Spotting Tactics More For My Opponent

As I said in the title, I find that it is often much easier to find plans for my opponent that for myself, regardless of the skill level of the opponent. Most of the time, I find that the opponent is completely oblivious to the subtle tactic or plan, so surely they aren't simply outplaying me?

I don't have a game to prove my theory, but is it always easier to come up with possible plans for the opponent that to come up with one for yourself, or am I simply not playing aggressive?

Any insight would be fantastic.

Bump.

I think this is probably reflecting your playstyle. It might be that you are on the cautious side

#1 Eventually this boils down to experience: by analyzing your own games for missed opportunities and analyzing games of experts (not necessarily masters) you'll learn more ideas.

lol I'm actually the complete opposite. I often play chess as if my opponent did not exist and had no ideas of his own... :(

@nuffsaidM8:

One thing is the fact that you make your move and after this you always see more as before you made it. So you spot possibilities for your opponent in this situation because its his turn.

Another thing is - as someone said before - your personal style. Careful players tend to see much more possibilities for their opponents as already existing.

I often spot ideas for my opponent or are worried about some moves who are not really good but leading to complications which I fail to evaluate correctly and so they look dangerous to me and I tend to make those moves working for my opponent although this is wrong.

Thats an psychological issue I think. I try to play more confident and concentrated on the game itself but its not easy to manage all the time. Sometimes its also useful to play with care.

I prefer to control everything but thats of course impossible most of the time - especially against strong(er) opponents - and so I have often the feeling that I am out of control in some way while other players prefer a wild and chaotic game very much and cannot tolerate quiet situations.

Best wishes
Nada

I once resigned a correspondence game because I didn't see my way out of a 5 move deep problem. post-game my opponent said they were not even thinking of that! So... sometime, just take your chances.