Has it ever happened to you that you reached the peak of success, and then you invariably fell down?

After six months of acquaintance with chess, I barely made it through the qualification of the Republican Open Tournament. The winner was the one who received the most points based on the results of eleven games without repeated face-to-face meetings. The winner of eleven games was guaranteed to win the tournament. Incredibly, my intuitive concept led to the final meeting. I had 9 victories and one defeat on my account, and the Armenian grandmaster had 10 victories on his account. I guaranteed myself the 2nd place, but I could have become the champion by winning the decisive meeting. I definitely behaved positionally, but this meeting was a revelation for me. After six months of familiarity with chess, I practically learned about the “En Passent” rule. By incredible efforts, I brought equal chances to the endgame. My time was running out and there was a whole hall of closely watching people around us. Before the climax, I was obsessed with playing for a while, although people distracted me and the timer too. And yet I made a move that led to a draw. The grandmaster became the champion. The crowd sighed. A few minutes later, the grandmaster and I began to argue animatedly about possible moves with the tournament organizer. He claimed that I could checkmate, but neither I nor the grandmaster could figure out how to do it. The organizer indicated a combination in which I could put a forced checkmate. The second place didn’t give me any privileges. It haunted me for a long time. And in the future I went on a steady decline and could no longer be a decent chess player. Now I am surprised that no one supported me either then or after. But they still remind me of it with a grin, even though I forgot about chess.

One day I was silent on a large grass football field. People started demanding that I say something. I remained silent. And then several people began to urge me to say something. Then I felt very weak in the sternum and lungs. And from the pain I could only smile and cough. I broke the silence and started improvising. I started talking thoughtlessly. And uttered a whole poetic tirade. By the end of it, everyone who was there gathered around me. I finished and gave the word to the brutal footballer. My poetic tirade led him to the idea of tell me “Tell a joke”. I interrupted him again and made it clear when I tell a joke, I will shut up and leave the field. I invented a long joke about a JEW and a QUAD BIKE. I told this joke and fell silent. And a lot of people picked me up without my will and started throwing me up with joyful shouts. It lasted several minutes. After I was released. Moving further away from them, I heard louder shouts. They said the phrases “You are a legend” and “I will never be able to laugh like that again”. Everyone on the field repeated my name enthusiastically over and over again.

After 10 minutes, I couldn’t remember what I was saying. But I remember a phantom feeling that I will never be so revered by society again. Since then, nothing like this has happened in my life.