One room, 12 people, 22 games, and only one winner...
Hello person who’s reading my first blog, shamizen’s blog. I suggest you take a seat and relax (but not so much, as I’m about to chronicle my first round, day by day, of the 2024 Chess.com Daily Chess Championship). I am writing this on the fourth day since the beginning of this tournament. Oh no, they’ve found out, this is my notebook, get away!
Note: this is my first time participating in the Chess.com Daily Chess Championship. I hope everything goes well. Anyway…the 63,352 players have been separated into different groups of 12 players. Before the tournament started, we were told that only the winner of each group would advance. I belong to group 308 and, because of the pressure I feel from playing in the tournament (which feels like being on “Squid Game” or “The Hunger Games”) I’ve decided to write this blog to make the reader feel like in an environment where the author is fighting to survive. But enough about fairy tales, let’s begin…
Day 1
I woke up in an all-white room (even the furniture is white). What did I do yesterday? Why am I here? Who are these 11 people who, like me, are disoriented? Right, the tournament… from a speaker a distorted voice exclaims.
- “Welcome, members of room 308, its time to start round 1”. -
When the games begin, I started the matches where I played the white pieces with 1.e4, and the matches I got the black pieces I played the Sicilian defense (1.c5) if white played 1.e4 or the king's indian if they played anything else. I noticed that four of my opponents never played their first move as white, staring blankly at me (I’ll tell you more about them on day 2). Meanwhile, the other players did reply to my moves and, contrary to what you might expect from a daily chess tournament, it advanced very fast.
- “MEAL TIME” shouted the voice from the speaker.
We’re given a tray of food each through a slit on a large metal door, with so much food on it even for breakfast or lunch tomorrow. I head to bed, as tomorrow will be a new day…
Day 2
Today I’ve woken up to the news that I’ve won 8 matches thanks to those four players that didn’t make their move. The other players smile, and I ask myself why does winning like that make them happy? Victories like that leave a bad taste in my mouth. Anyways… The large metal door opens completely, through which a group of masked people enter the room and passively take the 4 players who didn’t make their moves. I think to myself, What? Why are they taking them? Where are they taking them? Why are they not resisting? Room 308 is down to 8 players, and my mind is filled with questions as the games start for the day. By now, most of us are already in the middlegame and, not to brag, but I have an advantage on all my matches. Being lost in thought while playing, my focus is shattered as the speaker announces dinnertime and our food trays are delivered. Even though we’re only 8 people now, we still get 12 trays of food Great! More food. I happily think to myself. The food is strange, as besides being delicious, it makes me extremely sleepy after eating it, though I’m not sure if it’s the food or the grape juice we’re given with it. I decided I won’t drink it tomorrow and went to sleep. Good night.
Day 3
We continue playing the middlegame, and in some of them I’ve kept a huge advantage. Why don’t they just quit? They’re just making it harder for me. It makes me think back to that old saying the hardest thing in a won match is to win, it now hits too close to home. I notice the other players have finished matches, seen victories and losses, whatever, they’re done and I’m not. Time to eat dinner and hit the sack. This time I’ve decided to drink a glass of water with my dinner, and gave my grape juice to the guy who sleeps in the bed next to mine (who I realize is British)
Day 4
I earned my first win (excluding the other 8 hollow victories thanks to those four other players), but there is no time to celebrate as the next match starts quickly. I play the white pieces and open with the Four Knights Game, which in my opinion is underrated, seeing as my opponent got cocky and got checkmated by move 11 by my Queen (11. Qxe7#). I learn that the brit I gave my juice to last dinner is the player with the most wins in this room. Poor fella, maybe I should end his winning streak? All matches have gone to far now, it makes me think that this tournament may be over by day 7.
- “MEAL TIME” the speaker announces annoyingly
That voice is really starting to get on my nerves. I’ll have dinner and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a good day. I hope I can finish my match.
I’m tired…
Not physically, but mentally. I feel so anxious. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been almost a week trapped here without even seeing the sun, or because I’m afraid I might not win this round. I hope it’s the former and not the latter. I can’t let myself lose. Today I only countered my opponent’s moves in the matches I had pending (11 matches), making only one move per game. I mean, it’s called daily chess. After that I had dinner and went to bed.
I’m woken up at midnight of day 6, not by a dream, but by a worry… I decided to play my moves now, so they are the ones surprised in the morning. Well, I really do it as yesterday I did nothing important. I get to the match with the British player, and as I watch him sleep, I think to myself. Why doesn’t he just surrender? Does he really think he can beat me? Is he trying to tire me out and win? I now go to bed hoping to see boards of fallen kings by dawn…
Morning now, and to the surprise of no one, none of my opponents have surrendered. I want you to be in my shoes, as of day 6 I still have 11 matches, which in 8 of those I have a major material and positional advantage, enough to show my opponents a clear reason to concede. Later in the day I witnessed one of my opponents, in tears, surrender the game after I trapped his queen. In the evening, the slot on the door opens to deliver the 12 trays of food, and we all eat, except one player who says he’s not hungry. I have a hunch that tomorrow he'll be taken out of the room, as he didn’t play his matches today. Oh well, time to sleep now.
Today I wake up to great news, 2 wins on 2 matches. The wind coming from the air vent is strong enough to balance the kings lying down on the boards. I still have 8 games to go, but I can’t continue until they make their moves. Do they really take that long to think a move or are they doing it out of spite? Maybe I should find something other than chess to keep me busy. I don’t know if I thought that to myself or said it out loud as the slit on the metal door opened and a coloring book, coloring pencils and a pencil sharpener. Are they kidding me? Do they really expect me to stay busy with this?
Well… I spent about two hours coloring before noticing one of my opponents waiting for me in front of the board. He already made his move, his last one in fact, as I saw his eyes shimmer with tears that now ran through his cheeks as he waited on me to strike the coup de grace. I would checkmate my opponent as soon as I was done coloring my giraffe. I now go to bed with three new victories under my belt.
I wake up early for breakfast. No new updates, I’ve made my moves, but my opponents are taking their sweet time. It doesn’t bother me that much now, as it gives me more time to color, but now faced with a query. Should I paint these horses black or keep them white?
I decide to play two of my matches against the same opponent, after which he countered them immediately, and I decide to keep playing against the opponent, turning our daily chess into a blitz match. In both games I have a material and positional advantage. After a while, my opponent hesitates, looking into my eyes before lying down his kings on both boards with a saddened look on his face, before saying with a knot on his throat:
- “Good game, I surrender”.
Victory. My opponent decided it was time to go home, so he approached me, looked me in the eyes and told me:
- “Congratulations, good matches, good tournament, I surrender…”
And proceeded to lay down his kings.
The door opens now, and the voice on the speaker announces:
- “SHAMIZEN, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ADVANCE TO THE NEXT ROUND, YOU MAY LEAVE NOW.”
