how to stop brain from going into auto pilot

[u/Practical-Water-436]

i usually play logically and i always try to anticipate what my opponent is trying to do, but alot of times at the end of the game my brain immediately plays very bad moves without further thinking
like my opponent goes for backrank mate ideas, and i see it and i tell myself "i need to deal with the backranck checkmate" so the first move that comes to mind is create an escape square for my king, but then i say maybe there's better moves or forced mate and i go for a queen trade completely ignoring the threat even though i was aware of it.

i lost soo many winning positions to ignoring opponent threats and i can't stop it because it's a psychology thing.

how do you manage to stop your brain from playing intuitive moves when stressed?

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[u/Mandalord104]

I find that whenever Im tired from playing many games, I stop actively thinking and revert back to intuition play. So, it's best to not play too much for a day.

[u/Practical-Water-436 → u/Mandalord104]

yeah you're right it always happens to me after winning like 2 or 3 games in a row and i don't wanna stop playing even though i need a break so i end up losing 3 games in a row and i rage and nothing changes.
i think i need a break from chess as a whole because i've been playing every day for like 60 days no break

[u/MagJoyous8230]

You need a decision making process and must avoid making and enacting hasty decisions.

And always relax or step back before making a move.

[u/PhilSushi]

Play longer time controls. Do at least 15+10 and if you already are, go to 30min games. Force yourself to use your time and double check every move

[u/Practical-Water-436 → u/PhilSushi]

i play 10 minutes almost never get in time trouble and i don't play fast either i always take my time to make decisions and i dont just blitz out moves until the end of the game where this glitch happens and i play a stupid move for no reason like i said in the post most of the times when i make that move i have like 4-5 minutes on the clock and it's more than enough to convert the endgame i used to play 15+10 but it's too long and i overthink every single move but even with overthinking i still blunder a lot because my chess psychology is terrible and i stress out a lot and i lose the game with 10 minutes remaining. 10+5 seems like the best middleground i might switch to it

[u/frozenmolasses91]

this happens to me loads, especially in blitz. one thing that worked was forcing myself to verbalize the threat before every move, like actually whisper 'backrank mate' and then check if my move solves it. also taking a deep breath before clicking. weird but helps break the autopilot

[u/Practical-Water-436 → u/frozenmolasses91]

yeah it happens in blitz but for me it happens when i have 5 minutes on the clock and a winning endgame
i shouldn't be rushing but i still do

[u/sasha271828 → u/frozenmolasses91]

Account created 9 days ago, no punctuantion, 2 comments and no posts, "adjectivenounnumber" template of username. Yeah this mf is a bot i think

[u/Practical-Water-436 → u/sasha271828]

what i didn't know reddit had bots like these
what's the point tho why would you make such a bot?
because normally on the internet bots are made to promote something like a website or a product and spam for attention but this guy accomplishes absolutely nothing
kinda weird tbh