Chess Blindness

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  • #1

    Chess Blindness

    We have all fallen prey to chess blindness. Last night, however, my opponent and I took it to a whole new level. In a reasonably well played game in which White had obtained a "winning" advantage, our brains must have fried under the pressure of intense complications not to mention a sizeable gallery. At one point, Black overlooked an opportunity to equalize while in the closing moves White overlooked a mate in two (!!) opting instead to win a piece. But the real treat came on move 38 below when White (yours truly) hung his Queen, no less, and his opponent returned the favour by ignoring it completely. Not only that but after the game when various onlookers commented on the oversight I simply could not believe it had happened until I replayed the game.
    I should note that at the critical moment we both had plenty of time left: he had 15 minutes and I had more than 35 minutes on the clock. So time pressure was not the reason.
    I invite others to share their most embarrassing moments---top this if you can.

    [Event "Rodgers"]
    [Site "?"]
    [Date "2013.10.25"]
    [Round "6"]
    [White "Ritchie, Gordon"]
    [Black "ANONYMOUS"]
    [Result "1-0"]
    [ECO "C50"]
    [WhiteElo "1809"]
    [BlackElo "1929"]
    [Annotator "Ritchie,Gordon"]
    [PlyCount "87"]
    [EventDate "2013.??.??"]
    [SourceDate "2013.10.03"]

    1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Ne5 6. Bb3 d6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8.
    h3 Bd7 9. Be3 a6 10. f4 Ng6 11. Qf3 b5 12. a3 c5 13. Nf5 O-O 14. O-O-O Bxf5 15.
    exf5 Nh4 16. Qf2 c4 17. Bxc4 Nxf5 18. Bb6 Qd7 19. Bb3 Rab8 20. g4 Nh4 21. Bd4
    Ne8 22. Nd5 Ng6 23. g5 Qf5 24. h4 Bd8 25. h5 Ne7 26. Ne3 Qe4 27. f5 Nc6 28. Bd5
    Qxd4 29. Rxd4 Nxd4 30. g6 Nf6 31. Bxf7+ Kh8 32. h6 Bb6 33. hxg7+ Kxg7 34. Qh4
    h5 35. Ng4 Nxg4 36. Qxh5 Nxf5 (36... Rh8 ) 37. Qxg4 Nh6 38. Kb1 (38. Qh3) 38... Rbd8
    39. Qf3 d5 40. Qf4 Nxf7 41. gxf7 Rxf7 42. Rh7+ (42. Qh6+ Kg8 43. Qh8#)
    42... Kxh7 43. Qxf7+ Kh6 44. Qf6+ 1-0
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Chess Blindness

    Originally posted by Gordon Ritchie View Post
    [...] while in the closing moves White overlooked a mate in two (!!) opting instead to win a piece.
    In fact, you overlooked two mates in two!

    Last year, I managed to perform a help mate in one of my games. Worst thing is, it was a rook ending with my king somewhere in the middle of the board and a few pawns left on each side. I have the excuse of severe time pressure, but even then, it just never occured to me that there could be a mate!

    http://www.fqechecs.qc.ca/cms/basepa...ies/muhmhxolRG

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Chess Blindness

      About 35 years ago, at a Toronto tournament, I resigned a game and immediately saw a win for me which I demonstrated for my opponent. He looked at me like I was an idiot (duh! :o) and then headed for the pairing sheet to mark up his full point. Hans Jung was a witness to that shambles.
      "We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop
      "Only the dead have seen the end of war." - Plato
      "If once a man indulges himself in murder, very soon he comes to think little of robbing; and from robbing he comes next to drinking and Sabbath-breaking, and from that to incivility and procrastination." - Thomas De Quincey

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      • #4
        Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

        Perhaps Hans can explain why these things happen?

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

          Interesting the way the tournament players mind works. Many mistakes are made from preconceived assumptions (I call them automatic moves). However there are many forms of chess blindness. Judging by the gamescore above Black's overlooking the queen came about by trusting his opponent (yes thats right, happens quite a bit in tournament chess - have you ever listened to postmortems - I mean just listened - its quite humorous) . White's overlooking the mate can be explained by seeing an easy finish in advance and making the choice to play that and ignoring or not seeing other options. Other forms of chess blindness are caused by brain fade, over excitement due to a winning position or sudden changes in the position, not alert to tactical opportunities, not considering unusual, unique, or unexpected moves, time pressure etc. There is quite a list of different forms of chess blindness. Maybe other readers could help form a comprehensive list. As I get older (50+) I found some ways to combat chess blindness. The tournament players mind is a mental muscle (my words) which needs to be exercised.
          I mean you can see the state of your physical muscles (just look in a mirror) The mind is not so easy to recognise when it changes its state. You have to be alert to signs of changes. The best way Ive found to combat brain fade in tournament practice is to quickly step out into a quiet area and do a Qi Gong exercise that I call "Remove old Chi and Bring In new Chi" Stand with feet shoulder width apart bend down and run your hands along the outline of your body to the sides of your head and breathe out forcefully while doing so. Repeat nine times. Then with feet shoulder width apart bring hands from sides to pat top of head breathing in forcefully while doing so, again repeat nine times. It helps if this is done in fresh air. The whole exercise takes less than a minute. I also think that any one 50+ who is an active tournament player should do 5 challenging problems a day (depending on how fit your mind is it could take you anywheres from 5 minutes to half an hour) Should definitely not take more than that as you are then trying too hard. I do 3 a day just to maintain and it takes me 5 to 10 minutes. Daily. Try not to miss any days. It makes all the difference and keeps your mind flexible. As you get older your mind settles more into comfortable routines. During tournament games try to ask questions of the position during your opponents time. These tips I use regularly.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

