Never Celebrate Too Early

What have I done?

Recently I played in the challenger’s section of the state invitational, which is below the championship section. Being invited to the championship section has been a goal for me since last year, but I missed it by a hair.

Since I was expecting to play in the “stronger” section, I felt pretty confident about my chances in the “weaker” section. Opponents are strong, but hey, I am not weak either.

I believe you could sense my cockiness. I was sort of like the evil villain in all the movies, rambling on and on about my certain victory, unaware of the resources the protagonist has. Minus the evil, of course. 

With this arrogant attitude, I went into my first round against Jeremy Waterman, whose rating is approximately 100 points below mine. I played a decent game, and I was up a piece.

I got way too relaxed. This made me lose my focus. One doesn’t win a winning position by zoning out. 

I was also extremely mad because it was midnight, and it was hard not to fall asleep. Plus, my opponent was spending a lot of time on moves I thought were obvious. In my mind, I was slowly drifting away.

Zzz… Zzz… I reached out to grab my rook, fingers closing around the circular top, but then realized in horror that all the possible moves were blunders. And touchmove is a thing, too…

Do you know the feeling when your evil sister dumps a bunch of cold water on your head? Well, imagine that, and it’s also midnight right before you fall asleep. It was a huge shock. Suddenly I wasn’t so sleepy anymore.

Trying hard to conceal my mistake and maintain the poker face my parents told me was so useful, I hoped my opponent wouldn’t see how to exploit my blunder.

No such luck. Sixty short seconds later, he devoured my rook, ending my chances of winning the game. What have I done?

Never underestimate your opponent’s strength. If you divert your attention, anything can happen. You can unexpectedly make some very simple mistakes. This is why you should always focus on the game itself, not the rating of the player across from you. I learned this the hard way during this game; I know you can do better.