Nova Daily - 11 June 2025: Not receiving the memo
Hi!
Something happened today that had me thinking for the rest of the day. I'll share it with you here.
Not receiving the memo
Earlier today I played a bullet game against someone, and something happened between them and me. I've come to the conclusion that I was completely in the wrong, and I want to make a formal apology to my opponent. Unfortunately that's no longer possible, because my opponent had blocked me before I could reach out to them.
Let me show you in all its gloom what happened:
There it is.
I know, it's bad. I feel so ashamed. And I wish I could undo it. But I can't. I can never change the past. And I'll have to live with the shame of this memory for the rest of my life.
If you're wondering what happened, just look at that gameviewer again.
I played 1.c4...in a BULLET GAME!
How dare I! How dare I indeed!
My opponent reminded me (completely correctly in my opinion) that I hadn't received the memo, and they called me out on it.
Learn a single line of theory!
- My righteous, honourable opponent, before they aborted the game and blocked me.
Clearly without informing me about it, a council must have been convened overnight, and maybe even in-between rounds. This council, which clearly has binding veto power over the landscape, practice and validity of the accumulated tomes of theory, had reached its legally binding verdict that:
- Theory lines must be played at the start of every game;
- All research that had thus far been undertaken into 1.P-QB4 is henceforth void;
- The bullet tempo is henceforth the leading time-control in which to prove points in the opening.
I can only regret that this memo had not reached me in time, or I would certainly have adjusted my attitude and approach when hitting the "Play" button to play a game for fun in the pool. I'll take full responsibility for what happened and personally inform Mihail Marin, Nikolaos Ntirlis, John Watson, Carsten Hansen, Simon Williams, Richard Palliser, David Cummings, Steve Giddins, Anatoly Karpov, Tony Kosten, Jerzy Konikowski, Uwe Bekemann, and all those other authors that they can wrap up their efforts.
I'm almost 100% convinced that in 1, 2, maybe 5 years time, I'll be able to look back on what happened today and be able to clearly see that this was the milestone that marks a very distinct "Before" and "After" version of me.
Regrettably, the only thing that I can reasonably do now is hope that all the forces in the universe will align thus that my opponent will not have been permanently harmed by my infringing the new rules of chess, and that hopefully one day they will be able to sleep at night and forgive me for what I have done.
1.c4.
Yesterday's game analysis
I'll quickly run through yesterday's game.
Source analysis:
My opening definitely could use some work here.
I got away with my mishaps, but shouldn't have. I liked the confidence of this opponent, and I'm glad that his piece sacrifice turned out to be correct.
I'll add some model games tomorrow.
What can I take away from this game?
- If the c4-pawn isn't in danger, there's no reason to save it. Development is key, and the game pointed that out very clearly.
- Don't trade queens when you're attacking. It costs you a lot of half and whole points.
- Don't claim victory before the result is on the score-sheet. It's bad habits and looks embarrassing if you fail to bring it home.
All in all a fun game!
