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The Mistakes Never Stop. Get Used to It.

Freddy_Mercurrysauce

Good blog post! I once saw Ben Finegold say "When you feel bad about having lost your precious rating points, go take a look at Baduur Jobava's rating decline, and you will realise your loss isn't too bad after all."

"Don't become a chess monk" that was funny

Good blog post! I once saw Ben Finegold say "When you feel bad about having lost your precious rating points, go take a look at Baduur Jobava's rating decline, and you will realise your loss isn't too bad after all." "Don't become a chess monk" that was funny
WFM szefru

Haha, right, there are some crazy performance swings by great players! I think I was having a very bad time with chess a few years ago while there was a big event going on at the same time, where I think Caruana(?) couldn't convert a +7(?) position into a win? I can't recall the exact details, but I remember I felt so much better about my chess after that :D

Haha, right, there are some crazy performance swings by great players! I think I was having a very bad time with chess a few years ago while there was a big event going on at the same time, where I think Caruana(?) couldn't convert a +7(?) position into a win? I can't recall the exact details, but I remember I felt so much better about my chess after that :D
Freddy_Mercurrysauce

@szefru said ^

Haha, right, there are some crazy performance swings by great players! I think I was having a very bad time with chess a few years ago while there was a big event going on at the same time, where I think Caruana(?) couldn't convert a +7(?) position into a win? I can't recall the exact details, but I remember I felt so much better about my chess after that :D

I saw that live on stream, if you mean the 2024 Candidates game Caruana - Nepomniachtchi, where Caruana would have qualified for the World Championship match, if he won that game.

Another famous one I remember is Ding Liren blundering mate in 2 against Magnus in 2025.

@szefru said [^](/forum/redirect/post/C1H7cjEA) > Haha, right, there are some crazy performance swings by great players! I think I was having a very bad time with chess a few years ago while there was a big event going on at the same time, where I think Caruana(?) couldn't convert a +7(?) position into a win? I can't recall the exact details, but I remember I felt so much better about my chess after that :D I saw that live on stream, if you mean the 2024 Candidates game Caruana - Nepomniachtchi, where Caruana would have qualified for the World Championship match, if he won that game. Another famous one I remember is Ding Liren blundering mate in 2 against Magnus in 2025.
WFM szefru

Yes, I think it was that game!

Yes, I think it was that game!
al_fianchetto

Yes the mistakes never stop, but what I dislike most are players who are down pieces yet won't resign, hoping for these mistakes.

Yes the mistakes never stop, but what I dislike most are players who are down pieces yet won't resign, hoping for these mistakes.
WFM szefru

@al_fianchetto said ^

Yes the mistakes never stop, but what I dislike most are players who are down pieces yet won't resign, hoping for these mistakes.

Haha, sometimes it can get out of hand :D But if I think there's still a chance to make a mistake, I can’t really blame someone for playing on, with only a piece down, I'd too in most cases, especially in shorter time controls. As long as no one is being rude about it, I’ll take it as part of the game. :)

@al_fianchetto said [^](/forum/redirect/post/tjbSs1R7) > Yes the mistakes never stop, but what I dislike most are players who are down pieces yet won't resign, hoping for these mistakes. Haha, sometimes it can get out of hand :D But if I think there's still a chance to make a mistake, I can’t really blame someone for playing on, with only a piece down, I'd too in most cases, especially in shorter time controls. As long as no one is being rude about it, I’ll take it as part of the game. :)
cinemashow

Good article, thank you. Psychology in chess, regarding how we react to our results, our rating and our quality of play, is one of the most important things, and I wish there were more about this.

Perhaps the hardest question to answer is the "why". For example, in my last game, I pushed one pawn, which left it's neighbour undefended but I missed it was attacked by a knight - so I dropped it, and the eval went from nearly to +4 to 0, and I went on to lose the game. But why did I blunder the pawn so easily? We are always told that what's important is to learn from our mistakes. But this is not such an easy question to answer, and that in itself is frustrating! Compounded by knowing that you are are still committing simple blunders that you were doing 5 years ago...

Good article, thank you. Psychology in chess, regarding how we react to our results, our rating and our quality of play, is one of the most important things, and I wish there were more about this. Perhaps the hardest question to answer is the "why". For example, in my last game, I pushed one pawn, which left it's neighbour undefended but I missed it was attacked by a knight - so I dropped it, and the eval went from nearly to +4 to 0, and I went on to lose the game. But why did I blunder the pawn so easily? We are always told that what's important is to learn from our mistakes. But this is not such an easy question to answer, and that in itself is frustrating! Compounded by knowing that you are are still committing simple blunders that you were doing 5 years ago...
ThreeSadPandas

@szefru said ^

But you know what? If someone who dedicated their entire life to chess, someone who likely studies chess 10–12 hours a day, can play so poorly that they resign after 15 moves, mess up +5 positions, and miss obvious tactics, then so can we!

XD

Helpful perspective. No one is immune to mistakes and losses. How we handle them determines our enjoyment of the game and we take those lessons into other parts of life.

@szefru said [^](/forum/redirect/post/j31DrCle) > But you know what? If someone who dedicated their entire life to chess, someone who likely studies chess 10–12 hours a day, can play so poorly that they resign after 15 moves, mess up +5 positions, and miss obvious tactics, then so can we! XD Helpful perspective. No one is immune to mistakes and losses. How we handle them determines our enjoyment of the game and we take those lessons into other parts of life.