Just over a week ago, I finished a 9 round standard OTB classical chess tournament.

Results not-withstanding, I played good chess but only managed a -1 score of 3.5/9. A loss of over 30 ELO as well.

There were 3, maybe 4 rounds in particular that I let the win slip from my fingers. 2 rounds resulted in painful losses. The other 2 were drawn.

After round 2, a friend of mine in the same tournament reminded me of how privileged I am to be able to play. He told me to how far I have come in my life. A great healthy wife, 2 wonderful children. A meaningful and relatively well paying job. I have fought my life battles and have come out in a relatively good position.

That advice helped to set my mindset in a good mood for the remaining rounds. Although my results weren’t great, my chess moves were good and in general I felt I played pretty well except for Round 8 where my opponent played well.

Sometimes results don’t necessary reflect a person’s true chess understanding.

What’s more important, is that you truly enjoy each game.