Nova Daily - 19 February 2025
Hi!
At first I was struggling to come up with a way to start this blog. I didn't want to just dive into the game analysis of today's game and be done with it, but rather start with something else for a change.
However, I had no inspiration on what to write. One deleted line was too personal: it's none of anyone's business how much sleep I had, how my day started, and what my first thought thought was when I got out of bed in the morning. Another felt too much like repeating some of those self-help advices that you get bombarded with.
Writer's Block
A writer's block is the state in which a writer, composer or artist wants to write but is mentally unable to do so. It doesn't only happen when you can't think of anything to write. It also happens when you have too much inspiration. It could have easily happened that I was staring at a blank screen not writing anything for an extended period of time. And at the end, by feeling the need to fill the gap before the game analysis, I'd have done nothing except waste time.
When the idea of writer's block entered my head, I thought of this horror movie Scream 4, which starts with a popular novelist struggling with writer's block. I then thought of writing something about horror movies in general. And before I knew it, I had five things to write about, and then didn't know which one to single out.
Then I remembered something. A few days ago I came across a blog on how to break writer's block. On top of it being the fun read that I'd have expected from the author, it shares a wealth of tips to break through the mental hurdles that prevent any word to appear and stay on paper or on the screen. Everyone who has been writing for any significant amount of time will find themselves facing this challenge in one way or another. I'm no exception.
I won't repeat the work that Kevin did in his blog, but I'll share here what works for me. When I don't know what to do, when I feel overwhelmed with inspiration, when I doubt myself and/or my abilities, I always return to a small thing that I know how to do well. I let my mind wander freely, follow my train of thoughts, and see if I can find something of a thread in there.
And there we go: a convoluted seven-paragraphs long intro to what would otherwise have been a "Let's get going with today's game." Thank you for listening to my TED Talk. Now, without further ado, let's dive on in.
Preparation
The preparation for today's game was a lot of fun. I was very close to breaking two personal high scores. I missed my third Survival puzzle when I was at 59, so that one stays the same. However, I did get my bullet rating up to the nice round number of 2500. It's honestly more luck than anything else, and I'm not so fond of bullet that I'm willing to spend ages trying to improve upon it.
I did the Survival run before I started my longer game. This was to get myself out of the quick pace of bullet chess. Although I don't believe in bullet as an improvement tool for the technical aspects of chess, it gave me the idea for a personal mental challenge. I have the tendency to play too fast, so it might be an interesting experiment to play a couple of quick games (blitz or bullet) right before I kick off my longer game, to make it even harder on myself to get back into the mindset.
The game
The game itself may have been influenced by the bullet games that I played. It was supposed to me 15+10 but it was finished within 10 minutes total.
My thoughts:
Model games:
Unsurprisingly, there aren't that many games with this line. The only game that the chesscom database has after 5...Qa5 was a win by white. 6.Bxc6 is the only move that Sielecki proposes but it isn't forced. Vandenbussche - De Winter, Maastricht 2024, saw white win after 6.Ba4, but this had nothing to do with the opening: https://www.chess.com/games/view/17139573
A correspondence game with 6.Bxc6+ was won by black in Riviere - Robert, E-mail 2009:
The variation might be playable, but it's a lot of fun from black's side.
The analysis:
So, I got a good position out of the opening because my opponent misplayed it. My play was too hasty on the queenside, which lost me the advantage. However, white didn't know what to do with his pieces and ended up missing a lot of stuff, which helped me win the game without too much trouble.
What can I take away from this game?
- The variation with 5.Bb5 Qa5 can be a lot of fun for black. If white trades on c6, black should resolve the tension in the centre and play e7-e6. The bishop can come into a6 here.
- Black could have made white's task harder by pushing c5-c4 in this specific line, gaining extra space and keeping another c-pawn in reserve to move to c5. The queen trade is always favourable to black, as the king can remain in the centre.
- Moving the pawns on c6 and b6 too quickly lost black the advantage. There is no need to rush with these. Instead, it's much better to complete the development and round up white's centre with normal moves.
