Nova Daily - 8 June 2025: The sense of urgency (Recap Week 23)

Hi!

Today was a day I've eagerly awaited ever since I wrote my extensive post on youth-players. I had submitted this blog for the May contest in The Blogger Awards. Although I didn't need this contest to write the blog because it's something that I've wanted to write anyway, having a competition to compete in did help to create something important:

The sense of urgency

Throughout the last couple of months, I've read and thought a lot about the topic of death. It's a fascinating topic in and of its own, but it's also scary to think about. I have many more thoughts on this that I want to explore, but there's at least one book that I'll want to have read cover to cover before I do so, which is Ernest Becker's The Denial of Death.

One aspect about death that I do want to single out is that it is imminent. Everyone will die one day, whether we like it or not. The fact that we all die means that our lifetime is limited. Whatever we want to accomplish, we have to do it in the window of opportunity that is confined by the time-bound limitations of birth and death.

People talk about my getting shot like it represented something special. They act like they're not facing the same thing. But some day everybody has to face a bullet with his or her name on it.

- 50 Cent, The 50th Law, Chapter 10: "Confront Your Mortality—the Sublime"

One thing that several of the self-help books try to convey between the garbage advice that you should typically take with a grain of salt is that death can serve as a motivator. When people have a near-death experience, it might dawn on them that their time is limited, and they might be compelled to cut the crap and get going with their work. Fyodor Dostoevsky is a great example of this: after having looked death in the eye, he became thankful for everything that he had and worked vehemently and at a mad pace to use his time in the most effective way possible.

“When I look back on my past and think how much time I wasted on nothing, how much time has been lost in futilities, errors, laziness, incapacity to live; how little I appreciated it, how many times I sinned against my heart and soul – then my heart bleeds. Life is a gift, life is happiness, every minute can be an eternity of happiness!

I am neither downhearted nor discouraged. Life is everywhere, life is in ourselves, not in the exterior. I shall have human beings around me, and to be a man among men and to remain one always, not to lose heart and not to give in no matter what occurs – that is what life is, that is its task, I have become aware of this. This idea has entered into my life and blood.”

- Fyodor Dostoevsky

The May blogger contest

For the May contest I decided to write a successor to my April post. I knew that what I wanted to do now had a clear deadline, which motivated me to get going and put this monstrosity to words. I wanted to finish it beforehand because I knew what I was going to submit: even keeping it brief and concise meant it'd be about the length of a regular bachelor thesis, excluding the analyses in the game-viewers. I never thought about cutting it up into smaller separate entries.

In April I had won gold in three categories and bronze in two others, and I was absolutely euphoric because of it. But with a new round comes new judges. You never know how they will decide, and all you can do is to give it your best.

I can't put into words (tried but backspaced 20 different attempts) how happy I felt when I saw the results: bronze for Title, Humour and Writing, silver for Editing, and gold for Topic, Analysis, and Best Blog.

Thank you so much @DocSimooo, @JugadaBrillante and @DavidGaming08!

The week in chess

Last week I ended with the notion that I had won five games that day vs IMs. I've continued that streak and added another five IMs to my "bullet list." As it stands, thanks to a lot of dirty-flagging, I've now "adopted" the IMs in the pool.

All jokes aside, the week was decidedly better than last week.

My current scores:

• Rapid rating: 2252 (+7)
• Blitz rating: 2434 (+14)
• Bullet rating: 2536 (-14)
• Survival: 63 (=)
• Puzzle Battle: 2054 (+10)
• Puzzles: 3548 (+34)
• Repertoire: 4331 moves (=)

Task for next week: increase the number of games with black against 1.d4 and check them whenever they pop up.