I got into chess during quarantine. I’ve learned the rules and some basic tactics. I played against computer. I even beat level 5 chess engine, which is considered pretty average but I was proud of myself anyway. I’ve learned some openings and solved a hundreds of tactic puzzles. So, I was ready for a first game against an actual human player and anticipated a well-deserved victory. I logged into my chess.com account, pressed “find a game” button, and faced my first online chess opponent.

I lost that game.

I was playing poorly. Computer analysis showed 7 blunders, 2 mistakes and one missed win move. Those blunders and mistakes were almost physically painful to watch after the game. Actually, at the end of the game I got myself together and started to win pieces but ended up out of time and lost. And that was a 30 minute game, so you can imagine how slow I am.

But in a way, I’m glad that I lost.

If I had won that game I would be a proud happy fool thinks himself to be good at chess. I’ve learned from my mistakes instead. I reviewed that game twice and found all major blunders and best moves in those positions.

There is a saying that in a game of chess you either win or learn. Now I’m ready for both.