Since I have been seeing some of my friends get the Top Blogger in the past week, I decided to start writing a blog. I'm not sure how active I'll be, depending on how much effort I want to put in it.
I think it's a bit late for me to post a blog regarding my first round in the Chess.com Daily Chess Championship, but still, better late than never. I think that the first round for me, was an upset. I didn't advance to round 2, mainly because of how long I take to make my moves. I wasn't thinking enough, which made me make game-changing blunders, but some of the games I won are ones that are worthy enough of being here. I'll also share some of my really poor losses.
When I say that there weren't that many matches, I mean it. There were only 4 active players this round.
This kinda eases the competition, but it still means that I have to win all of my games if I want to advance to the next round. That 1500 is gonna be pretty tough to beat (which I didn't lol). I'll share 4 games that I played in Round 1, and one of those games is partially the reason why I didn't get second place.
Game 1
This was my game against that 1500 I mentioned earlier. I was going into the game at a pretty high daily rating (~1400), so I had confidence. I wanted to play a solid opening, turn it into a comfortable middle game, and get a solid win in the endgame (or late middle game if they blunder). If anything, this is what happened for my opponent. The opening was solid, and I messed up the middle game SO badly, I had to resign.
As you can see, I did not play my best. I played WAY too passive, and ended up getting annihilated because of it. After I lost my first pawn, everything went downwards from there.
This will be a common theme in my other losing games. I treat daily games like a bullet game, and my opponent will treat a daily game as a rapid game, maybe even an OTB game. That's like 45 minutes for my opponent and one minute for me. Long story short, that is not how daily chess works. I'm supposed to take my time, find a couple of lines that I'm satisfied with, and make a move that I approve. Not just blitz out a move and expect the best. And it's not like I'll win all the games, that most certainly won't happen. I'd much rather have my opponent win against me with actual skill than me looking back at my game and saying, "Why did I make this move again?"
That being said, let me share with you another game that I'm quite disappointed in, and this game is partially, if not, the reason why I didn't finish second in my division (yes, I'm aware that only the top player advances, but It'd be nice if I got second instead of third).
Game 2
This game, again, was against a lower rated player. I was pretty sure that I would get a win, but my opponent proved me otherwise by punishing my very poor moves.
And if you're wondering why I'm emphasizing so much as to why I'm not aiming for first and not second, let me explain.
That 1500 that I lost was already in first place with 17 points (if I'm not mistaken), and me and my opponent were both at 16 points (we both still had a couple of games going on at the moment). Because I lost that game, it put me at 16 points, and first was tied with 17 points (@Guizmo05 won that game and is now advancing to round 2). So I guess that loss just eliminated me. And the mistake I made was just a careless mistake. Yeah.. pretty frustrating.
But not all of the games I played were losses. If I got third place, I must've had some wins, right? Yeah, I did, and here is the first win against the person from game #2.
Game 3
As I said before, this was against the same player I lost to in Game 2. This was indeed a pretty solid game, and the ending was a bit unusual. You'll see what I mean
As you can see, it was a solid game on my end, after I found that one pawn, my advantage rose, and slowly but surely, I got the win I deserved. Remember that one blunder I mentioned earlier? Let's see if you can find the move!
Yeah, this was something I overlooked
. But it happens, you've seen from the previous games that much worse mistakes can be made on my end.
The last game I'll be showing will be a swindle against a 500, (yes I was playing that bad to get into a bad position against a 500) which I could say I'm a bit proud of. The flaws in the opening though... were unacceptable.
Final Game
As you can see, I did a little swindle being down two pawns. It shows just how much I rush during daily, and the only person it benefits is my opponent.
Conclusion
In conclusion, you know that I did not make it to the second round of the Chess.com Daily Chess Championship, and honestly, I'm not that surprised. Seeing that 1500 immediately lowered my spirits in advancing to the second round. And instead of taking my time on my moves, I ended up rushing and making miserable mistakes. If you didn't learn anything from this, at least know that you're supposed to take your time playing daily. You don't just make your move in three seconds and expect the best in your games. You have to think of some lines, and make your move with confidence. Play solid. Don't try anything unfavorable for you.
Wow that took forever to make, thanks for reading this far, and any sort of feedback is much appreciated!
. But it happens, you've seen from the previous games that much worse mistakes can be made on my end.