This was my latest Silver trade. I think it was my 45th, although it may have been closer to 50. Since starting this blog, I have fallen behind on my journal — I have been spending more time reviewing old trades than logging new ones. Journaling is not exciting, especially during a losing streak. But I have made some changes to my schedule this time, and I will not miss a single entry going forward.
The Chess Pattern
I am an intermediate chess player. My rating is currently around 1500–1600 on chess.com. I have noticed I lose many games the same way.
In some games I have played brilliant moves — I know I played well, and I still lost. Most of those losses came from my own foolish tactics. The pattern I keep seeing is this: after I gain the advantage, I become overconfident. Once I start hunting down the queen, I begin playing recklessly. I stop calculating because I think the game is already won.
That exact thing was about to happen in yesterday's trade.
The Setup
I identified the trend as down. I marked the Order Block, the Fair Value Gap, and the liquidation zone on the 1-hour chart. Then I waited for the liquidity sweep, and after the sweep I waited for a Break of Structure on the lower timeframe. There was no hesitation — no fear, no greed — just the process. When the BOS came, I opened the trade immediately and logged all the details in my journal.
The trade went in my favor. I placed it around midnight, and when I woke up the next morning, price was near my take profit. Everything was smooth.
And that is exactly when the pattern kicked in.
Where I Almost Broke My Rules
My Risk-to-Reward ratio is between 1.5 and 2. The trade was near 2 — right at the top of my rule. Then I caught myself trying to change it to 5.
I spent hours waiting for the setup. It took me only seconds to almost break my rules.
I saw the price losing momentum. My greed was telling me to hold. For a while, I listened. Then I remembered — I needed to write about this trade on the blog. So I booked my profit and got out.
I am glad I did. If I had stayed in, I would have given back half my profit. You can see exactly what happened next in the 15-minute chart above.
The Lesson
The chess pattern and the trading pattern are the same thing.
Everything is clean until it goes your way. Then confidence quietly becomes overconfidence, and overconfidence quietly becomes recklessness. The scary part is how natural the transition feels when it is happening.
I will close this post with the same thing I told myself this morning:
"When things go your way, stay humble."
Bye for now — take care.
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