I try to play my same game. However, I remind myself that he is expected to win, so all of the pressure is on him to not blunder.
How Does One Get Over the Fear/Intimidation of Facing a Better Player?


Say you know your opponent is better than you. Can anyone give any insights or psychological tips or thoughts to have, for not being intimidated? After all, upsets DO occur. Other than just 'play the board'.
I dont think there is any reason to be intimidated. What sense does it make to be intimidated by something as trivial as chess? I just assume every person I play is better than me, that way I dont worry about who wins. Chess is just a game, and the players are just players, there is nothing about it that is intimidating. It's like tennis or golf, or cards or checkers. The whole point is to have fun. If there is intimidation, it's time to move on to something more worthwhile.

I keep one thought in mind against such people: At least once in the game they will have a losing position and I'll have the winning position, if only I can detect it. If you go through enough beginner's games on this site you'll see that to be true. I remember one GM got a winning position against Fischer once with a Nimzo-Indian Defense, yet didn't recognize his superior position and ended up losing as a result. I had a similar experience where I had a clever draw by perpetual check against an expert but I couldn't see far enough ahead to confirm that suspicion. Such events usually happen in the middlegame, where the complexity is highest. Maybe I'll still lose the game, but it's an inspiring thought to know that at one point in virtually every game I *could* have beaten them, or at least drawn.


Yep, I take it too seriously sometimes, maybe because I'm trying to improve my game and like many, I have a competitive nature. (which CAN lead people to get better, e.g. Bobby Fischer)
I'm about a 1500 OTB player and often play this 1650 guy; and I know often I have the wrong attitude, thinking, "how long will it take to beat me THIS time?" or "wonder where I'll screw up today?" I've drawn or beaten him about 2 out of 10 times.
Okay, it's just a game and the purpose for me is to have fun. Any others? (I often say I learn more from losses, and usually I do, so that relieves the pain. lol )

Okay, it's just a game and the purpose for me is to have fun.
It's *not* a game. It's a highly complex, dynamic system, with important collective emergent properties that reflect numerous useful, important properties of real life, a system so complicated that even math and computers struggle to analyze it accurately. It's the matter of a human pitted against some of the most complicated spatiotemporal problems he/she will ever encounter in life, and that person can be permanently assessed by how well he/she handles that encounter because the game score is permanent and the moves reflect both personality and problemsolving ability. Some masters shake from nerves while they play, and some squirm, and reputations can be won or lost from a single encounter, so let's treat this system called chess with a little more respect.

I enjoy playing a better player much more. I feel less annoyed when I lose. I feel like I could lose to an aggressive enough semi-beginner due to the intense pressure I put on myself against weaker players. Just tell yourself, if you lose, it doesn't matter. If they lose...that's gonna hurt. They in effect have not much positive to play for.

Yep, I take it too seriously sometimes, maybe because I'm trying to improve my game and like many, I have a competitive nature. (which CAN lead people to get better, e.g. Bobby Fischer)
I'm about a 1500 OTB player and often play this 1650 guy; and I know often I have the wrong attitude, thinking, "how long will it take to beat me THIS time?" or "wonder where I'll screw up today?" I've drawn or beaten him about 2 out of 10 times.
Firstly, questions like "How long is it going to take until I'm beaten?" are self fulfilling prophecies - don't think them at all! I know this is hard, but it is nothing less than convincing yourself you are actually weaker than you are.
And yes, most of us take chess very seriously despite it being "just a game". It is not only a game but a battle of minds, an opportunity to prove one's skills and a search for the inherent truth of a given position - providerd we believe something like that exists.
Funnily enough, as real life has kept me away from the chess board for quite a lot of time during the course of the last year, I have learnt to be thankful for the opportunity to take part in this kind of endeavour whenever I played otb tournaments. Several competitors noticed my smile whenever I walked to the board, some of them even interpreted it as a sign of self-confidence.
Be that is it may, my lack of thorough preparation was more than compensated for by this attitude, and in the course of the last three tournaments I played I managed to play well above expectations, scoring +13 =5 -3 against opposition including players much stronger than me, among them five FMs (+1 =2 -2) and one IM (+1 ).
Bottom line, I believe attitude is much more important than many other factors, but I'm afraid you can't convince yourself with arguments - somehow you have to come round to feeling it rather than wishing. Easily said, but difficult to achieve, as I know from decades of painful experience.

never ask or look at a players rating before the game. stay relaxed and have fun.

I don't like the idea of saying a player is worse or better than myself. That remains to be seen. I take the position that when I'm sitting in front of ANYONE I can beat them - even if it was Magnus Carlsen.
When you tell yourself that someone is better, you are playing into their hands. Measured confidence is very important.
Something else related to this is when someone says something like "I keep losing to lower rated players than me etc etc" To that person I say standard of play determines rating. Rating doesn't determine standard of play.

I am never intimidated by another player. There is no reason for anyone to be intimidated. As Torkil said above, "attitude is much more important..."
That is so true. If you face an opponent that is perceived to be stronger than you, your response should simply be - "OK, now prove it."
Say you know your opponent is better than you. Can anyone give any insights or psychological tips or thoughts to have, for not being intimidated? After all, upsets DO occur. Other than just 'play the board'.