1)Make a blunder
2)Worry
3)Hyperfast scan to assure self that there is nothing to worry about
4)Spots that's its a blunder
5)Prays
Noticing a mistake after playing the move
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Happens quite often. Wish I could remember to slow down a little more.
Nov 1, 2011
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#4
It's just an absolute lack of calculation. When you're deciding on a move you need to look at your opponents likely replies. Otherwise you're just playing "hope chess" as they say.
KOTOV Syndrome:
in short (copy/paste)
Kotov syndrome
In Kotov's 1971 book Think Like a Grandmaster, he described a situation when a player thinks very hard for a long time in a complicated position but does not find a clear path, then running low on time quickly makes a poor move, often a blunder.[1] The term has been applied to similar non-chess situations, and is the title of a song on the album Appeal to Reason (7 October 2008) by the Punk Rock band Rise Against.[2]
While you make the move on the board, your brain switches from mainly thinking about what move to make to mainly reassessing what comes next after that move once it is made on the board.
Sometimes, this kind of switch in thinking helps reveal new aspects about the position.
So it is not by chance that this point of time is more likely than others to help you find overlooked tactical blunder aspects if there are some.
Some are trying to particularly use this, hence there used to be the recommendation to write down your move before you make it, or to first imagine making it on the board in order to activate this kind of last-moment blunderchecking.
To answer your question about why we have this blind spot that allows us to make blunders, from a psychological perspective, I'd say that it's subtle and intermittent cognitive impairment that causes our awareness to lessen for short periods of time. In addition to other advice in this thread, being cognizant of potential distractions throughout your play will help you recognize and minimize those distractions. These can be anything from producing tunnel vision and only focusing on YOUR plan while ignoring your opponents (your own strategy distracts you) to playing in a loud environment with physical distractions.
This analogy even goes so much further when considering how to monitor blind spots in your own personal and professional areas of your life. We are only human :-)
Know thyself.
You are either a lunatic with the endurance of thirteen Wolverines or a GM with too much time on his hands.
Maybe you have all four characteristics. Lunatics tend to have a lot of time(padded cells are more boring than you'd think) and whoever heard of an impatient GM? He just makes a lot of blunders. Which sort of brings us back to the original point about blunders.
ilmago wrote:
lol :-)
That's what I thought too, but I was too polite say.
helltank vs. winnersp; opening ideas; fight!
ilmago wrote:
While you make the move on the board, your brain switches from mainly thinking about what move to make to mainly reassessing what comes next after that move once it is made on the board.
Sometimes, this kind of switch in thinking helps reveal new aspects about the position.
So it is not by chance that this point of time is more likely than others to help you find overlooked tactical blunder aspects if there are some.
Some are trying to particularly use this, hence there used to be the recommendation to write down your move before you make it, or to first imagine making it on the board in order to activate this kind of last-moment blunderchecking.
Great Ideas! thank you!
Best attempt at retrieving the situation in OTB chess:
1) Make the blunder
2) Immediately realise the blunder, you have to keep a poker face at this stage
3) Confidently get up from the board, look pleased with the excellent move you have just played, and walk away feeling satisfied that your opponent will have to struggle with the complications created by your superbly deep sacrifice!
Nine out of ten times this won't work, but occasionally it might work on a non-confident opponent, who will get thrown off balance and start imagining things which aren't there, and then 'play it safe', meaning you get away with the mistake.
winnersp wrote:
do you imagine your opponent's mind activity during the game?
Often. What part of the board their eyes are looking at is often a clue as to what they are thinking. OTB chess at sub-master level is 50% psychology IMHO.
madhacker wrote:
Best attempt at retrieving the situation in OTB chess:
1) Make the blunder
2) Immediately realise the blunder, you have to keep a poker face at this stage
3) Confidently get up from the board, look pleased with the excellent move you have just played, and walk away feeling satisfied that your opponent will have to struggle with the complications created by your superbly deep sacrifice!
Nine out of ten times this won't work, but occasionally it might work on a non-confident opponent, who will get thrown off balance and start imagining things which aren't there, and then 'play it safe', meaning you get away with the mistake.
This used to work on my husband. It hasn't worked lately, which might explain why I haven't beat him for awhile.
Most often, I realise the mistake because the opponent suddenly takes a lot of time to understand why I gave him a rook...
As to why we all experience such situations, it's very simple : you never stop thinking after having played the move ; sometimes you get the point before playing the blunder, sometimes shortly after, sometimes after a couple of moves or a long time, and you remember the ones you've seen shortly after because they are the most painful.
pawnupzuzu wrote:
winnersp wrote:
chess is not fighting with people.Its chasing after the shadow of ghost.
Actually, chess is about playing until there's a stupidly comical grin on your face, a defeated, battered look on your opponent's face, then as you checkmate, you will get a rush of happiness. The whole point of playing chess is to get that happiness.
Also, chess is exciting and thrilling.
winnersp wrote:
do you imagine your opponent's mind activity during the game?
"Why the hell did they just blunder? Am I missing something, or is this guy stupid?"
We all have the experience of immediately seeing what is wrong with a move AFTER playing it. From a more scientific standpoint, why do you think we have this blind spot?