Michigan Open: 2 hours a side with 30 minutes added after 40 moves.
3.5 days, Friday evening to Monday morning.
Well, all of Monday, actually.
Round 1 (last night at 7:00), opponent 1540: The second lowest player in the open section playing today. (way way below me) It was a girl probably 9 or 10. She played a decent opening, but used a lot of time, and I slowly got a positional advantage, eventually sacrificing a pawn for gaining the bishop pair, trapping the king in the center, and trapping a rook in the corner (three major positional advantages). My opponent kept spending lots of time, and was down to 5 minutes on about the 25th moves; needing 15 more moves to get the extra 30 added. They couldn't make it. They soon lost an exchange and were down a full rook by move 40 (so the game was basically over). 1 for 1 I think I played well; I managed time will, gaining over an hour advantage at one point, but used it sensibly, and was down to about 11 minutes by the 40th move. My opening was good, my middlegame was good, and my endgame. My biggest mistake was making a "threat" and overlooking the obvious defending move. (Which didn't hurt me too much) Solid game which I should have won and did. 1.0/1
Next round at 10am today.
Round 2, opponent 2107:
My opponent was probably around 12-14. We played a normal opening, but I played a line I've been interested, trading queens early, and I think I surprised him. A few moves after we traded queens my opponent missed a tactic. Younger kids have no poker face, and he was squirming and fidgeted. He offered a draw. I was able to get a positional concession, and eventually won a pawn. I used a considerably greater amount of time than my opponent. The position was very tricky, and we traded pawns in a complex fashion, until it was two pawns, king, rook, and bishop for me, and one pawn, king, rook, and bishop, with the bishops being of the same color, so a generally very not drawish endgame, but a difficult one to win. My opponent offered another draw here (their third of the game, actually), but I declined, and was able to sacrifice one pawn to get the other in promoting position, forcing them to trade their rook for it, and with 11 minutes left on my clock I was able to win. Probably one of my best jobs of clock management, I played well in all aspects of the game, and won against a higher rated opponent. Excellent win.
2.0/2
I have the speed tournament in a few minutes, and then round 3 at 7.
Me opponent was an adult finally, probably a few years older than me. I was really tired, especially after the speed tournament (whoops, I'll get to that next), and it showed in my game. I started out poorly, accidentally playing opening I do very poorly with. I played some unorthodox stuff to get my opponent out of what they knew, and as I learned after the game, was successful. However, my position became relative poor, until one point when I played a very dangerous move. My opponent thought for 40 minutes, and still couldn't figure it out... and then I wimped out and didn't play the sacrifice that would make an interesting game. My opponent almost immediately played a great tactic, and won an exchange and soon the game. I didn't use too much time due to how tired I was, but I would have been relatively happy with the game had I been fully awake. But now, I'm very excited to get to sleep.
2.0/3 still very much in the hunt for a trophy.
Speed tournament results will come in the morning.
Just to confirm, I am still alive, just been very busy. Round 6 starts soon, so I g2g
So, the speed tournament. Each round was 2 games against your opponent, so each player got to be white and black. So 5 rounds and 10 games. Round 1, I played a player rated just under 1000 (way, way below me), and I trounced them twice. Round 2 I faced the highest rated player in the tournament, almost won the first game, and lost the second in about 30 seconds. So two losses. Third round, I played someone around 1600, won the first game on an illegal move (in blitz, an illegal move is a loss) but hung a rook late in the second and lost. Fourth round, I played a lower rated player and won both. Last round was another lower rated player, and I won one, but made an illegal move and lost the second. So 6.0/10, probably a bit worse than I should have been, but I was super tired, so I'm glad I was able play somewhat decently.
Round 4, opponent 2121:
My opponent played an opening that I'm not super familiar with, and I ended up getting passive, and almost pulled myself out, but missed a very complicated tactic, and in trying to survive it, I used most of my time. My opponent and I were both very low on time, and I just don't play well low on time, blundered, and lost. Okay game; I really need to work on my openings.
2.0/4, falling behind.
