How to have self-confidence in chess

why do you lose confidence?

weird to start with the opposite, but I think that showing the causes of the lack of confidence, the loss of motivation and in short the causes, will highlight the problem.

well, you play a game, you managed to have a good position (against an opponent of any level), you have an advantage then... you make a mistake, sometimes you realize it right after you move the play but it's too late: you will try to claim the takeback, or you will anxiously wait for your opponent to make a worse mistake than yours, but the opponent plays better and wins.

boom, you lose points, you see your hard-earned rating go away, and worse, you've ruined your own chances. you say to yourself immediately: I keep playing, I'm going to win again! but the previous part sometimes gave you such an electric shock that you no longer have the motivation to start, the motivation to have a pleasant time playing chess. and there, disaster occurs: you lose 3, 4, 5 games and the slightest draw will feel like victory. how can you have confidence after that?

I think the example I cited is omnipresent, even among other bloggers because it is an almost universal fact, so I am not proposing a better or worse solution, but only ideas that you will be free to use and to try !

so, you will start to criticize yourself thinking that it is your fault, of course, everyone's mind is different and some will seek to criticize other things in other ways. but by criticizing yourself, you lose the little confidence you had left after the games, you no longer have any valuable authority over yourself, you can no longer even control the impact of one or several defeats. However, it is not a question of charisma, but a question of self-indulgence, or rather of reasoning, of thinking rationally.

1st step, Everything is not Bad!

no point playing Stoics, you will become a marshmallow if you don't have the instructions for such a philosophy!

so, be rational:
hold back your anger or frustration, to have confidence in yourself, you must first be able to control your emotions, so at the beginning, do not hold back if you make gestures of frustration, if you are upset, at the beginning, try to understand why, what is the driving force behind my anger? the answer that many will say is "- my mistakes are the causes", why? because you lost the game! but if you continue by saying to yourself: “is there a good move, a correct thing before the error”? you will probably not say no without having thought about it beforehand, you will look at the analysis in more detail and you are taking a good step. but if you see that you have missed everything, what should you do? Above all, don't say "because I learned poorly and I'm just a beginner." beginner doesn't mean anything, you have to start somewhere to learn the slightest thing, everyone is a beginner as soon as you have to learn a new variation, an opening, a line, a sacrifice... you have to watch the game with a beginner's perspective to understand the complexity and difficulty of what you are trying to do and learn, and therefore, to be already satisfied with the path already taken.
and if you really missed everything, tell yourself that in this case: “at least I saw and understood where my mistakes were!”
smile! you have managed to realize that you must progress but without ever getting discouraged, you are getting closer to confidence!

what is self-confidence?

confidence is different but related to courage and motivation. Confidence is the opposite of fear and the human brain always retains a prehistoric reflex to flee or fight.

to have confidence you must no longer be afraid. The main fear of the chess player is worry about the result, game results, ranking results, tournament results... Banish this word from your thoughts until you have confidence in yourself. in the world of chess and sport in general, results and the views of others are very linked: you want a good result for your ego, so that others admire you and congratulate you! you fear bad results out of a natural fear of what others will think if you fail, but you can reverse the trend by FORGETTING results as a means to success or failure, if you are not a super GM, ( my blogs are not made for professionals of such a level!), you must temporarily forget the result to find a good balance

but what balance?

The basis of games is to have fun, to have a good time. The basis of sport is competition. unfortunately and fortunately also, in all societies, competition is seen as a means of showing off personal or collective qualities and superiority. fortunately because it allows athletes to be constantly challenged. unfortunately because athletes do not realize that they are straying from the true path, from the path of just pleasure, a pleasure which is to take advantage of the present moment to be able to transcend it into some pleasant things for the mind.
for you who don't have a candidates' tournament or a world championship to play (perhaps a Sunday morning tournament at the local club), it's easier because you're there for pleasure, for leisure. so why panic if you lose a game?

to have self-confidence is to be aware of one's abilities and weaknesses, it is to be sure.

the danger is to fall into overconfidence, where your ego will take over, you are not perfect, you are not bad: you are the balance

the next step : making choices

you need to know how to decide and make choices without hesitation, this will also improve your game at the same time. knowing how to make choices means not trying to be the most perfect, the best, but on the contrary to be efficient. you will probably make a lot of bad choices but probably as many or more good ones! without trying you will get nothing!

in the practical case of a game: you are in midgame. your opponent made a move, it may be a mistake. your turn. and you have several solutions, since the main issue for you remains to have a result (even if you no longer have the same perception of the result), it is better to have a sure move, a move that YOU are sure of, rather than a vague move that you have seen in someone else (but where you no longer know!), moreover, even the analysis engines and the champions prove it: you have to know how to manage your risk-taking. playing too defensive is not a sign of weakness, but it can negatively impact your game. playing too offensive is not a sign that you are a genius or a strong player, because as soon as there is the word TOO, is that it also negatively impacts your game.

so be balanced, because that is the secret of great champions. champions are like conjurers, they "lie" to the public by making people believe in the overpowering talents of players capable of the best attacks or defenses, in fact no, they just play the fairest and safest move according to their abilities and the position. And when they lose, it's because they underestimated or overestimated something or someone.

Conclusion

so , the self-confidence is not a difficult thing to work on, but you will see that it will help you and change your perception of the game. with that, be confident, play, and love chess ! See you soon !