Too “rigid at the board”?

I had my third lesson with IM Igor Foygel yesterday. He wants one more lesson with me before he begins to make specific suggestions about where to go with my chess playing.

But he did say a few interesting things:

• Igor plays regularly at my club, so he has seen me at the board. He commented that when I play am very “rigid in the body.” He wishes I could relax more and just “play.”
• I have a consistent pattern of using a lot of time to make moves in positions that don’t require specific calculation and don’t have a definite “right answer.” On the other hand, I make moves too quickly when specific calculation is required, such as when there is a choice between several possible forcing moves. (My other instructor, Dan Heisman, has made a similar observation.)
• It is not chess knowledge that is currently limiting my playing strength. Igor says I know as much about chess as the players he knows who are rated 1700-1800. (My current rating is 1470.) But Igor says the higher-rated players show a lot more confidence in their play than I do. This reminds me of one of Dan’s favorite sayings: Once you lose your fear of a rating, you can become that rating.
• He thinks I should spend some additional study time becoming more familiar with the ideas behind the openings I play. He seems to think it’s taking me too long to figure out what to play when it’s still early in the opening.
• Of the time spent studying openings, Igor recommends spending more time studying the openings with the black pieces. It’s both “easier and more critical.”