Only very few people know the following story, but I feel that now the time has come to share it: In 2017, I played Vasyl Ivanchuk at the Gibraltar Chess Festival. I somehow managed to win the game, but looking back, the result itself is not what makes the encounter special to me. After the game, we briefly talked about one of the positions. It was the first time I noticed just how much Vasyl genuinely loves chess. Almost two years later, we met again at the Sitges Chess Festival. A casual conversation eventually led to something I could never have expected: a few days later, Vasyl came to Vienna and stayed with me and my family for 10 days. We spent most of that time walking around Vienna, discussing chess, exchanging opening ideas, testing each other on chess history and analyzing positions in our heads. To this day, we still occasionally exchange interesting positions and ideas. Chess has given me many memorable experiences, but getting to know Vasyl personally is definitely one of the most special ones.