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🧮 Psychological Biases in Position Evaluation

Objective evaluation is rare. Even strong players fall prey to emotional distortion — optimism, fear, or attachment to plans. Understanding these biases lets you see the board more clearly and evaluate positions like a master.

1️⃣ The Optimism Bias

Players overestimate their chances when they like their position. Attractive plans blind them to counterplay. Counter this by deliberately asking, “What resources does my opponent have?” Optimism becomes balanced confidence.

2️⃣ Fear and Defensive Distortion

Fear exaggerates threats. Seeing ghosts creates self-defeating passivity. To counter fear, verify with calculation — not emotion. Many “winning” attacks only exist in imagination.

3️⃣ Attachment to Plans

Once a plan is chosen, players ignore changing conditions. Ego resists admitting that new factors require change. Periodically reset your evaluation: “If this were the first move of the game, what would I play now?”

4️⃣ Confirmation Bias

You subconsciously seek information that supports your initial judgment. Counter it by intentionally searching for refutations of your own ideas. True objectivity welcomes contradiction.

5️⃣ Momentum Illusion

After success, players assume the initiative continues forever. Yet each move resets the evaluation. Recognize that momentum is psychological, not positional.

6️⃣ Fatigue and Emotional Leakage

Tired players misjudge risk. Emotion leaks into evaluation: optimism when winning, fatalism when losing. Schedule rest, hydration, and awareness breaks to preserve mental neutrality.

7️⃣ Training Objectivity

Analyze your own games as if they were someone else’s. Detachment breeds truth. Objectivity grows when ego steps aside for curiosity.

🔚 Summary

Every blunder begins with a biased evaluation. Recognize the emotions behind your judgments, and you’ll see positions as they are — not as your fears or hopes wish them to be.