Do you put up with being a punching bag?

[Hagen]

I wanted to open this thread to discuss having a "mental block" about beating certain players even though you know you can with other people. Kramnik has this block when playing Magnus Carlsen. But Carlsen has one while playing Ivanchuk. Why does this happen? And how can you overcome this mental block preventing you from scoring points against a particular opponent who somehow seems to find a way to beating you on a consistent basis?

[Hood]

May be it is not the mental block but the problem of a style of playing. Uneasy opponent problem.

[AnthonyTheSage]

I definately agree with Hood. I don't think its a mental block I think its style of play. Certain player styles just seem to clash. I personally have players that are much weaker than me who always give me a really tough time. Then there are those who are quite a bit stronger that a I always seem to beat fairly easily. Every player has positions that they don't enjoy playing, It seems the players I have a hard time with seem to gravitate towards these positions. I remember Kasparov commenting on one of his games against Karpov were he said he avoided the grunfeld as black because it led to positions that Karpov really liked. But a year previously Kasparov was talking about how much he liked the grunfeld. I guess it really depends on the opponent.