Hello everyone!
As the title says I want to know "What is chess psychology" in over the board tournaments. Please give me some examples as well.
Also is it morally correct to put some pressure on your opponent by pure psychology as I think I might have experienced it sometimes and it doesn't feel good.
I understand the term "chess psychology" to mean any method which attempts to get a good game result (win, or a draw from an inferior position) which is not purely based on the moves you make. That method will generally be completely legal as regards the rules of the game. Whether the method is also completely ethical will depend on what it is precisely and on your own sense of morals.
Your user name is a good indicator, of course. I sense that you are already an expert of some sort in chess psychology!
One rather silly example from many years ago: A friend of mine, playing white, opened 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5. His opponent played the normal move 4...Nbd7, but then did a sharp intake of breath and put his hand over his mouth in a very bad attempt to act "Oh no!".
My friend, contemptuously: "You don't think I'm going to fall for that cheap trap, do you?
Opponent, shrugging shoulders: "Worth a try."
(As any self-respecting Queen's Gambit player knows, 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nxd5?? Nxd5 7.Bxd8 Bb4+ 8.Qd2 Bxd2+ 9.Kxd2 Kxd8 loses a piece.)
But hoping your opponent will fall into a trap you have set, which is a perfectly legitimate strategy if you have a lost position, can be done using much better psychology than that. For example: your opponent is winning but in time trouble. You spot a pitfall which you can set a few moves ahead, say on move 3 from the current position. You don't play the moves at normal pace but, when you have checked everything carefully, you barrage the sequence on the board so that when you play the third move your opponent has no time to spot the trap you've set.
Chess psychology is a broad term though and covers more than just setting traps. Tailoring the opening you choose to your particular opponent is another example. There must be many more.
@Brian-E said in #2:
I really appreciate the effort you put in to answer my doubt. I always thought that the morally incorrect methods like moving the table and making unnecessary sounds are psychological pressures in OTB chess but after reading your post I have gotten a wider and better image of the term "chess psychology".
Also when I created this account I focused a lot on chess opening traps but now I know they are not that helpful when it comes to improving chess. I mean knowing chess traps is important to protect yourself from traps but it doesn't help after a certain level is reached.
I would also love to know any other examples of chess psychology that I can implement in my future OTB tournaments (that are morally correct).
Thanks!
I understand the term chess psychology in a much broader way, pertaining to all mental aspects of the game. Some of the behaviours described here so far border on the downright unsportsmanlike and could land you in trouble with an arbiter (gasping and saying „oh no“!, moving the table and so on.). That being said it is obvious that players try to gauge how their opponents are reacting to and feeling about the position. If you watch the streams you notice that almost all of them cast a glance at their opponent quite often. And then there are players who are quite famous for exuding an impression of total dominance and self-confidence (Kasparov, Tal). Lucky them as I‘m sure it’s worth quite a few rating points.
But then there’s also the internal side to the term, if you will. Chess psychology as I understand it deals also with questions like how to get in a proper mental state before a game, deal with shocks and swings at the board, handle loses (and wins!), how not to give „tells“ to the opponent, how to prevent making impulsive moves, how to motivate oneself for training etc..
Just every factor outside of „pure chess „ that has an influence on you performance.
Well when I watched queens gambit one bloke constantly combed his hair and Beltik kept yawning , which Harmon hated , yet she pulled all the same tricks on georgie garav tapping her foot and so on, I guess we all become what we hate , just be kind and as for psychology of chess , you need only to try your best and not be beaten before the start and by people using nasty tricks or belittling comments
Let the chess speak for itself .................xxx
@SimonBirch said in #5:
Agreed!
@Baeron-7 said in #4:
> Just every factor outside of „pure chess „ that has an influence on you performance.
Understood!
Psycho logic.
@Sarg0n said in #9:
> Psycho logic.
Explain Yourself.
