The Great Elo Race: Shadows of Tilt (Episode 7)
Greetings, readers! Welcome to the seventh episode of GER, known to familiar readers as the Great Elo Race. For newcomers, this is a race between me and my friend to the glorious rating of 1500 and the winner gets the title of "My Subordinate" for the rest of our lives, bragging rights, and a 6-pack of Butterfingers. Up to speed? Perfect! Now go read the last 6 episodes before coming to this one! @Mr-Crumbles and @StageKing are the two competitors.
If you saw my last blog, then you would know I have entered a new era of chess as I have crossed the 1400 barrier. This race should have been dead in the water for me, but my friend got just a little too confident and decided not to play one night. What did I do with that opportunity? Played 15 games of chess, 12 rapid and 3 blitz. The blitz games went decent, going 2/3. The rapid was the same percentage: 8/12. That took me from 1367 to 1411, putting the race at a 9-point difference. I remember telling @Mr-Crumbles at school in the hallway. It was a 4-second conversation but it was impactful:
StageKing - Yo, bro. Have you checked my account?
Mr-Crumbles - Are you 1400? in shock
StageKing - I'm 1410, lol.
Mr-Crumbles - WHAAAAT??
Man, the look on his face told me this dude counted me out. But in the words of Mike Tyson "Sometimes, you can scare someone into kicking your behind."
He played once he got home and he lost 4 games in a row. I watched them all and they were all games where he was better, but blundered a winning position due to bad tactics. He then started winning, got a little bit ahead and then he logged off. I then went online and won 3 more games to raise my rating to 1442. This was the end of my 10-game win streak, as I ran into a really good player who beat me, but I won the next two games to hit 1450.
Now, I thought it would be cruising from there. I just had 50 points left. Just close it out, right? Just play chess and win, right? Easy, right? Wrong. I went online the next day and lost 3 rapid games in a row. I was irritated because I had wins in all of them, but I blundered my position away like a genuine dunce. So I just played speed chess and after losing 5 more games, I logged off and took a 24 hour break. Then I lost 3 more the next day before winning one. But after losing again, this time I was down to 1378. And if it couldn't be anymore comical, my friend was online at the same time and he also titled.
His games were combinations of positional mistakes and tactical errors. So, yeah, we both thought during this race that we were gonna close it out, but we have both managed to surprise the other through tilt. So, we have developed a new found respect for the grind and for each other. And honestly, we've decided once the race is done, we'll work on chess together. Openings, tactics, gameplay, etc. We like playing, and as the Bible says: "Iron sharpeneth iron; So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." For my non-Christian people, that's just a fancy way of saying teamwork makes the dreamwork and the best friendships.
So we'll do that. But for now, it's about the grind and about 1500. Expect to see more GER, because it's not over yet. I've started the climb back into 1400 by winning my last 4 games and I expect to keep that trend. All you loyal and new readers, buckle up and get ready for a mad dash to the finish line!
As of April 5th:
@StageKing - 1396
@Mr-Crumbles - 1381
Have a good day. Good luck, do good work, and lastly: Live long and prosper.
