a tactics trainer which helps you with that. Practice with it and be patient, there's no clock, think until you solve the puzzle. This will help both with pattern recognition but also calculation, and you need calculation to use the checks, captures and threats method.
Thanks guys for your tips and support.
> @TufiRazak
>
> first, don't feel bad for losing games in a row. Accept it as part of the game, "I'm having a bad streak and that will happen from time to time, let's see what I did bad so it won't happen again". It feels frustating I know. However it's a normal part of the game and also it's solvable. My own bad streak: 8 games.
>
> 1. Game against kubzzon: Move 12 ...Ng5 is kind of a waste of a tempo, since you had to go back, castling was the correct move, however you are still winning. Also, it simply dropped a piece, your opponent didn't notice.
> Move 18 ...Qc8 drops the bishop, but your opponent didn't notice. You are trying to exchange queens, however you should have tried that on move 16 instead of attacking the queen. Why did you attack the queen?, I get why, but you should have seen that the queen can check you again on that e6 square. Move 20... Ng5 drops the fork and the bishop, it wasn't time trouble since you still had 6 minutes on the clock. After that the rest of the game is irrelevant.
>
> 2. Game against otegaesi: Move 4 ... Nc6, generally in Queen pawn openings we want our C pawn to help us fight for the center, by either protecting our d pawn by playing c6 or by attacking the center of your opponent with c5, if you play Nc6 you can't do either of these things because the knight blocks the movement of the pawn. This is a minor mistake, and irrelevant for what happened the game, however, keep it in mind for next games. Move 10. c4, this gave you a capture opportunity, ...dxc4, opening your bishop, you take on g2 and then the rook. Move 19... Ng4, you are trying to relieve pressure however it was better to play dxc4 for this purpose, you will be able to trade some pieces after it with the recaptures on c4. Move 22... Rhd8 drops a rook, you won't be able to recapture the rook since you don't have luft. Move 29... Qc5 lines up queen with your opponent's rook, the rest of the game doesn't matter.
>
> 3. Game against AnnDD: There are several blunders however the most important one is the Move 22... Bh6, the knight isn't defended and the rest of the game doesn't matter.
>
> 4. Game against Vugi8: Move 11... d5 drops the e pawn. Move 18... Bxe5 drops a piece, the pawn is pinned to his queen, pinned pieces should generally be attacked again, 18... Nc6 saves the piece and wins that pawn. Your opponent's attack goes first and that's the reason for the loss of the game. That's what follows from the mistake at move 11, you could have attacked first by pushing your queenside pawns.
>
> 5. Game against SillyG: Move 9... Nxd5 simply drops a piece for nothing, the rest of the game is irrelevant.
>
> 6. Game against kawkawkaw: Move 21... Bxa4, that drops a piece, his knight can block in the backrank and there isn't mate. This trick costed you the game, after it you have a hanging piece and his threat, which you succesfully defended against before, of queen takes h6 is now more potent, since you can't save the piece and defend the mate. Move 25... Qh5 would have traded the queens. Move 27... Rad8, loses the game, you had to trade the queens with Qf8 and accept losing the piece, his attack is coming.
>
> 7. Game against Zizek: Move 8. Nd2, I know why you don't want to castle, you will get pinned after you castle which is uncomfortable, but this option is worse, this move allows a piece sac. If this is uncomfortable you should castle queenside, and have played Nc3. From this mistake follows the destruction of your king's protection.
>
> So what can we infer from this? We have several games you were winning at however ended up losing them and others in which your opponent won after taking advantage from your initial mistakes, how did this happen? Reviewing all of the games above reveals a clear picture, you lose because of one move blunders, none of them were lost because a deep strategical flaw, instead in all you were doing fine and then in a single move you gave away material. How does one avoid such mistakes?
>
> Masters usually use a method where they always, ALWAYS, check for checks, captures and threats. In a given position you take a look and see, how can he check me? after the check what do I do? With this method you wouldn't have lost game 7, which allows a piece sac, but if you look for checks you would defend the threat. Also game 1 would have been won, because you lost due to a check. Checks are probably the easiest things to notice because there's only one piece you need to focus on: Your KING, how can it possible get checked? This is even the most important step in a position, because if there's a check that can't be defended means you are getting mated. The rest of the game doesn't matter if you are getting mated.
>
> Captures: What can he capture in this position? After he captures what happens? With this method you wouldn't have lost games 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6. All were lost simply by losing material, pawns or pieces. In a position look at your pieces and pawns, which ones are LEGAL to capture, some captures are nonsensical, however some will reveal hidden tricks and traps. In your case in the games 1, 3, 4 and 5 the captures are even easier to notice. You have to in a given position look at which of your pieces are unsufficiently UNDEFENDED, Does this piece or pawn have another piece or pawn defending it? Or, do I have more defenders on this piece that he has attackers? the knight dropped on game 3 appears to be defended because the queen is defending it, but it is UNDERDEFENDED, he is attacking it with 2 attackers (Queen and pawn) and you are just defending it with 1 (Queen) (1<2) therefore the piece is not actually defended properly, and you simply drop it.
>
> Threats: On game 2 you lined up your queen against his rook, even though there's a piece in between your rook and your queen. This allows a threat. Threats are attacks that you have to deal with, For example: If a piece attacks your queen that is a threat, you can't just simply not deal with it because if you don't you lose it, if a piece attacks one of your undefended pieces you have to deal with it because if you don't you lose it. If your opponent threatens mate in 1 you have to deal with it. You should ask yourself, What are the threats in this position? Possible mate threats, attacks on an undefended piece, etc. More importantly, after I defend the threat, what happens next? For example: If your opponent threatens mate in one, but at the same time there's a piece hanging, after you defend the mate he will take the piece, therefore you have to stop the mate in one threat before it happens. With this method you wouldn't have lost game 2. You line up your queen against his rook, and therefore an attack follows after he moves the piece in the middle, that piece in the middle (a bishop) moves attacking a rook, so you have to save your queen, but you can't save your rook. Game ends.
>
> So another question pops up, Do I have enough time to do all of this in a game? And right now probably rapid is not enough time to do this. You can try however you might be winning all games and lose on time. My advice: Practice this in classical, with more time on your clock, really give it a hard try. Eventually it will become so natural that just by looking at a position you will be able to tell: The only checks are these, the only captures are these, I see these threats and eventually you will incorporate that into rapid (and even blitz!), but you have to practice it, otherwise it won't work. Practicing and applying that method I got my best streak in rapid, 15 games.
>
> Hopefully this information helps you.
>
> Ps: Since being efficient is very important in chess a good way to save time is to notice patterns, thankfully lichess has a tactics trainer which helps you with that. Practice with it and be patient, there's no clock, think until you solve the puzzle. This will help both with pattern recognition but also calculation, and you need calculation to use the checks, captures and threats method.
Thanks guys for your tips and support.