Round 5, opponent 1681:
My opponent played yet another opening I wasn't familiar with, and I never really got anywhere. It was an unbalanced position, where I had a better pawn structure, and my opening had more active pieces. There was a time I could have traded into a more interesting endgame, but unfortunately, I didn't see it that way at the time, and I eventually accepted one of the many draws my opponent had been offering me. He was actually a little better at that point too, so I was happy with a draw. There goes my rating point gain. Not a great draw. I really need to work on my openings...
2.5/5. In the middle of the pack.
So, the tournament's done, so I'm driving back now. There's a huge thunderstorm coming, so I think I'll try to get through as much as I can, and then stop somewhere if I need to and give the rest of my results. And maybe take a nap. I'm super tired.
Still too sleepy. I'll do it in the morning.
Round 6, opponent 1526:
This round, I have story to tell: So, I woke up around 8:30, but lost track of time a bit, and was late leaving, so I got to the tournament at about 9:40, 10 minutes after the round had started. So I rush in, and find my board. Board 14 with black. So I go in to the tournament room, and move towards the side of the open section. I look at the board numbers on the table closest to me, and see 16 and 15, 15 being closer to me. So that must mean 14 is on another row. I look to the next row, see a board on the other end where white has made their first move, and black's clock is just ticking away. So I quickly go make a move, hit the clock and then go get a notation sheet. We play an interesting opening, but my position is a bit uncomfortable. But about half an hour later, the TD comes over and tells me, "you're on the wrong board". !!! As it turns out, boards 15 and 16 were switched, so the numbers for that row went 15, 16, 14, 13! The person who was supposed to be playing there was really really late, and hadn't shown up until then and informed the TD. We had to terminate the game, and I had to go over to my correct board and start a new game against my correct opponent, now down about 35 minutes. However, that game's opening went much better, and after we castled on opposite sides of the board (which leads to lots of attacking) I was able to infiltrate with my queen, and took so many pawns, my opponent outright resigned.
3.5/6 at this point, with a very good chance to get a place and money.
Weird situation, but I'm glad I was able to pull through for the win.
Round 7, opponent 2150:
Last game. My opponent played an unusual opening, but I was comfortable with it... until I missed a tactic, that is. I was able to complicate things, but things were better for my opponent, and he prevailed. Tough game. I need to be more careful about some opening things, and I also need to work on my move order in openings, yet again.
3.5/7, out of the race for money.
Summary: 3.5/7 is about half a point less than I was hoping for. I never played anyone with 175 points of my rating, which is very unusual, and quite disappointing. I probably only had 3 or 4 good games, because of that. To put it another way, I was the 26th highest rated player in the tournament, and I played no one from 11th-50th (I played people both higher and lower). Very exhausting, and I think next year I'll play in the 3-day section (if I am able to play). On the other hand, I gained some very valuable information on what I need to study, and that is openings. I'm good with the main ones now, but there are other ones that come up plenty that I really struggle with. Openings can be hard to learn just from playing, so I really need to set time aside specifically to get better at them.
An okay performance.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
June 2017 Calvin Chess
Tomorrow: June Calvin Chess, Game in 45.
Round 1, opponent 1810: I played an opening I just started playing recently, and it worked well again. I got a good position, my opponent missed a tactic, and I won a ton of material. (He resigned). A nice win.
Round 2, opponent 1638: I played an opening that leads into good endgames, and my opponent offered an early queen trade. I won a pawn by force, which was enough to win, since my opponent was in time trouble. Decent win.
Round 3, opponent 2029: My opponent played an opening I don't know so well (I need to study it), and I messed up and lost a piece. Bad loss.
Summary: 2.0/3, tied for 1st in the tournament. I beat the people below, and lost to the person above, so okay tournament.
Round 1, opponent 1810: I played an opening I just started playing recently, and it worked well again. I got a good position, my opponent missed a tactic, and I won a ton of material. (He resigned). A nice win.
Round 2, opponent 1638: I played an opening that leads into good endgames, and my opponent offered an early queen trade. I won a pawn by force, which was enough to win, since my opponent was in time trouble. Decent win.
Round 3, opponent 2029: My opponent played an opening I don't know so well (I need to study it), and I messed up and lost a piece. Bad loss.
Summary: 2.0/3, tied for 1st in the tournament. I beat the people below, and lost to the person above, so okay tournament.
2017 Michigan Amateur
Michigan Amateur, 6/3/17, 5 round swiss, 110 minutes a side.
