Djokovic Breaks Nadal's Grand Slam Singles Titles Record

In January 2023, Novak Djokovic won the Australian Open for a record 10th time, in the process tying Rafael Nadal's record for most career Grand Slam singles titles (22). Yesterday, Djokovic won his third French Open title, and he now is the sole record-holder for career Grand Slam singles titles. When Roger Federer, who now ranks third on that list, held the record he was almost universally declared to be the greatest tennis player of all-time, so it would be hypocritical for his fans and media supporters to not acknowledge that Djokovic and Nadal have both surpassed Federer in the category that they claimed matters the most. Djokovic has missed two of the past six Grand Slam singles events due to his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and had he been able to play in those tournaments his lead over Nadal, Federer, and the rest of the pack would likely be even larger.

When Nadal passed Federer on the career Grand Slam singles titles list, Federer's fans and media supporters diminished Nadal's accomplishment by noting that 14 of Nadal's 22 Grand Slam wins are from the French Open. That is an odd critique--to say the least--considering that the French Open is one of the two most prestigious Grand Slams (alongside Wimbledon), not to mention that Nadal's eight "other" Grand Slam titles alone would rank him tied for eighth on the all-time list with (among others) Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and Andre Agassi. It is also worth noting that Nadal beat Federer head to head in Federer's best Grand Slam event (Wimbledon) but Federer has never defeated Nadal in the French Open, and that Nadal enjoys a 24-16 head to head advantage over Federer, including 10-4 in Grand Slams and 12-7 in ATP Masters Series/ATP Tour Masters 1000.

Djokovic's best Grand Slam event (the Australian Open) is by far the least historically significant of the four Grand Slams, but he also has won seven Wimbledons (tied for second all-time with Pete Sampras and William Renshaw behind Federer's eight), and he is the only player who has won each Grand Slam singles title at least three times. Djokovic leads Federer 27-23 in their head to head matches, including 11-6 in Grand Slams.

Djokovic's Grand Slam winning percentage is .329 (23 titles in 70 events played), while Nadal's is .328 (22/67), and Federer's is .247 (20/81). It requires torturing logic to the breaking point to rank Federer ahead of either Djokovic or Nadal at this point. 

Bjorn Borg should be mentioned in this discussion as well. By the time Borg played his final Grand Slam event in 1981, many knowledgeable observers ranked him as the greatest player of the Open Era, if not of all-time. Borg's simultaneous dominance of the French Open clay and the Wimbledon grass remains unmatched four decades later; for three straight years (1978-80) he won both events, and by the end of his career he held the modern record for titles won at both venues (six French Opens, five Wimbledons). Nadal broke Borg's French Open record, while Sampras, Federer, and Djokovic surpassed his Wimbledon standard (Renshaw won his Wimbledon titles at a time when the reigning champion did not have to play in the main draw), but Borg remains the only player in tennis history to dominate both events at the same time. 

Many of Borg's important records have not been broken, including his Grand Slam winning percentage of .393 (11/28), his match winning percentage against top 10 players (.725), his four straight years with a match winning percentage greater than .900, his 10 consecutive titles won in 1979-80, and his 63 titles won prior to the age of 25. Borg retired at 25, so it is safe to assume that if he had played for even just a few more years he would have not only extended many of the aforementioned records but he would have set some other records that may still be standing.

Unlike Federer, Borg does not have a losing record against any of his main rivals. The only blemish on Borg's resume is that he failed to win the U.S. Open despite reaching the finals four times in 10 tries. Borg reached the U.S. Open finals in back to back years and three times in four years before retiring, so Arthur Ashe is among those who believed that Borg would likely have won a U.S. Open title had he kept playing. Like most of his top ranked contemporaries, Borg routinely skipped the Australian Open, so in essence he won 11 titles in three Grand Slam events while the great players who came after him won their Grand Slam titles in four events.

It is difficult to definitively state that one person is the greatest of all-time in any endeavor, but an objective analysis of tennis history demonstrates (1) there is little basis to put Federer above everyone else and (2) Borg deserves greater appreciation than he receives now. Borg, like many athletes who have been retired for several decades, is facing that battle to avoid being forgotten that William Goldman eloquently described in the classic book that he co-authored with Mike Lupica, Wait Till Next Year. Goldman concluded, "The greatest struggle an athlete undergoes is the battle for our memories. It's gradual. It begins before you're aware it's begun and it ends with a terrible fall from grace. Stripped of medals, sent to Siberia...It really is a battle to the death."

Djokovic is the man of the hour, and he deserves the praise he is receiving, while Nadal and Federer are all-time greats who also deserve praise--but Borg should be remembered and praised as well.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 5

In the May 14, 2023 East Market Swiss, I scored 3.5/4, finishing tied for first-second while gaining three rating points to lift my rating to 2037. In round two in mutual time pressure, I made a good practical decision to concede a draw to a lower rated player in a balanced position instead of pressing too hard to win and possibly messing up my whole tournament. Unfortunately, that wisdom did not carry over to my next tournament.

