Nova Daily - 20 April 2026: My Best OTB Win So Far
Hi!
So far, 2026 appears to be a year of new records: Sindarov breezing through the Candidates with an unprecedented +6 score, Erdogmus clapping Topalov 5-1 (!!) and about to become the youngest player in history to break 2700. And third, and most important of all: my own OTB rating reaching a new peak. I owe that primarily to the work I've done on here, and my determination to become better.
A few weeks back, I shared my second-best OTB win to date. Today I want to share the one that currently takes tmy highest Classical OTB rated win so far.
My Best OTB Win So Far
This game has a bit of a backstory. As it happens, I've known this opponent for some 15 years by this point. We didn't grow up together, but always respected each other. Looking back, I find that somewhat remarkable, because I wasn't exactly the paragon of virtue. Our only Classical OTB encounter wasn't exactly my finest hour. I walked around at almost every move, could barely bother to look at the game, and I offered a draw far more often than strictly necessary. And not at the appropriate moments either: I had black, and I was lower rated.
I did get that draw in the end: my opponent lost a tempo in the opening, after which I encountered no problems to equalise. The simplifications resulted in a rook endgame with an equal number of pawns, symmetrically distributed on the same wing. I was happier with that draw then than now, because I feel a jolt of shame thinking back to how childishly I behaved.
Several months after that game, we found ourselves at the same crash party, which we attended before a local rapid tournament. At that time I was heartbroken because the person that I considered to be the love of my life back then had absolutely no eye for me; I wanted to get that off my chest, and my opponent in this game was one of the people who were prepared to listen to my ramblings.
Fast-forward to 2026. Here we are, about to face off once more. Again I'm black, but (unlike our previous game) I no longer intend to play the Sicilian. My opponent is now an FM and has an IM-norm to his name.
On the morning before this match, I received a text from one of our mutual friends who was also at that crash party. This friend sent me something along the lines of "gl2d he=kltz ezcl". I made him proud by doing exactly what he asked me.
A very nice game that felt more straightforward than it was. The game wasn't perfect, and it doesn't have to be. What matters is that I got to see the results of my work in my writing and my calculation exercises.
This game was a great personal triumph for me. Not just because it was the highest-rated opponent that I've beaten in Classical OTB so far, although that definitely figures. My personal triumph exists in the fact that I overcame my habitual laziness and outperformed my opponent (with black) because of calculation.
I eventually overcame that love-of-my-life complex. It has no happy ending to it, and that's okay. In some cases the right thing to do is to let it lay forgotten in the dirt and rubble, and leave it there to rot.
In the mean time, I have things to do, places to go, and goals to pursue, and I'm happy that I'm not alone on this journey.
