Boring games

I wonder, why do people play boring chess?

Is it fun to just sit and wait for the opponent to do mistakes?

I love chess, but I hate boring games...

What can you do when you play against a really boring player? (profylaxe)

-Go for a deadly attack.... It often fails cause a boring player knows his defence and a bold attack is just what he wants.

-Play boring yourself.... often fails too, cause when you love tactics, boring play just makes your brain go to sleep and your opponent find some easy tactics.

-Play safe and be happy with a draw...

Thes solution would be to play like: Kasparov, Carlsen and Topalov, but Kramnik did beat Kasparov with the really boring Berliner defence, Leko is still making money on boring chess...

Anny tips would make my day :)

I only got halfway through your post before I got too bored to continue.

 I guess you are one of them then...

If the game is boring for you, try complicating it. Sacrifice a piece, or several pawns.

It sounds like you're grumbling because you can't beat a solid positional player. I guess the best tip would be to study some positional strategy and learn how to beat it. Positional chess may be slower but there is a lot of tension and depth in it.

I see your point, but that's not what makes many opponents boring to play against, draw is 0 points in my book, but many players seems to love the half point, they do very little to try to make anny imbalances in the position.

-And a position without imbalances is a dead draw, I love good positional play and endgames, but not players who is afraid of imbalances.

It's not only me who is complayning, a well known norvegian grandmaster faced a not that known norvegian FM, the FM did his best to get rid off anny chances for play even though he was playing with the white pices.

-The strategi did work, the FM got his draw.

So back to my question, what to do with people that love boring chess?

Iv've been playing blitz (at http://www.chessclub.com known as ICC) and real life (over the board) chess, the national championchip in Bergen and some other small tournaments.

Maybee I'm starting some slow games again, but I don't take that part to serious.

 I have done that many times, it's really fun when it pays off, but it does "stink big time" when it fails and the boring part makes his day...

Is it only me who keeps facing boring opponents?

Maybee I'm a "tactic freak" that need much more action in a game than others.

I do love winning slow positional games, deep calculation's makes me feel great :)

I don't like drawing either but I'll take a draw over a loss. I'll usually work toward some type of imbalance but if things start going badly I'll try steer toward a draw rather than take a loss.

In your example of a GM and FM, the FM was an underdog. He was expected to lose. By working toward a draw against a GM from the beginning he probably improved his ratings.

Pure tactics is like action movies with special effects and explosions. Positional play is like suspense thrillers where the tension slowly builds to a climax (or somebody's nerves give out). A chess game can be either or any combination of both. It's all good and everybody has their preference.

I agree with you, and has allways been, but somehow I don't think I've managed to explain what I mean.

Positional or tactical it's not the point, I love both, the boring part is when you cant find anny imbalances that works for you... Of course it's partly my own foult if I let my opponent kill all hope for a good fight (positionla/tactical)

I don't cry over a lost game, I know that I'm not the best player in the world, but in my mind chess is a war game, it should be a real fight "kill the king" :)

-I'm just wondering, what is the best "solution" ??

I'm not sure I can help you there. I'm sure everyone, regardless of their level, reaches positions where they just don't know what to do. A sacrifice to create some play usually livens things up, but not always for the better. Sometimes you just pick a spot that "feels" right and make a play there without analyzing all the lines to see if each and every one is good. There's nothing like walking a tightrope in the dark without a net for spicing up a game. :D

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them. - Sun Tzu

 Thanks! I'll sleep on it, and try it in my next "boring" game :)

Players like me, way under 2000, need fun to stay motivated, I dont find much joy in remembering long opening lines, I hate using them even when they works.

I find most fun when I have a clear plan, and my opponent knows it, he defends, the game goes from side to side, new plans comes to our minds and nothing else matters, just us and the board.

Whos winnig doesent matter that much, the feeling "I played some good chess" is what I love :)

Sounds like you might enjoy 960 chess. Ever tried it?

 No, but I like the idea, wasn't it Ficher who invented it?

Somehow I dont feel bad for the opening part annymore, no I haven't been studying :) but I've found that good positional play and long calculations works fine :)

If you do that for the sake of being complicated, that's where really unsound moves come from. People like kasparov can do that stuff sometimes, but you have to be very careful about that. Anyways, to the op, what exactly do you find boring in games you consider boring? Is it positional chess or just playing for a draw?

With boring I mean when my opponent doesent try his best to win the game, he just waits for me to do mistakes, and if he can exchange a pice, he does, happyli down to an endgame that gives nothing to anny of us.

If thats not boring, what is? I have been meeting this even from players ranked way higer than me. Sometimes they even tells me that they felt it was an exiting game!!

When I think of chess  I think of a scheming mastermind who works behind the scenes and slowly but surely crushes his enemies, not some bored idiot who can't play a crucial part of the game and whines when he loses.  Learn how to beat this through a combination of positional understanding and tactics.  If you don't want to learn it then why are you even here?  Go play checkers.  

If he just sits there and waits for you to make a mistake, I understand why you're annoyed, but there are alot of weaknesses to that kind of play that you could probably take advantage of. The french exchange is more drawish than most openings, but that doesn't mean the guy can sleep and expect to draw. You can create at least some imbalances and sometimes subtleties in endgames can make the difference to between winning one and losing one. If the boring player wins like this, then he considers it a good strategy and if he annoys you're more likely to make a blunder or something out of boredom or maybe a dubious move just to make complications. Those are unnecessarily risky most of the time and probably don't work out. I say that for you you can beat your opponent in even the most drawish of positions if he's asleep. Of course, some openings offer alot more chances to win than others  so pick those for white. For black, you can play risky openings but white if he wants can pretty much always get a dull, equal position. Be happy with the draw as black, especially if you made your opponent work for the draw. If you're patient enough, you'll probably get some draws and some wins but people who play for draws rarely win.

And patience is important in chess. Even in attacking games if you end up a pawn up in an endgame you have to have both the skill and patience to win it, because it will take awhile.

Think of it this way: with his strength he could have pushed the win as well, but do you think the FM would have absolutely any chances of winning? I bet in many games the GM would get plenty of wins and at least a draw, with no pressure on his game. i'm sure the gm gets the win alot too (especially if he's white), and even if he doesn't he can pick sharper opening if he wants. Certain styles of play annoy me too, but all of them like this one have some weakness. In this case you will have reasonable winning chances but an almost certain draw as long as you don't blunder. You have to be patient against them. Karpov made use of his first move initiative to beat super GM's even in the most solid openings. There's plenty of draws too, but at least he's usually under no pressure while black is.