There's two sections, U2000 and U800, no open section. I'm rated 1830, and am 8th highest rated in my section.
Round 1, opponent ~1450: my opponent played an opening I haven't seen in a long time, but I took my time and played it decently, and got some pressure. I spent 17 minutes deciding whether to make a dangerous move to take a pawn. I did, hung on, got through a little bit of danger, and got to a decent position. My opponent then miscalculated and traded down to kings and pawns in an endgame that was actually won for me instead of a draw. I used my extra pawn to eventually promote to a queen. Relatively smooth win.
So, last two games both went down to the last half hour, so I didn't have time to write about them. I'll go into more detail when I have time. Both wins, the second against the highest rated player in the tournament! (Only a bit higher than me). 3.0/3 for day 1.
Round 2, opponent 1658: my opponent was a young girl, which is unfortunately rather unusual, and she looked very distracted during our game. She gave up a pawn in the opening to a relatively simple tactic. I played only a decent middlegame, and got into some trouble, but I managed to pull through, using the most time I've probably ever used on an opening and middlegame. I then used my superior endgame skill to get a winning endgame. I did however make a mistake to go from an easily winning endgame to a little more difficult to win endgame, but it was still a won position for me, so my opponent resigned. Good, but slow and tense win.
Round 3, opponent ~1950: As previously mentioned, this was the highest rated player in the section. My opponent played a relatively conservative opening, so I pushed hard positionally. I got to what I thought was a good position, about to trade down in to a potentially pawn up endgame... and then made a dumb mistake to drop a pawn and get a difficult position. But my opponent made a bad trade, giving me the bishop pair, (albeit in a closed position) and I managed to get the pawn back. My opponent then sacrificed the exchange, but I don't think it worked out how they thought it would, and I then played a nice tactic in the endgame to win. Not a great start, but a good finish to win.
Day 1 summary: My first two games were relatively boring; win a pawn in the opening but under some pressure, equalize the position by the endgame, then use my extra pawn to win (although in the second game, I got a pretty good position as well). For whatever reason, younger people seem to be good in the middlegame, but bad in the endgame. (I'm the opposite). Game 3, my opponent and I both thought I was on the ropes, but we both underestimated my position, and I was able to come back swinging and pick up a great win.
Last thing: the oven started beeping last night, so I haven't slept well. It's going to be a rough day.
The tournament just finished. Two long games today. I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to drive back before I go into details. So I'll post in about an hour and a half.
Round 4, opponent 1937: I played an opening I've only just started playing, but have liked. This game was no exception. I thought I was going to win a pawn, but miscalculated, and had to hold off. I played some nifty tactics to get my opponent into a bad position, won a pawn in the endgame, and managed to pull out a win via promotion, in part due to my opponent getting into time trouble. A solid win.
Round 5, opponent 1900. This was the game for all the marbles. My opponent and I were the only ones to get through the tournament winning our first four games, so this was the championship match. My opponent made an early mistake, which I almost didn't see. I took advantage, and got his king stuck in the center... and then promptly got a piece stuck (a bad mistake, I could have easily avoided it). It would take four moves to extricate it, and it was going to get captured in two moves, not even close to being able to escape. I spent huge amounts of time, over 50 minutes of my 1 hour and 50 minutes. I was done, not winning the tournament... I made a few threats, trying to get something going, which my opponent easily swatted away. I was tired, and ready to be done with the tournament. BUT then! My opponent made a mistake, and I was able to extricate my poor bishop. The position was down to just the rooks, queen, and a ton of pawns. His queen got near my king; but I was able to fork some pawns in exchange. So I won a pawn, giving myself two passed pawns on the edge! We traded queens. Unfortunately, his position was better; my rooks were stuck behind my passed pawns, which is terrible (you want them in front). My opponent made another mistake, and I managed to trade off one of our rooks, and somehow my 2 passed pawns for two of his pawns on the other side of the board, giving me passed pawns there, and importantly, with my rook in front! I manged to push them; my opponent burned lots of time, but found no way to stop them, and resigned. A game I probably should have lost early one, but my opponent let me back into the game, and I took advantage. A roller-coaster win.
Day 2 summary: A well played game, and a shaky-at-first-but-later-much-better game. Both great games.
