Blindfold Endgame Visualisation 20/50

#20, Amelung 1900

In the last week or so I’ve practiced dying.

I somewhat doubt Plato had online blitz chess in mind when, just before pegging it, he suggested 'practice dying' as a decent philosophy of life. It kind of fits though.

As I reached the Best of Times, I was unbeaten in 10 blitz games played over a week or so. Whilst this was certainly Fun Times at first, paradoxically the longer an unbeaten run goes on the more problematic it becomes. Especially if it coincides with reaching a rating high point.

First of all, not losing for a long time doesn’t mean you’re good. It just means that you’re playing opposition that’s insufficiently challenging.

More important, an unbeaten run starts to affect how you play. It becomes increasingly difficult not to be tempted to prioritise avoiding defeat rather than aiming to win.

The worst bit is that in can be tempting not to play at all. You start a game and lose … well, now your unbeaten run is gone and you’re not at your rating high point anymore. Play and win … well it’s still the Best of Times just like it was before. You’ve gained nothing - or, at least, that’s how it can feel.

I wouldn’t say losing a bunch of games was the optimal outcome for me, but it was a timely reminder that defeat is part of getting better and that, whether I feel like I’m in good form or otherwise, I’m still capable of tossing points away purely by leaving bits en prise.

The outcome: it’s no longer the Best of Times … but it’s not far off, and hopefully I’ll be back there again soon.

And as for this week’s puzzle - perhaps appropriately I didn’t solve it. In part, perhaps, because study solutions don’t usually start with a check, but it was an obvious try once my attempts to run the Black pieces out of squares with Rook to the sixth had failed.

OUTCOME: Not Solved

RUNNING TOTAL: 16.5/20