The Losing Moment: Despair Or Sweet Accomplishment?
Human beings are mortal. However, it’s also our job to try and reach for the stars while we live.
During the past month, I witnessed two stories crossing paths when Ian Nepomniatchi of Russia and China’s Ding Liren, the world’s №2 and №3 players in chess fought for the world championship.
The first 14 classical time format games resulted in a 7–7 draw score, meaning the match would now go into tiebreaks in a faster, rapid time format.
There was virtually nothing to separate the two throughout the course of the contest. Both players are absolute geniuses in chess, and the progress that chess has made with the help of computers in recent decades has resulted in players becoming much better in their art.
It was sad to see how Ian lost in the end because he was so close to winning the title and had led throughout the course of the matchup, albeit in the end.
But perhaps destiny had something else in store. We now have our first chess male world champion from China.
At the press conference, Ian was fighting tears and there were moments when he just covered his face with his hands. It was difficult to see.
In fact, the whole 2023 chess championship was both exciting and painful at the same time to witness. We saw some great experimentation from both players and although there were times when the quality of moves wasn’t that good, one could see how invested both the players were to try and win.
Chess, or life, is brutal.
However, in the end, when we face defeat, it’s sometimes better than victory, because when the tears flow down, it means relief and peace, which we all ultimately strive for!
Mind you, someone crying could be happier than someone living in the illusion of so-called success.
And yet, it feels empty in the end, somewhere, for both contenders! Sweet emptiness or relief?