Your Moment of Glory
Submitted by on Wed, 09/03/2008 at 5:10pm.
I finally lost my first game after going undefeated for 20! Most of my wins were against far inferior opponents, but that was fine for me. Ten years away makes you a bit rusty. In my 21st game some of this lack of good playing habits caught up with me. I did not set up a board, and I did not play through lines. I didn't do my work, and I paid for it!
But we need a kick in the teeth once in awhile. I'm not the first person to get shellaced by a weaker opponent (Dog was 1490's and I was 1830's before I resigned. From what I've seen so far at Chess.com, I put myself between 1900 and 2200. Time and effort will tell.), and I won't be the last! In fact, I've taken a few scalps myself over the years.
Here's a game that's special for me. I just finished my second year of playing and I was paired against Canadian NM Robert Hamilton. Rob was on a 96 game winning streak in the province of New Brunswick and was shooting for 100 in a bad way, I was to be #97! The day before he played Richard Papenhausen (RIP dude!) and toasted him with a Wing Gambit. I looked it up that night in my BCO and came up with a plan. Ha! So much for plans when you are facing Goliath.
But yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.
ENJOY YOUR MOMENTS OF GLORY!