Summary: 5.0/5, winning the tournament. I'll gain 50-100 rating points. The best tournament performance I've ever had. I came in tied for 8th in rating, and beat the players rated 1st, 2nd, and 4th. This a huge deal, because it gives me hope that my chess career can recover from college. I was rated about 100 points higher when I came into college. Not too much, but a decent amount. I played chess throughout college, and would normally expect my rating to increase. But I never really got a proper restful break for nearly all of college (my family's vacations are exhausting; I usually feel more tired after than I did before). So this result after a couple restful weeks is a breath of fresh air. Any thoughts I had of ending my chess playing have been put to rest, for now. Woo! And now for a happy picture:
My rating change came in: exactly +100
Interesting fact: There was another undefeated player, but they chose to take a half-point bye (so they didn't play) during one of the rounds, so they ended up 4.5/5. We never played
(obviously, otherwise we couldn't both be undefeated)
There's two sections, U2000 and U800, no open section. I'm rated 1830, and am 8th highest rated in my section.
Round 1, opponent ~1450: my opponent played an opening I haven't seen in a long time, but I took my time and played it decently, and got some pressure. I spent 17 minutes deciding whether to make a dangerous move to take a pawn. I did, hung on, got through a little bit of danger, and got to a decent position. My opponent then miscalculated and traded down to kings and pawns in an endgame that was actually won for me instead of a draw. I used my extra pawn to eventually promote to a queen. Relatively smooth win.
So, last two games both went down to the last half hour, so I didn't have time to write about them. I'll go into more detail when I have time. Both wins, the second against the highest rated player in the tournament! (Only a bit higher than me). 3.0/3 for day 1.
Round 2, opponent 1658: my opponent was a young girl, which is unfortunately rather unusual, and she looked very distracted during our game. She gave up a pawn in the opening to a relatively simple tactic. I played only a decent middlegame, and got into some trouble, but I managed to pull through, using the most time I've probably ever used on an opening and middlegame. I then used my superior endgame skill to get a winning endgame. I did however make a mistake to go from an easily winning endgame to a little more difficult to win endgame, but it was still a won position for me, so my opponent resigned. Good, but slow and tense win.
Round 3, opponent ~1950: As previously mentioned, this was the highest rated player in the section. My opponent played a relatively conservative opening, so I pushed hard positionally. I got to what I thought was a good position, about to trade down in to a potentially pawn up endgame... and then made a dumb mistake to drop a pawn and get a difficult position. But my opponent made a bad trade, giving me the bishop pair, (albeit in a closed position) and I managed to get the pawn back. My opponent then sacrificed the exchange, but I don't think it worked out how they thought it would, and I then played a nice tactic in the endgame to win. Not a great start, but a good finish to win.
Day 1 summary: My first two games were relatively boring; win a pawn in the opening but under some pressure, equalize the position by the endgame, then use my extra pawn to win (although in the second game, I got a pretty good position as well). For whatever reason, younger people seem to be good in the middlegame, but bad in the endgame. (I'm the opposite). Game 3, my opponent and I both thought I was on the ropes, but we both underestimated my position, and I was able to come back swinging and pick up a great win.
Last thing: the oven started beeping last night, so I haven't slept well. It's going to be a rough day.
The tournament just finished. Two long games today. I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to drive back before I go into details. So I'll post in about an hour and a half.
Round 4, opponent 1937: I played an opening I've only just started playing, but have liked. This game was no exception. I thought I was going to win a pawn, but miscalculated, and had to hold off. I played some nifty tactics to get my opponent into a bad position, won a pawn in the endgame, and managed to pull out a win via promotion, in part due to my opponent getting into time trouble. A solid win.
