“When you see a good move, look for a better one” (Emanuel Lasker)

I failed to listen to this great piece of advice in my match on Tuesday evening. Having seen a line which was favourable (winning the exchange) I played through the line not considering that something much better might be lurking elsewhere on the board.

Had my mind been more open to other possibilites I’d probably have seen the better move. Had the possibility to win the exchange not been there I’d probably have seen the better move.

My previous move had intentionally threatened to win the exchange and when my opponent’s reply didn’t address this threat I seized the material on offer. What I didn’t notice was his move now allowed me to force his King to a square where I could subsequently fork his Queen and King - winning the Q for a piece.

Unless you are under time pressure, after finding a good move it often pays to spend a few extra moments to look for something even better.

This entry was posted by Dave on Thursday, 10th April 2008 at 2:50 pm and is filed under My Games. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.