In a world of black and white, why am I seeing red?
Leathermouth
There is no blue pill
Tilt is a poker phenomenon that gets a lot of coverage. So what about its chess equivalent, if it exists? Of course, ridiculously aggressive moves in poker can still yield a positive result, which is why I'm going to be tentative.
The recent Chucky blow-up was spectacular, but that's not really what I'm talking about. I suppose the discussion from a fortnight ago is more relevant as my initial lashing out was tempered with some good play and brought success.
I'm going to suggest that tilt in chess is the process by which a player refuses to accept that a draw is the best that they can realistically hope for. Let's call it overextension. Its chess incarnation is covered more than adequately in the Ego chapter of Rowson's 7DCS, but I'm more interested in its cross-cultural basis.
Cricketers, footballers, pokerers - just how easy is it to adjust from attack to defence compared to chess?
3 comments:
"playing for the loss" quoting Fischer who was quoting somebody else.
In cricket it is often easier because you have a new batsman, a tailender perhaps who is tasked with saving a game which the upper and middle order had been trying to win. But I have captained sides which were winning and foolishly urged the tail to keep going for the win in the spirit of the game, caught up with the momentum. In chess I do this a lot too.
I think there's something here about 'knowing your limitations'. I occasionally play a bit of cricket, not to a high standard. Some team members will give advice on what defensive shot to play against certain bowlers, but Alistair Cook I aint, so I find I have more success if I play positively and try and score some runs. I tend to do this in chess when playing against stronger players; in fact I find I'm still perhaps a little forlornly 'tilting' for a win with a surprise tactic in a losing position. I think if you play an attacking game, e.g. a gambit line it can be difficult to switch into drawish mode but I suppose it would be wise to do so in certain positions.
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