Round 5, opponent 1900. This was the game for all the marbles. My opponent and I were the only ones to get through the tournament winning our first four games, so this was the championship match. My opponent made an early mistake, which I almost didn't see. I took advantage, and got his king stuck in the center... and then promptly got a piece stuck (a bad mistake, I could have easily avoided it). It would take four moves to extricate it, and it was going to get captured in two moves, not even close to being able to escape. I spent huge amounts of time, over 50 minutes of my 1 hour and 50 minutes. I was done, not winning the tournament... I made a few threats, trying to get something going, which my opponent easily swatted away. I was tired, and ready to be done with the tournament. BUT then! My opponent made a mistake, and I was able to extricate my poor bishop. The position was down to just the rooks, queen, and a ton of pawns. His queen got near my king; but I was able to fork some pawns in exchange. So I won a pawn, giving myself two passed pawns on the edge! We traded queens. Unfortunately, his position was better; my rooks were stuck behind my passed pawns, which is terrible (you want them in front). My opponent made another mistake, and I managed to trade off one of our rooks, and somehow my 2 passed pawns for two of his pawns on the other side of the board, giving me passed pawns there, and importantly, with my rook in front! I manged to push them; my opponent burned lots of time, but found no way to stop them, and resigned. A game I probably should have lost early one, but my opponent let me back into the game, and I took advantage. A roller-coaster win.
Day 2 summary: A well played game, and a shaky-at-first-but-later-much-better game. Both great games.
Summary: 5.0/5, winning the tournament. I'll gain 50-100 rating points. The best tournament performance I've ever had. I came in tied for 8th in rating, and beat the players rated 1st, 2nd, and 4th. This a huge deal, because it gives me hope that my chess career can recover from college. I was rated about 100 points higher when I came into college. Not too much, but a decent amount. I played chess throughout college, and would normally expect my rating to increase. But I never really got a proper restful break for nearly all of college (my family's vacations are exhausting; I usually feel more tired after than I did before). So this result after a couple restful weeks is a breath of fresh air. Any thoughts I had of ending my chess playing have been put to rest, for now. Woo! And now for a happy picture:
My rating change came in: exactly +100
Interesting fact: There was another undefeated player, but they chose to take a half-point bye (so they didn't play) during one of the rounds, so they ended up 4.5/5. We never played
(obviously, otherwise we couldn't both be undefeated)
May 2017 Calvin Chess
Round 1: opponent 1179: My opponent got a good middlegame attack, but in managed to get a good center counterattack, draw his King out, and checkmate it. Decent win.
This is the May Calvin tournament, btw.
Round 2: opponent 2021: I played an opening I've almost never played before. I liked it, made a sacrifice based on feel, and wasn't quite able to break through with my attack. Good competitive loss.
Round 3: opponent unrated: My opponent was actually rated 700, but their last rated game was from 2001, so not really applicable. I accepted a pawn sacrifice early on, and the pressure was on me all game. But I responded well, keeping my development on par with theirs, and building a time advantage. Eventually, in the endgame, under time pressure, I managed to win a piece, and finally got rid of my opponent's pressure on me. I won soon after. Tense win.
Summary: 2.0/3. I played decent. I beat who I should have, although the first game was shakier than it should have been. Acceptable tournament.
This is the May Calvin tournament, btw.
Round 2: opponent 2021: I played an opening I've almost never played before. I liked it, made a sacrifice based on feel, and wasn't quite able to break through with my attack. Good competitive loss.
Round 3: opponent unrated: My opponent was actually rated 700, but their last rated game was from 2001, so not really applicable. I accepted a pawn sacrifice early on, and the pressure was on me all game. But I responded well, keeping my development on par with theirs, and building a time advantage. Eventually, in the endgame, under time pressure, I managed to win a piece, and finally got rid of my opponent's pressure on me. I won soon after. Tense win.
Summary: 2.0/3. I played decent. I beat who I should have, although the first game was shakier than it should have been. Acceptable tournament.
February 2017 Calvin Chess
February Calvin Chess, Swiss 3 rounds, Game in 45 minutes, 5 second delay
Basically same people as last time, except there's a 2140 player. Hopefully I can give him a run.
Game 1: opponent 1348: I played a terrible middlegame, was down a pawn with a destroyed pawn structure, but my opponent blundered in the endgame, and I ground out a win. Ugly, ugly win.
