Nova Daily - 5 May 2026: Wake up!

Hi!

Today has been a strange day. It started with oversleeping and almost being late for my offline activities. Bit of an occupational hazard of being me, but I can live with it, and hardly anyone seems to mind more than I do. I didn't skip my morning work-out, but I did skip breakfast and went on my way.

Wake up!

What I do on a daily basis is quite fun and at times even vaguely social. One of the people I'm close with is someone I've known for over 15 years. Today, she was quite generous in sharing pictures of something that she had been working on for a long time, and how she's always been doing exactly that. She also mentioned that people she knew used to block her way because she was always the smartest kid in class.

That's a story I can relate to. It's not fun to be the smartest kid in class and discovering that nobody likes you for it. Don't underestimate how cruel young children can be once envy sets in.

One thing that I didn't understand back then is that at times it can be best to mute your colours and show plainly that you're not infallible. I've once heard a story of a teacher say to a straight-A pupil that she was allowed to make a mistake here and there, leading to the girl deliberately making two mistakes every test to satisfy the teacher. That couldn't have been my story because my perfectionistic ego was too large.

My friend opening up about this created a safe space for the others to do the same.

One thing that I still remember vividly is the time when our class did a play. It was about a retirement home that was on the brink of collapse because the roof was caving in. When the roles were being distributed and I indicated that I would like to play a significant but not leading role, I was given the role of a kid that was just not cool enough to hang out with the popular group after class.

I was perfectly alright with that role, and in hindsight it was exactly how I was and still am. I don't need centre stage and spotlights. I often work better if people leave me to my guns.

Wake up!

Earlier today, I had a brief back-and-forth in DM about one of my Keres English episodes (more specifically, the one in which I celebrated the release of the first KIMPLODES! course on Chessable). It reminded me that I still have to finish that series.

In my post about the e5-e4 system, I had taken an engine recommendation at some point and didn't work it out further. As it happened, today I had the good fortune to get exactly that line in a rapid game against an FM. I couldn't have asked for a better wake-up-slap.

Before starting my game, I reached 50 in a 5-minute Puzzle Rush. Not bad, but I had over a minute left when I made my third mistake, so I could've done better. Still, it was a nice spark for the game that I proceeded to play.

My highest rapid win so far, and I feel that it was quite a good game in the end. Although there were undoubtedly some moments in the opening at which I could've performed much better.