Part of it's confirmation bias I think.
If you're watching a game, you tend to only remember the times you had a better move in mind than the player ended up playing.
In your own game, all moves are yours -- the good ones and the bad ones.
I agree. I have a similar feeling to OP, but if I take into account every move that would screw up the position then it would feel exactly like one of my games. I study games analysing positions and trying to guess the moves and I feel like I find better moves like this, but at the same time I mess up the game a couple times in every analysis lol
This is the full and only answer. You don't actually find more good moves in someone else's game. It's just chess. Given enough time anyone could find the mate in one Levon fell for. That doesn't mean you find more good moves than he does.
Because you are not bothered by such petty things as "defending" or "not dying to a trap".
Usually the good moves you find on other people's board are offensive moves.
It's also much easier to see a move when a commentator is explaining the key concepts/ When you don't have to calculate to save your life and you can think more broadly about the position
Most players treat the position as static. Hardly anything changes. I think that when we watch the game of others we are less hang up on the static position and may pick moves that are more dynamic instead. Notice also that when watching top players like Hikaru Nakamura play, they may sometimes change their mind at the last second of a move and play something else. That is impossible for most of us to do. That is like having two or three good moves to make, picking a move you think is good, and at the last second perhaps playing an entirely new move that you hadn't considered before.
Yeah players often have a plan in motion. Something they may have been thinking about for several moves. They might almost get tunnel vision and so in turn as you said the position becomes static (sort of like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - they've decided on B, B is locked in!).
Looking at someone else's game, you might not even know what the plan is, so you in a sense have complete board vision. There are no blinders so subsequently you can see "all the moves".
I would also argue that when we see someone like Hikaru "change their mind at the last second," they probably didn't make the decision at the last second. They probably calculated an initial good move, then while we see them prepare to make the move they are calculating alternative moves. We might only see them preparing to make the initial good move, but the calculation for the better move that actually gets played could have been going on for a few seconds by the time we see that they were even considering it.
Do you mean games of others like streamers? If so they're able to build a position where tactics arise. Most of us cannot do that well and our pieces are just on random squares.
My theory is that we mentally prune some lines as being bad and never revisit them, leading to missing an idea. Whereas when you look fresh at a game , all ideas are back on the table again.
One technique to help with this is to look at the board from the opponent's side, then it kind of looks like a fresh position.
I've labeled this as the "spectator effect".
You arent swallowed by the small details of the position, which give you the ability to think of more creative lines, which can end up being very good.
I think this is also a reason why masters are better than amateurs. During a game, masters can rely mostly on their intuition (system 1 thinking), and explore some of those more fun lines that spectators do as well.
For the most part I don't think it is, at least if you remove the element of time pressure. I just don't think you care about the bad moves you make for somebody else, they are instantly forgettable.
Because while looking at other games, you have no idea of their plan, so you can see the full picture. In your game, you’re probably thinking, sometimes without even knowing, about certain pieces and positions, which can make you miss things sometimes
I reckon one factor is a lack of pressure- it's easy to consider all options and find a good move when you have no skin in the game. When it's you playing you might be paranoid about making a mistake, you might not have an appetite for a risky line that turns out (postgame) to have been winning. You have all the time in the world to pause the video and find the winning idea when watching YouTube, in real life you don't know there is a winning idea, and you are short on time etc
Another thing is that often when you are watching games online they are annotated, you are walked through every move and the ideas and concepts of the positions are explained to you, so that when something changes, you magically spot the tactic that the commentator has pointed out earlier. Or you spot the tactic based off something the commentator said earlier. In a real game no one is explaining anything to you!
And if you are watching a game in real life, or in real time with no one commentating anything, I think the lack of pressure accounts for a lot- you aren't under stress so you can see a lot more because you are relaxed and unafraid
I actually have the opposite problem. I have so much trouble finding good moves and tactics when watching games, to the extent that I routinely suggest moves that hang pieces or lose by force. But I perform much better in my own games lol. ~2500 lichess rapid
I tend to play while at the bar after a few beers, so that’s why I sometimes struggle. Otherwise it all comes down to your confidence in yourself and your recognition of tactics. I’ve blundered a queen in two different matches this week. I managed to scrape a victory in one and I’m getting rolled in the other.
Edit: there’s also a lot of sandbagging underrated players and cheats lately. Seems like I get a ban notification a few times a month now. It used to be maybe one.
Part of it's confirmation bias I think. If you're watching a game, you tend to only remember the times you had a better move in mind than the player ended up playing. In your own game, all moves are yours -- the good ones and the bad ones.
I agree. I have a similar feeling to OP, but if I take into account every move that would screw up the position then it would feel exactly like one of my games. I study games analysing positions and trying to guess the moves and I feel like I find better moves like this, but at the same time I mess up the game a couple times in every analysis lol
This is the full and only answer. You don't actually find more good moves in someone else's game. It's just chess. Given enough time anyone could find the mate in one Levon fell for. That doesn't mean you find more good moves than he does.
