What to do when you are losing?

Hey! 
I'm back with another blog! In this blog I will be covering about what you can do when you are losing a chess game.

So, I would like to start by saying something that even if you are losing a chess game, don't ever resign! Who knows? Your opponent might blunder his pieces, drain his clock, or if possible you might be able to checkmate your opponent in spite of being low on material. 

Even the world chess champion has made mistakes. Every body makes mistakes, after all we are humans right? And we do blunder and make mistakes.

 " No one ever won a game by resigning "

-Savielly Tartakower

Let me show a game of mine, where I won in a losing position:-

- This was a game I played in chess.com where I was down in material and my king was out in the open, but luckily for me, my opponents king was also not safe and I managed to checkmate him before he checkmated me, even under severe time pressure!

Link of my game is here

I was black in this game:-

Now, coming to the point, what to do when you are losing?

I have a few tips for you:-

1) Keep as many pieces on the board as possible

Don't allow your opponent to trade your pieces. As you might know, one of the things you do when you are winning is to trade your opponents pieces. But in the losing side, try your best to avoid trading of pieces as much as possible

2) Create confusion and complication (messy position)

A messy position gives your opponent more chances to make a mistake. Try to create a confusion, where your opponent might leave a hanging piece (a piece that is not protected by another piece) and you might be able to win some material.

3) Break some rules (examples will be shown in a game below)

4) Try giving repeated checks.

When you repeatedly check the king, it would give your opponent no opportunity to try to attack you, and instead he would have to keep moving his king around the chess board.

Also, in certain cases, the game could even be drawn by repetition. 

5) Develop an attacking position with the pieces you have remaining. 

Even if you might have blundered your queen, don't give up! Even minor pieces (Bishop and Knight) along with rooks can deliver checkmate. Try to attack your opponent's king, so he is unable to attack your king. 

Try not to develop a defensive position as it's easier for the opponent to attack when higher on material. 

6) Try some stalemate tricks. 

What is stalemate? Stalemate in chess, is a position counting as a draw, in which a player is not in check but cannot move except into check. The player cannot move any piece, and he is not in check, thus making the game drawn by stalemate. 

If you are playing an endgame, try lurking your king to one of the edges of the board, and a small blunder by your opponent would lead to stalemate. 

7) Also remember to keep your spirits high!! Don't get discouraged and give up! Don't resign in a losing position! 

Let me show you a game where a person won in a losing position:-

-Take a look at this game!

White went from losing a piece to winning the queen!

All because he created a messy position and followed the queen around the board, eventually winning the queen!

We also broke 2 rules:-

1) We moved our f-pawn

2) We answered an attack with an attack.

This led to white winning the game even when he lost a piece in the beginning of the game! 

Okay! So, now I hope you understood the tips about how you can try to make a comeback in a losing position!

To sum up:-

- Don't ever resign

-Create a messy position

-Break some rules

-Avoid trading off your pieces, and keep as many pieces as you can on the board.

-Try giving repeated checks.

-Develop an attacking position.

-Try tricking your opponent into stalemate.

Try to use these tips in a losing position and try to make a comeback! But, however these tips may not always work, but in some cases (for example:-when your opponent blunders) you may be able to convert a losing position to a winning game!

But always remember, regardless of the result, an opportunity to learn from the game played is always there. Unfortunately, we don’t always take the right approach to it. When we win, we try extensively to figure out about our 'masterpiece' while looking at a lost game is like a mental torture. Thus, accept that losing is part of the game and take it as such!

Chess is all about winning and losing. Losing helps you learn from your mistakes. Analyzation of lost games is very important if you are trying to improve your game.

When you lose a chess game, don't lose the lesson you learn from it.

Until then, see you later with my next blog!! Hope you enjoyed reading and learnt some tips you can use in the future!!

Be sure to comment on this blog about how you liked it & if you have any more tips about "what to do when you are losing"! Feel free to share in the comments any game of yours when you won in a losing position!  Share this blog with you friends too!! 

 Regards

@jo1807