It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Being decidedly anti-politically correct, I refuse to substitute “holiday” for “Christmas.” Tis the season and it came early for me this year. A game I was sure I was going to lose. I blundered away a piece and figured my opponent would earn a healthy chunk of rating points, since he was 200 points behind me. But that’s OK. That’s part of the game. He earned it. Every blunder teaches me something—and this one just reinforced that I am still swayed by a good looking moves. I still tend to leap before I look, which inevitably causes me to stumble. But when I do, I play on. After all, there is still plenty to learn and perhaps my opponent will show me some good technique in putting the game away. This strategy paid off for me with an unexpected victory.