Walking Away

It's been quite a while, but I've been playing/studying a lot of chess and have learned quite bit in the past week. One of the most important lessons, however, is one that I will highlight in this post. That is: knowing when to walk away. May 19, I had one of my worst tournaments ever. There are probably several explanations. Perhaps I shouldn't have played on an empty stomach (you need energy to compete at the highest level!). Or maybe my mind wasn't in the right place because it was a day before my birthday. In any case, I scored 1.5/4, with 2 losses and a draw to lower rated opponents! What went wrong? I started off with a poorly played first game where I was fortunate enough to escape with a draw, and went on to win my second game. Yet, in the third game, I again made several critical mistakes, and at the very end, I made the last mistake which lost me the game. (It is often said that the winner of a chess game is the one to make the second-to-last mistake.) And suddenly, I had 1.5/3 with one round to go, and no prospects of winning the tournament. In situations where players are not going to finish in the top places, often times you see many people drop out, because they're having a bad tournament and don't want to make any worse. Remember, when you lose your rating goes down (this is bad!).

Here's the catch. I never drop out of tournaments! I guess part of it is me being a Taurus, so naturally I'm stubborn, but another part of it is my determination to play my way out of a slump. Yet, the last game, my tournament came crashing down with a thud. I didn't even put up a fight. I made moves without calculating, a sign of my lackadaisical play. By the end of the tournament, I was near the bottom of the crosstable, and my rating had gone down nearly 30 points!

It was only until the next day when I talked to my dad about the night before. I was in a better mood (it was my birthday!!!) and was willing to talk about what went wrong. Chess players often have short memories, relishing their wins and forgetting their losses. He told me, "If you were playing that badly, why did you continue? You're too stubborn and you paid for it. Know when to walk away son." (I think that was word for word what he said)

I think his words aren't just important in chess, but in life. Sometimes, people need to know when something is not meant to be, and when to walk away. Walking away doesn't mean leaving something forever, it just means taking a break every now and then is ok. I'm not saying I'm gonna drop out every time things aren't going my way, but if I'm smart, I think I'll figure out when I can or can't push the envelope.