In the May 27, 2023 "Emotional Chess" tournament (a Cincinnati Swiss System event run by Robert Chenault), I scored 3/4, finishing tied for second-fifth--but I lost in the first round to Ethan Cao, a rising young player who has gained over 500 rating points since December 2022. Ethan's brother Elton Cao is a former student of mine, and one of at least three players who I have coached who achieved the National Master title that I am still chasing (Noah Keating-Adams and Runya Xu are the two others that I can confirm have achieved the NM title). 

I turned down two draw offers versus Ethan Cao. The first time that Cao offered a draw (see diagram below, after Cao played Rb6+), the position was equal (according to Stockfish) even though Cao enjoyed a slight material advantage of Rook for Bishop plus Pawn. My extra Pawn was on the seventh rank supported by my Bishop, and my opponent was relegated to using his Rook to defend the promotion square because his King was too far away to help. His King could not switch places with his Rook because then I could create a second passed pawn with my 2-1 Kingside majority, and that second passed Pawn would generate enough counterplay to maintain equality.

In the above position, I played ...Kg7 instead of ...Ke7, which would have forced Cao to retreat his rook to the first rank. Why did I decline his draw offer, and why did I then play an imprecise move? After much introspection about this game and about other games versus lower rated players when I made mistakes and lost after declining draw offers, I have concluded that one issue I face is that when a lower rated player offers a draw in an equal or roughly equal position I tend to assume that the lower rated player is so intimidated that he will accept a draw at any time, giving me license to aggressively push for a win because I have "draw in hand." A second issue that I face is that I have such an innate aversion to drawing with lower rated players that I tend to overestimate my chances and play risky "hope chess" rather than either accepting the draw or else playing on in a way that does not involve unnecessary risk.

Here, I was way ahead on the clock, and ...Ke7 would have been a valid way to keep the game going without risking a loss. If Cao had returned his Rook to the first rank the result would have probably been a draw, but I could have kept playing for a few more moves to see if he cracked under time pressure. The flaw with ...Kg7 is that it allows Re6, followed by redeploying the King to e1 to free the Rook to undertake active operations; although White still does not have a forced win, it is not difficult for a player of my level to see the specific move Re6 or to understand in general how strong it is to place a Rook behind a passed Pawn--but this is what I mean by "hope chess": instead of calculating objectively, I hoped to use my King to support the ...g5 push to create another passed Pawn that I hoped would crack my opponent's defenses. Cao provided a reprieve to me by playing Rb1, enabling me to reestablish equality with ...Kh6. We shuffled our pieces around for a few more moves, I declined a second draw offer in an equal position, and I eventually played ...g5 to create a passed pawn. The resulting position was still objectively equal, but then I made the decisive mistake (see diagram below). 

 

I could have held a draw by playing ...Bb5, after which White cannot make any progress (nor can Black).  Instead, I played ...h4, hoping that my h pawn would divert my opponent's King enough to enable my King to reach f2 and win his Rook, but simple calculation demonstrates that this does not work versus correct play; after the Kingside Pawns were exchanged, my opponent forced a winning King and Pawn ending by giving up his Rook for my Bishop and my e Pawn.

I won my next three games, but each of my opponents is rated 1610 or less, so I did not gain many rating points for those three wins, and overall I lost 18 rating points to fall back to 2019. 

"Emotional Chess" was the second rated tournament for my daughter Rachel Sophia, who played in her first rated tournament on March 12, 2023. After scoring one win and three losses in her first tournament, Rachel scored one draw and three losses this time around. Her rating is now 557 after eight games. 

We both had a great time, and we both supported each other throughout the event. I probably need more support than she does, as Rachel remains even keeled no matter what happens. After she lost her first round game, Rachel stood by my board and watched intently as I went down in flames. After the game ended she looked at me and asked, "Are you OK, Daddy?" I assured her that I was fine, but just disappointed about the result. I said, "There are three more games to go, and three wins would still be a good score." We then ate lunch, played catch, and talked a little bit with Li Cao (Elton and Ethan's father).

Rachel drew her second round game. She had a winning position, but she and her opponent became a bit confused after a series of illegal moves, so they decided to agree to a draw. I asked Rachel who offered the draw and if she was satisfied with that outcome. Rachel made it clear that they both wanted a draw, and I have no reason to think that Rachel was conned or pressured into accepting a draw in a superior position. I refrained from making any immediate commentary or criticism, but later in the day I casually mentioned that in the future if she and her opponent are confused about the board situation then she can summon a director to make a ruling instead of just agreeing to a draw. 

Rachel packed a book and some toys to occupy her attention between rounds, but she also seemed to enjoy watching me play, and it was neat to have my own personal fan club. Rachel sometimes leaned on my shoulder during my games, much as she is in the picture below that we took before the tournament started. I asked her afterward what she enjoyed most about the tournament, and she immediately replied, "Chess and food!" We are looking forward to going to more chess tournaments together.

Rachel and I enjoyed the 5/27/23 "Emotional Chess" tournament

In 2023, I have scored 47 wins, 10 draws, and 12 losses in regular rated tournament games with eight first place finishes in 18 events--but five losses to players rated below 1750 were costly, and as a result my net rating gain for 2023 is just seven points, so I need to gain 181 points to reach my goal.