Draws

Originally posted by zebano
I've been in a lot of technically drawn endgames lately. I have blundered 2 of them away due to blitzing the move as soon as the page loads.... =( I have also swindled a few people lately turning sure losses into draws. My favorite was in a recent OTB. My catalan went horibly wrong and I dropped the exchange on move 20. His 2 rooks opened up and decimated my ...[text shortened]... n position, I take it. If they are more than 100 points below me, I make them prove the draw.

I turned down draw offers in Game 2156947 and Game 2142746. In each game I subsequently sacrificed a pawn looking for a win. One sacrifice worked, and I had to force repetition to avoid loss in the other.

This is my best of two draws this week Game 2452546

My intentions was to push the pawn, to check the king, but Nash was having none of it. With my rook pinned, a draw was my only alternative, and my opponent was better than me (i am not ashamed to admit it).

It one of three draws i have had (or am about to have) this week, and i think that maybe i'm just learning a bit more about the game, and maybe i could've turned a lot of my loses into draws if i knew then what i know now.

Won 679/1233 = 55%
Lost 432/1233 = 35%
Drawn 122/1233 = 10%

I find this odd because in my OTB tournaments I always play 4-5 rounds and it is very rare that I do not have a draw at the end. Perhaps it is just the level of commitment to that particular game...

I draw around 10% (84 of 809) as well. Of course this would be higher if I player more players around my level (rather than getting matched with lower rated players in early rounds and 2200s in the later rounds).