Sept 14: Fun and Eastern SuperBlitz!

Hi guys, felt like playing some blitz today, and it actually turned out very well!

I didn't play the cleanest chess in every game but I had a good time :)

My worst loss in the tournament was to a 1900; my excuse is I wasn't quite warmed up, but kudos to my opponent for his conversion after I blundered a full rook up a piece!

In a few games I was inclined to berserk, usually after my opponents did the same; all of these games where I berserked, I played very badly, and so I decided simply not to berserk, and if my opponent thought they could beat me with half their time, they were entitled to try.

Some people see this as "bad sportsmanship" but I don't agree - I think to berserk is to take a risk for the potential for bigger reward. Everyone should be responsible for the risks they take, and for me, unless I am properly in the zone, I don't think that berserking is a risk that is worth it for me to take.

Here's a terrible game with an 1800 where we both berserked; enjoy!

And I managed to win on the clock down a piece.

The next game convinced me to just stop berserking; I play with zen mode enabled, and was mildly frustrated in this game because I knew I'd had an opportunity, but was in too much of a rush to execute it properly. My opponent defended well against my brief onslaught and then mopped up after I made a hasty blunder with 22...Rh2+, dropping a piece. Imagine how disappointed I was to discover after the game that my opponent was 2400, and that the pretty easy 20... Ng4 just won the game on the spot! That was when I decided to just take my time and not berserk in future games.

I lost my next game in a scrap with a 2100, who berserked; I had my chances but once again I just didn't see the tactics at the right time and played a losing combination to finish it all off. My opponent punished my mistakes very well, though he did make a few blunders of his own.

And now, finally, the biggest catch of the day, where I beat a 2400, with 0/0/0 and a centipawn loss of 19! (He did berserk, and he didn't play particularly well, but still my highest rated victory in blitz so I will take it for sure.)

I came 12th overall in the tournament, with a performance rating of 2344, and gained 52 blitz rating. Overall, a good day! Looking forward to playing some hopefully more serious and accurate chess tomorrow.

See the tournament here if interested:
https://lichess.org/tournament/sGh0v4XA

Thanks for reading :)