Middle of the pack: and I'm fine with that.
This morning I found a message waiting for me in the inbox of one of my chess clubs. It notified me that a club mini-tournament in which I've been playing has just ended. And it congratulated me on finishing in fifth place out of the eleven players. This was a Correspondence Chess tourney played with a 7d +1d <7d time control, and our games started almost a year ago on 24th April 2024.
Several years (decades) ago I ran in 10K, half-marathon, and full marathon races. Winning them was always out of my reach. Finishing those races in the middle of the main pack of runners was always my goal. Playing in chess tourneys I have the same motivation.
Among chess tournament players there will always be many who are stronger than I am. But as long as I can finish in the middle of the pack, I'm fine with that.
posted Wednesday, Apr 2, 2025 at ~12:40 PM #QNAPR2025