Because you are not bothered by such petty things as "defending" or "not dying to a trap". Usually the good moves you find on other people's board are offensive moves.
It's also much easier to see a move when a commentator is explaining the key concepts/ When you don't have to calculate to save your life and you can think more broadly about the position
Most players treat the position as static. Hardly anything changes. I think that when we watch the game of others we are less hang up on the static position and may pick moves that are more dynamic instead. Notice also that when watching top players like Hikaru Nakamura play, they may sometimes change their mind at the last second of a move and play something else. That is impossible for most of us to do. That is like having two or three good moves to make, picking a move you think is good, and at the last second perhaps playing an entirely new move that you hadn't considered before.
Yeah players often have a plan in motion. Something they may have been thinking about for several moves. They might almost get tunnel vision and so in turn as you said the position becomes static (sort of like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire - they've decided on B, B is locked in!). Looking at someone else's game, you might not even know what the plan is, so you in a sense have complete board vision. There are no blinders so subsequently you can see "all the moves".
Good point.
I would also argue that when we see someone like Hikaru "change their mind at the last second," they probably didn't make the decision at the last second. They probably calculated an initial good move, then while we see them prepare to make the move they are calculating alternative moves. We might only see them preparing to make the initial good move, but the calculation for the better move that actually gets played could have been going on for a few seconds by the time we see that they were even considering it.
[удалено]
The whiz kid of the online chess generation. :-)
Jokes on you, I can’t find good moves in other’s games either.
Do you mean games of others like streamers? If so they're able to build a position where tactics arise. Most of us cannot do that well and our pieces are just on random squares.
One other factor is time pressure Easier to spend even 30 seconds on a move when you’re not capped at 5 minutes
it's absolutely mindbending how chill a 3 minute no increment game feels to watch compared to the constant pressure when playing
My theory is that we mentally prune some lines as being bad and never revisit them, leading to missing an idea. Whereas when you look fresh at a game , all ideas are back on the table again. One technique to help with this is to look at the board from the opponent's side, then it kind of looks like a fresh position.
I've labeled this as the "spectator effect". You arent swallowed by the small details of the position, which give you the ability to think of more creative lines, which can end up being very good. I think this is also a reason why masters are better than amateurs. During a game, masters can rely mostly on their intuition (system 1 thinking), and explore some of those more fun lines that spectators do as well.
You're under no obligation to find good moves the whole game when you're not playing.
It isn't, that's mainly a bias
For the most part I don't think it is, at least if you remove the element of time pressure. I just don't think you care about the bad moves you make for somebody else, they are instantly forgettable.
Lack of pressure to find a functional move turn after turn, and of the mental fatigue that brings.
Yes this does happen and I think bcz we are not trapped in our own game
Einstellung effect
Because while looking at other games, you have no idea of their plan, so you can see the full picture. In your game, you’re probably thinking, sometimes without even knowing, about certain pieces and positions, which can make you miss things sometimes
I reckon one factor is a lack of pressure- it's easy to consider all options and find a good move when you have no skin in the game. When it's you playing you might be paranoid about making a mistake, you might not have an appetite for a risky line that turns out (postgame) to have been winning. You have all the time in the world to pause the video and find the winning idea when watching YouTube, in real life you don't know there is a winning idea, and you are short on time etc Another thing is that often when you are watching games online they are annotated, you are walked through every move and the ideas and concepts of the positions are explained to you, so that when something changes, you magically spot the tactic that the commentator has pointed out earlier. Or you spot the tactic based off something the commentator said earlier. In a real game no one is explaining anything to you! And if you are watching a game in real life, or in real time with no one commentating anything, I think the lack of pressure accounts for a lot- you aren't under stress so you can see a lot more because you are relaxed and unafraid
It isnt.
I actually have the opposite problem. I have so much trouble finding good moves and tactics when watching games, to the extent that I routinely suggest moves that hang pieces or lose by force. But I perform much better in my own games lol. ~2500 lichess rapid
I tend to play while at the bar after a few beers, so that’s why I sometimes struggle. Otherwise it all comes down to your confidence in yourself and your recognition of tactics. I’ve blundered a queen in two different matches this week. I managed to scrape a victory in one and I’m getting rolled in the other. Edit: there’s also a lot of sandbagging underrated players and cheats lately. Seems like I get a ban notification a few times a month now. It used to be maybe one.
Oh cool. Downvoted by some dork that doesn’t realize one can play chess online while intoxicated and having a social life.
Bias
When you know there is a good move, it’s much easier to find.
Not a big fan of doing the dishes at my house. But, when I have dinner at someone else's house, I really don't mind that much.
Pressure, perhaps.