The Redemption Arc
January 10th, 2026.
It was the January PSCL. 3 out of 3. My final opponent was Aaryav Saha. A rival I had met in the past in this tournament and had won before. Unfortunately, he had defeated me. I didn't care too much, however, as I was going to get 3rd, which was still pretty good. Then, I noticed something.
The leaderboard.
It had shown Vivaan Biswal ahead of me. Strange, I thought, thinking it was a glitch. But it never changed. And when the awards ceremony ended, I had ended up with a 4th place trophy. I asked Mr. James if there was a mistake, and how the tiebreaks worked. He explained that he had a higher "solkoff" than me, even though I beat him head-to-head, I still ended up with 4th place.
That brings us to the present day.
February 7th, 2026
Fueled with a sense of determination, I saw that both the high school and middle school sections had merged, making the section a little harder. Also, the ratings shown will be the ratings after the tournament was rated, if that makes sense.
Round 1: Arihant Karri: (810) (White) (1-0)
I started off with my classic Ruy Lopez, I eventually won a piece through a pin, and then eventually checkmated him with a back rank mate. Not too much to take away from this game.
Round 2: Logan Santos: (1133) (Black) (0-1)
I knew he was gonna play his Bird Opening, so I came in with something new, so I played 1. Nf6. Soon, he blundered and missed a fork, so I went up the exchange. He launched an attack on my queenside, but I pinned his knight to his queen and eventually won the game, but he did give a little scare.
Round 3: Daniel Lim: (1345) (White) (1-0)
I haven't played this dude before, but he was very nice to me, and I respect him heavily for that. Anyway, I went down a pawn early, but my two pawns in the center soon turned into a passed pawn, where I eventually forked his king and knight, winning me the game.
Round 4: Tyler Murrah: (1753) (Black) (0-1)
For this one, since it was broadcasted, I will analyze it. Here it is ---> https://www.chess.com/analysis/game/pgn/4YHdgC7Eb8/analysis?move=49 At last, I was back on the top of the middle school section I was very proud and finally overcame the challenges. If you wanna watch the whole event, click here ---> https://www.twitch.tv/videos/2691503541. It would help the Columbia Chess Club a lot if you could just watch a little bit of it. The full rating report is here: https://ratings.uschess.org/event/202602070083.
Lunch Break:
I ate at Smashburger, which is very good by the way, and played chess games with my friends before the next tournament started, which was the Time Trouble Blitz event. If you have questions about anything, check out the website here: https://columbiachess.org/calendar. It was now time to prove myself in the next tournament. The format was the same as the Super Blitz, where I had won that tournament.
Round 1: Benjamin Dawkins: (875) (2-0)
I know Benjamin Dawkins lives in the Greenville/Spartanburg area, so I kinda feel bad for him, since he lives so far away. In the first game, I had the file open to his king and then he eventually blundered his queen, winning me the game. In the second game, I won a rook and then traded off the queens and he resigned.
Round 2: Sean Miller: (1410) (2-0)
I also played Mr. Sean in the super blitz and won, so I was hoping things can my way again. In the first game, I infiltrated my rooks on the 7th rank and then he flagged under the time pressure. In the second game, he played the Vienna Game and then i castled queenside. We traded off pieces until he blundered his queen at the end.
Round 3: Arnav Singh (1661) (1.5-0.5)
My archrival had also shown up at this tournament and I was determined to beat him. He's like my kryptonite, I can't stop losing to this dude. The first game I pushed a pawn that was pinned to his queen, so he had to take and took his minor piece and went on to win the game. In the second game, I also went up a rook for a knight in the game, but there was no way to break through, so he offered a draw, and I gladly accepted.
Round 4: Aarush Panda: (1511) (2-0)
It was already over in the opening where he had to choose between getting checkmated or losing his queen so he resigned pretty early. In the second game, he flagged late into the middlegame, but I didn't... notice. Oops. i still won anyway by promoting but sheesh, I need to see that.
Round 5: Abhiraj "Rio" Saha (1005) (2-0)
He is normally called Rio, but his real name is up there for this blog. He is a rising star at the chess club and will definitely be a good player one day. I had a nice attack on his king and I eventually checkmated him. The second game is when I skewered his rook and won it and eventually mated him with a nice rook sacrifice.
Round 6: Abhyudaya Raj (641) (2-0)
I played my Ruy Lopez and he fell into the classic bishop-knight fork. i traded down the material and then he ran out of time. He gave me a little scare in the next game where I made a mistake but then he made a blunder and I capitalized on it and he resigned.
Well then.
2 tournaments in one day. 15 wins and 0 losses. A final score of 15.5/16. Truly amazing. I did not think that I would win both but sometimes and just locked in like that.
If you could share this with someone you know who you think would like this and is into chess, please do. It means the world to me. Thank you and see you next time.
