Blitz Chess #6: My Comeback from a Disappointing Start

After my disappointing first blitz game on Lichess, I played another, one month after I played the first. Mind you, the first one wasn't at all a bad game on my part. I just made one critical mistake that cost me the game. If I had been a bit more pragmatic at that time and less frantic, I would have won that game. But enough of the first game because in this game, I have staged a comeback like no other. Well, it was far from perfect. I made a big blunder in the opening which my opponent didn't see so I got away with not much damage. However, it wasn't too comfortable either.

In this game, I played my favorite Sicilian Defense. I wasn't too keen on which Sicilian variation I liked yet so I went with the most popular one, the Najdorf. Of course, it was also very complicated so I had to put my own twist into it depending on the situation. If this were a game of flawlessness, I would have lost already as I have not, in any way, shape, or form, mastered or memorized any lines beyond the first five or so moves in the Najdorf. I only sort of knew what it looked like. But the ideas behind it was out of my purview. In other words, I was improvising.

Anyway, after a shaky start, I was able to find level ground and chop away at my opponent's position little by little. The most difficult part in playing chess is when pressure just keeps piling up and no matter what move you make, it's all just going downhill. So I made sure that none of that happened in the game and simplified as soon as possible. From move 21 or so, I was already pretty comfortable especially after the queens were exchanged and the pawns were fixed. Several moves later, my opponent had nothing left but to resign.

I had one big mistake, the move c4 which should have blundered my queen. If my opponent had capitalized on that foolish move I made, I would have resigned right there and then since it was still early on in the game and I wouldn't have anything to show for such a blunder. In other words, I was very fortunate to have narrowly escaped. In any case, it was a nice comeback all the same after the first game and it gave me a boost in confidence and in rating. Although it wouldn't be easy going up the ladder from here. I will be knocked down several times later on but I will forge on until where I am currently standing. Let this be a lesson then that no matter how hard you fall, just keep standing back up and one day soon, you will find yourself at a much higher place than where you started.