The Ultimate Chess Experience: Witnessing the World Championship Tiebreak!
Hi everyone! 😊
With some delay, I am writing my final blog post about the "Kazakhstan Chess Cup 2023" tournament. I am writing it from home now 😊. As it often happens, the last days of the tournament turned out to be very eventful and very interesting! Our 8th round took place on the same day as the 14th game of the World Chess Championship Match. And, as you probably know, that game lasted a very long time. After finishing my game (by the way, I won!), I finally had the opportunity to be present in the playing area, listen to the commentators (I preferred English-speaking commentators Daniil Dubov and Irina Krush) and feel the atmosphere of the match. I must say, it was an amazing experience! 😊
Round 8
The final day of the tournament turned out to be even more memorable! The 9th round started at 10am, which is a common practice at many tournaments, as the closing ceremony is usually planned for the second half of the day. The last game was played very calmly, but tensions over the position began to show towards the end.
In the end, it was a beautiful finish, a win, and my final score of 5 points out of 9 possible. I'm definitely satisfied with the number of points I was able to score, but unfortunately, I lowered my rating again. Trying to improve my rating was the primary goal of this tournament for me, but perhaps I should look at it from a different perspective and find the positive aspects. And they are undoubtedly there: game experience, upcoming work on mistakes, gaining confidence (still, 5 points!).
Round 9
After finishing my game, it was time to go to the venue for the World Championship Match tiebreak! Being there, witnessing the fourth and final rapid game, seeing the emotions of the spectators, witnessing the emotions of both Ding and Nepo at the press conference - all of this will stay with me for a long time. It's hard to put into words the emotions I felt that day, so I'll just share some photos and a short video with you at the end of this blog 😊
I ended that day with a long walk around the windy Astana at night. The next day, I had to travel back home: Astana - Almaty - Bishkek. Upon returning home, I started preparing for my potential new chess adventure. But that's a completely different story 😊.
Thank you very much for reading! 
Follow me on my Social Media platforms for more content:
Twitch Instagram Twitter YouTube Facebook
