2026 Daily Chess Championships First Round highlights

It has been such an honour for me to participate in one of the biggest tournaments on chess.com that happens annually. I am happy to say that I successfully made it through to the second round with 21 wins and one loss only which is pretty impressive as I also versed against at least two opponents that had similar ratings to me apart from daily.

The main reason why I am proud of this is that last year I just fell short of qualifying for the second round as I finished third overall in my group where only the winner/s of each group advances.

In my only loss so far, I made a knight blunder that costed the game. Despite this I did not lose confidence and that I continued to lock in despite of what happened. The effort paid off as I self-analyzed the position before confirming my move and played to the best of my abilities.

I did manage to win the second game against the same opponent with the pawn storm tactic and a great mating pattern which also involved two brilliant moves. Therefore, it is extremely important to deal with your losses well and learn for your mistakes in future games that will yet be played.

If you are reading this and also participated in this year daily tournament I wish you guys the best of luck if you also advanced to the next stage. If you do not advance, don't feel discouraged as you guys tried your best. Your efforts are not unseen and best of all don't give up and always have faith in yourself. Sometimes, it is a little bit of luck base as some groups get paired up with titled players.