Tennis is a wonderful sport and it has given us many good moments and teachings throughout the years. It is mostly a 1on1 competition, if you exclude the less visible doubles' tournaments, flogged by lots of psychological issues and inner thoughts to deal with, where a man or woman stands alone in the desert facing his/her fears and fierce opponents, usually for several hours in a row being watched by a big and noisy crowd.

By now you must be asking to yourself "Damn, but what has this to do with eSports? Is this going on about a new version of Virtual Tennis or something?". It isn't. This article is about an expression that got popular within the tennis community and that you can apply to many life situations.

"Chip and charge: a play which involves hitting a slice shot while moving forward and following the shot into the net". Still trying to get out of a deep black hole where the world economic crisis that burst in 2009 has flushed many companies and people into, the eSports community in general, including sponsors, companies, teams, players, organizations and event promoters, has taken many different approaches to the problem. Some just called it a day's work and quit, others just sat back and went with the flow, taking the opportunity and time to smell the roses, and many added another peptic ulcer to the list of infirmities that they already had.

A few of these persons, a group where I would like to include myself, just did what is in their nature and fought back during the whole 2009-crisis-year, scavenging for every opportunity to keep things in motion and refusing to step down on what they have so hardly accomplished throughout many years. Using another sports analogy, this time from baseball, when life throws you a "curveball" there are many ways to deal with it, and one of them is surely to "chip and charge": slice it and move forward instead of taking a blow and just spend your time feeling sorry for yourself.

The year 2009 was a dreadful year for eSports and for most of the markets all around as well, with several famous and solid teams and organizations folding, leaving behind a trail of debts to be paid who-knows-when. The most famous crash was the company behind ESWC, that after moving the event in 2008 from France to the United States, spending what they had and did not have according to rumours, entered liquidation and went bankrupt causing a commotion in the eSports world.

But that is the past and after hitting rock bottom, now we have 2010 right in front of us, filled up with new opportunities and slowly recovering from a situation that was rather complicated. Perhaps it is too soon to get back to the old habits, that is, if we will ever be able to do it, but at least now we can keep on the "chip and charge" atittude but measuring the risks a bit more, cause one never knows when you might get a tricky passing shot from the other side of the court, one that will take you down every time you try to move forward into the net.

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