JustALifeOfChess

Introduction: The Beginning Of My Life-Changing Voyage.

My journey into chess began on November 27th, 2022. At the time, I was a complete beginner - just a 300-elo player who only knew the basic rules. I had no idea how vast the world of chess really was, or that platforms like Chess.com even existed.

A few months before, on April 28th, 2022, I had overcome a long-standing video game addiction (and I’m proud to say that streak is still going strong). But after quitting games, I found myself bored. I stuck to my streak, watching informative content here and there, but I had no real source of personal entertainment. There wasn’t anything that kept me actively engaged.

Then came that pivotal day. I was at a birthday party, and after an evening of fun, I met up with the birthday boy during the cake-cutting celebration. He wasn’t blending in with everyone else, and neither was I—I wasn’t feeling particularly extroverted that night. He was playing on the Chess.com app, and I felt curious. I downloaded the app and joined him. We had a great time, defeating the infamous bot Martin with ease (even as a beginner, I could manage that!) and playing against a few other bots. That’s how I first discovered chess—a modest beginning to what would soon become a deep passion.

Every time I think about how it all started, I'm reminded: “It’s true that all the greatest things begin humbly, don’t they?”

So, I played with the bots first, and then saw some YouTube videos on how to play better, and also learnt about the whole community of Chess all over the internet, and after 1.5 years of training with premium, I played my first few chess tournaments recently in June and August of 2024. And I got FIDE Arena and currently, I am an Arena Candidate Master.

To me, myself my journey seems incredible. I went from being a video game addict, to not only becoming a substantial chess player, but also a better person in general. 

Playing chess helped me to develop a whole personality while I also constantly aimed to improve my habits an to become the best in my academic life too. And I have to tell you,

For the last 2 years (2023 and 2024), From the time I am writing this (August 31 - 2024), I have had a large success in my academic career too. I am now the best chess player of my school, and I've even started a project to start more Chess tournaments in Riyadh, which is where I live currently. 

I know that all of this looks like I'm boasting,

and so to be honest about myself: I do realize that I still do have a long way to go. Life isn't just about achieving goals, like Money, Respect, Status, and so on. Its is a constant quest for positive change. And I know that I am far from being perfect. But I am on the correct path which is all that matters.

But before I move on, I just want to show you one of my most nostalgic games, which I have a lot of good memories associated to.

Before I had discovered my chess style, I used to play many openings. As black, I tried the Sicilian, Caro-Kann, French and the normal e5. After some experimenting with the styles, It seemed that the latter two options were much better for me. 

In the same way, I used to like the English Defense, partly for its name and also for the Dynamic structure achieved while playing it. Now, I play the Benko Gambit instead as a response to d4 followed by c4. I like the opening and it suits my purposes better.

But the main reason I wanted to save this specific game is because it was one of the rare games of my 800 elo-self which actually had some tactics and good accuracy. It really does give me a strong sense of nostalgia. I'm not sure why though. I had played it on another one of my accounts which I've forgotten now, So the username is one of my closed, and unused accounts.

This one surely isn't one of my best. neither is it instructional, but the time I played it, I felt very happy about my win so it shall be preserved.

My Motive Of Playing Chess: Learning Over Winning.

"Don't Play Chess Just To Win, But To Learn".

Which is what I remind myself of every time I lose a game.

• You see, every time we lose a chess game, we learn from something: whether that is time management, tactical skills, positional play, central domination or any other principle.
• It is a sign of a weakness; a obstacle from your path of success.
• All you have to do is learn from those mistakes and play better next time.
• And if you win, then it means you are teaching something to the opponent.
• We should never, ever take any loss or failure as a negative thing. You can't expect life to be positive all the time either.

But that is life. We can't just avoid all the negativity nor can we consume ourselves with it. We have to be self-conscious about our thoughts and just stay balanced between everything, for life is not a straight line.

I love Chess like every single sportsman of this tactical game does!

It is my passion to play the game and my obligation to track down cheaters and destroy all progressions of the crimes of those who dare to commit such immoral wrongdoings.

SO CHEATERS BEWARE! 

Chess.com Tournament Medals - Only First 10 Displayed.

1. This one is from a 15|10 Rapid Chess.com Tournament (1299 - 1400). It was from my first Chess.com Tournament and It felt really good to win first try! The rating limit was from 1200 - 1499 players only so, it was really easy to win. But I managed to get outstanding scores (I won all the games except for the last one) so my excellent tie - break score managed to secure the win.

2. From my second tournament; Chess.com Open Rapid Tournament is also a prized possession. This one is the actual best one I had gotten this far. I never thought that I could get 3rd place in an Open Rapid tournament as well but here it is. I don't want to make any open accusations, but all the games were won by the 1st place and all had high accuracies, but after some inspection, there are no games like that anymore.

My tie break was also awesome but the only difference from the first one, was that I had drew the second game. I was lucky to draw that game because I felt like I lost by move 15 and then really lost material and space at move 18. Lucky enough for me though, I knew in the back of my head, that if I traded off everything and went into an endgame, I could draw.

About My Chess Style: Improve and Attack

I like sharp and open positions as white, which is why I play e4. I absolutely love playing the opening. As "e4 is best by test". The games I get derived are usually not closed and either me or my opponent just goes for complete domination. It is the maximum fun anyone could have with chess.

As black, I also like to play actively, but many times my opponents go for some other positional openings as well. Like the Ruy Lopez, The Queens Pawn, and so on. In that case, I try to gain activity back by playing the most aggressive lines. Like in the Queens Pawn, I like to play the Benko Gambit. Its a pretty solid opening and no one would associate that with attack and that's why the opening is overpowered in the hands of attackers.

Its simple: Go for attack. If you can't go for attack now, improve your pieces, take control over the center, and then go for attack.

And when I mean attack, I don't just mean marching pawns to destroy the enemy monarch, I mean just tossing in pieces at weak points and destroying my opponent with good play too. Literally attacking anything that is weak. And that is one of the best strategies of chess that I love to use whenever I can.

Anyway here are some Notable Tactical Sacrifices that I've implemented myself.

A Classical Bishop Sacrifice.

A Smothered Mate.

These sacrifices in my games are exceptionally good for a 1037~1047 elo rated player, and since the ideas and positions were sound to play them hence they had excellent results. I do recommend studying the sacrifices before playing them in real games though. 
I would love to teach you them here itself, but it wouldn't be as good as a renowned video by an expertise player or some much more detailed article about it...

Brilliant Games Of Raveeshvar Athiseshan

I do have a lot of games with Brilliant Moves... Check this Library to see them all!

Thank you so much for reading this page! I took weeks (I was editing this at midnight.) to complete this. Your support of reading encourages me in so many different ways. Thank you once again! The following are other websites you can contact me on!

If you majorly play Lichess, Check me out over there too!

I am currently occupied in some important work. I know that the Bio looks a little shabby now, but I will improve it.