            Hi Hans (and Gordon):

            I know this isn't quite Chess Blindness....

            A few years back I was playing in one of the Kitchener weekend tournaments and John Jordan, whom I knew, came up to me (either I was on a bye or my game had ended, I don't know which--he was still playing), and he said:

            "Do you you know what it's like to have a song just playing in your head over and over?"

            I said I did.

            He said: "Do you know how hard it is to play chess when that's happening?"

            I chuckled and nodded knowingly.

            He said: "Do you know how hard that is when the song is 'Kill the Wabbit! Kill the Wabbit!'?"

            I had to leave the playing hall....

            Steve

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

              Thanks, Hans
              Your analysis of my game is, I suspect, spot on the mark. I was only looking for ways to win, oblivious to any counterthreats. And my opponent assumed I would not make a silly blunder at that point in the game and was simply trying to hang on.
              As to what to do about it, your suggestions are helpful. The only problem is they require a certain amount of discipline (!?!?) which is something I have always sorely lacked.
              Regards,
              Gordon

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

                You are welcome Gordon and thanks for starting this interesting thread. Im surprised someone else hasnt mentioned this in the past (not to my knowledge) It could lead to interesting reading (some threads on chesstalk actually have potential) I am actually hoping to hear from someone else who has discovered my tips on their own. Nigel Davies posts fairly often about the effects of Qi Gong practice and the regular puzzle solving is well known (but not the amount or times) Asking questions is what I have taught my students but although most tournament players do it at times subconsciously most dont consciously track them or make it a habit.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Chess Blindness

                  Hi Steve, I actually had that problem more than once and had a hard time with it. I remember actually having the tracks from the album of the Doors "Weird Scenes Inside the Gold Mine" continuously tracking in my head during a tournament. How could such wonderful music produce such rotten chess results? I had real problems until I discovered that saying (in my mind) Cancel - cancel - cancel - and forcing my mind to go and stay elsewhere (and do it early before the song really sets in) was the only way Ive found to stop the music. Of course, your incident comes across as extremely funny but the losing isnt. I had better stop before I reveal how crazy I really am.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

                    Originally posted by Hans Jung View Post
                    - have you ever listened to postmortems - I mean just listened - its quite humorous)
                    :) I find most postmortems are mostly talking, very little listening. :)

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Chess Blindness-calling Hans Jung

                      To some listening is a novel concept. To some politeness refrains from speaking until the other person pauses - but actually listening and retaining - come on - I havent got time for that. How many times have you seen that?? People have noticed that I am very selective with doing postmortems (caveat - not always offence intended)

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Chess Blindness---No other examples???

                        Why am I not surprised? It seems that I am the only ChessTalk regular to make this sort of mindfart blunder. In case anyone else has had this problem, I again invite you to join the chat.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Chess Blindness---No other examples???

                          Originally posted by Gordon Ritchie View Post
                          It seems that I am the only ChessTalk regular to make this sort of mindfart blunder.
                          Enough embarrassment during/after the game. No need to make them more public. LOL

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Chess Blindness

                            I had Black in a recent game which went: 1. Nf3 f5 2. e4 fxe5 3. Ng5. Instead of the usual way of declining the gambit with 3... Nf6 4. d3 e3, I played 3. e3 - imagining that White had already played d3, and allowing my opponent to get a crushing position. (I escaped with a draw).

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Chess Blindness

                              Here's one. In a recent morning game at the Spice Cup in St Louis I played as Black 1.e4 d6 2.d4 e5 3.Nf3 Nbd7 4.Bc4 Be7?? and my FM opponent sank into thought for 5 minutes but with a weird smile on his face and then played 5.dxe5 Nxe5 (if 5...dxe5 6.Qd5) 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5 and all of a sudden Im down a pawn and lost horribly. Unforgivable for a master and I had played the correct theory dozens of times. Ironically I found several games in databases with the same move order and most not punished! As a master tournament player I am embarrassed to admit chess blindness in the past had happened too frequently and still happens! I agree with Egidijus above - hopefully others will rise above their embarrassment and share.

                              Comment

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