#mychessqg Simona Nayberg

A few years ago at a local chess tournament, I was paired against a familiar player. When the game started, I assertively shook his hand, confident in my ability to win. The game began with the Caro-Kann Defense. I knew the variation quite well, but my opponent decided to move quickly in the opening to throw me off. However, that backfired, and I quickly got a much better position. About ten moves later, I found myself thinking about how to finally end the game. In my head, I knew that there had to be a way for me to checkmate him or to obtain a decisive material advantage. At that point, there were people gathered around my board. Most were looking at me, then at the board, and then back at me. My time was ticking, but I knew that there had to be something simple that I was missing. Instead of finding the winning combination, I blundered as I succumbed to time pressure and drew the game many moves later. After an analysis session, I realized I missed a simple mate in five. A non-complex tactic that I had seen many times before didn’t occur to me at that moment. I put too much pressure on myself to find the correct combination, and, I missed what was right in front of me. From this game, I learned that having clarity of the position is more critical than a self-imposed will to win. Sometimes it’s better to take a minute and let your brain relax - then, look at the position from a different angle. And when you start thinking again, new ideas will emerge.

#mychessqg