MY
REVIEW OF 2015
I started this year seeing it as a year of new
beginnings. Before the year actually started, I was introduced to a Japanese
live streaming site called “NicoNico” which broadcasts live Shogi (Japanese
Chess) events, especially professional title matches.
On Saturday 7th February I was introduced
to the “Mind” hub in East Croydon which I registered for before the start of
the year. “Mind” is a charity that deals with people with various mental health
issues and learning disabilities. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to go as
often as I would have like and other places too because of the illnesses that I
have suffered this year.
I joined a new free online Chess playing site called
“Lichess” on Wednesday 18th February after my counselling
appointment.
I was also introduced to a fortnightly group called
the “Aspergen Coffee Morning” where people on the autistic spectrum talk about
various life experiences which I first joined on Wednesday 5th
August. The nicest thing for me joining this group was that I saw a good amount
of women on the spectrum. (Women with Autism are not easy to find.)
This year has been an emotional year for me in terms
of on-the-board Chess. There was a time where I thought I successfully defended
the Stoneleigh Trophy title for South Norwood only to find that in our deciding
match was drawn instead of a win for South Norwood because of a rule that I
overlooked. What was worse, Guilford won the their final match of the
competition by default because their opponents Castles for whatever reason
couldn’t turn up for their away match which meant that it was instead Guildford
that won the title. The Stoneleigh campaign was just one of many near misses I
had during the spring. I had 2 chances to win the CCF Division 1 individual
championship but losing both the last games. In the first of those games I was
one rightly timed white pawn push away from winning the title. The next near
miss was an embarrassing loss for my “Hat-Trick” CCF Super League team. In a
complicated struggle, I was probably heading for a small endgame advantage only
to suddenly allow a back-rank checkmate. That was a very difficult thing for me
to take. After that we at South Norwood also lost our Ellery Williams Memorial
Trophy title to Dorking on the final match of the season. I won my game but the
rest of the team lost theirs and we lost 3-1.
On Thursday 14th May, I played my last ever
home match for South Norwood Chess Club. It was a Croydon League match against
West Wickham. I won my own game on time. It was the first time ever that I won
a Standard play game on the clock. The team won the match 3-1. After the match,
I shook hands with all the members and guests who were present at the club that
night.
Something unfortunate happened to me the previous day.
On Friday 15th May, I was busy cleaning my shower room when I
suddenly had a big sneeze which saw me back in my bed as I was actually
fatigued by the sneeze. Later that evening, I was out to buy some food when I
experienced chronic breathing difficulties and eventually had to come home and
call the ambulance. I spent 3 days in hospital and was put on a 3 week
programme of very strong medication. However, when I returned home from
hospital, I saw a tall postal package at my door. I didn’t know what it was at
first but then I saw some Japanese writing at the front and then I knew exactly
what it was. It was my Shogi Certificate from the Japan Shogi Association which I ordered around the time of my birthday. (12th April) Shogi is a
Japanese board game related to Chess and the objective is the same. Capture the
opponent’s king. I first learnt about the game in 2008 and have played on-line
regularly.
I played in the Felce Cup for only the third time
since my debut in 2010. I had to go to the Trinity Road club in Wimbledon to
play the games. It was a ropy start to the campaign with 3 straight draws
followed by a loss in the fourth round after a long endgame struggle. In the
fifth game I was lucky to escape with another draw after getting into some
trouble in the opening, and then I finally had back to back wins before a fifth
draw and then I lost my final game. One of the six players withdrew so the
first game did not count in the final standings which meant that I finished the
tournament with 4 out of 8 points, sharing 2nd place and just half a
point behind the eventual section winner. The winner of the tournament came
from Dorking.
Back in August, I had a message from somebody I knew
in person of Facebook. He asked if I was interested in running one of the CCF
Super League teams. At first I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a team captain at
CCF as I initially wanted to have more time focusing on other thing outside of
Chess. However, after some thought I decided to take up the challenge.
Eventually I decided to become captain two Super league teams. One for
Long-play Super league and one for Rapid-Play version. I decided to give them
both the same name. “The Dragon Kings”. The name was inspired by one of the
professional title matches in Shogi.
On the spiritual side of things, I decided early on in
the year that my biggest barrier to a happy life is coping with problematic
people and working out how I should handle such people. I have had many
fallouts with people down the years they are nearly always soul destroying for
a long time. I then realised that the reason for this was that I put myself
under unnecessary pressure to please everybody and it often leads to a lot of
stress, anger and even anxiety attacks. I have been working with affirmations
in my meditation practice and I decide that the one that works best for me is
“May I do my best in everything that I do”. I love this affirmation because it
reminds us not to put ourselves under too much pressure to achieve anything. I
have tried others as well but I think this one works best for me. I have also
promised myself not to listen to overly negative comments about me as they are
often misconceptions of who I am as a person. I have also thought about whom I
really am as a person and what I value as a person. I would say the qualities I
would use to describe myself are “honest” “direct” “kind” “gentlemanly”
“sporting” “thoughtful” “self-challenging” and “respectful”. These days I
realise the importance of having a sense of self and knowing deeply who you are
as a person.
May you do your best in everything that you do in
2016. This is a year I will look forward to as it is the year that will mark my
30th birthday.
Thank you all.
Richard
Davis
Completed
on Sunday 6th December 2015
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