Game 2: opponent 2140: So, the big game. My opponent had earlier said he had been suffering from the flu the past 5 weeks, but had been feeling better, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We went into a tame line of the opening I know best, so the opening went fine. I made a small mistake in the middlegame, but it didn't end up costing me. My opponent then gave me the option of trading my queen for two of their rooks. I thought to myself "if this was a more important game, I'd probably play more cautiously, but hey, this is 45 minutes a side (pretty short) at Calvin, so let's go for it and have an interesting game." I possibly would have played it in a more serious game, but I also would have had more time to think. So I went for it, and it soon became clear that my position after the trade was much better than either my opponent or I expected. But it was still tricky as this trade is very difficult for the side who has two rooks. I won a pawn, then a piece for two pawns, so I had two rooks and a bishop vs a pawn which was a sizable advantage, but it was hard to manage my time, and for a while, I couldn't break truth my opponent's defenses. Finally, with less than 5 minutes on my clock, I did, but my opponent moved in to try to cut my king off for mate. However, I was able to use this to threaten mate, and I got a favorable trade for his queen, and was able to get the win. Very tense and difficult game, but a success.
Game 3: opponent 1532: Finally played a good opening for once. My opponent sacrificed a pawn in the opening, and I took my time, figured out what I needed to do, and got into a great middlegame. And then promptly hung a piece to a simple tactic. I resigned immediately. Ugh. My rating will barely break even this tournament, even with last round's win.
In summary, I won a game playing terribly against a much worse player, I won a game playing really during against a much better player, and then started playing great but threw it all away against a much worse player. 2.0/3, rating will probably not change.
Basically same people as last time, except there's a 2140 player. Hopefully I can give him a run.
Game 1: opponent 1348: I played a terrible middlegame, was down a pawn with a destroyed pawn structure, but my opponent blundered in the endgame, and I ground out a win. Ugly, ugly win.
Game 2: opponent 2140: So, the big game. My opponent had earlier said he had been suffering from the flu the past 5 weeks, but had been feeling better, so I wasn't sure what to expect. We went into a tame line of the opening I know best, so the opening went fine. I made a small mistake in the middlegame, but it didn't end up costing me. My opponent then gave me the option of trading my queen for two of their rooks. I thought to myself "if this was a more important game, I'd probably play more cautiously, but hey, this is 45 minutes a side (pretty short) at Calvin, so let's go for it and have an interesting game." I possibly would have played it in a more serious game, but I also would have had more time to think. So I went for it, and it soon became clear that my position after the trade was much better than either my opponent or I expected. But it was still tricky as this trade is very difficult for the side who has two rooks. I won a pawn, then a piece for two pawns, so I had two rooks and a bishop vs a pawn which was a sizable advantage, but it was hard to manage my time, and for a while, I couldn't break truth my opponent's defenses. Finally, with less than 5 minutes on my clock, I did, but my opponent moved in to try to cut my king off for mate. However, I was able to use this to threaten mate, and I got a favorable trade for his queen, and was able to get the win. Very tense and difficult game, but a success.
Game 3: opponent 1532: Finally played a good opening for once. My opponent sacrificed a pawn in the opening, and I took my time, figured out what I needed to do, and got into a great middlegame. And then promptly hung a piece to a simple tactic. I resigned immediately. Ugh. My rating will barely break even this tournament, even with last round's win.
In summary, I won a game playing terribly against a much worse player, I won a game playing really during against a much better player, and then started playing great but threw it all away against a much worse player. 2.0/3, rating will probably not change.
January 2017 Calvin Chess
Calvin Chess, Swiss 3 rounds, Game in 45 minutes, 5 second delay
Just for reference, my rating is ~1850. I probably lose 75% of my games to a 2050, and win 75% against a 1650.
Game 1, opponent rating 1348: I played a decent opening, could've been better, but not too bad. I had a good middlegame, but wasn't able to convert it into anything, going into the endgame, I spent way too long trying to see if a move was good, and played it. It was mediocre, and then I missed a good move. We went into a king and pawn endgame, and my opponent just went for the wrong pawn structure under time pressure, and turned his win info a loss . Basically, I won when I didn't deserve to. (We probably deserved a draw) Not a great game.
Game 2, opponent rating ~1550: I played a bad opening plan, and a bad middlegame plan, but my opponent spent a ton of time to get a very slightly better game. Then, with 30 seconds on his clock, and 30 minutes on mine, I spent about 5 minutes on a move, only to throw my rook away. I noticed just as I took my hand off the piece. Such an awful, awful move. I soon threw my other rook away, and my opponent converted the point. Basically, I played bad, but somehow ended up on a decent position on the board and a great position on the clock, and threw the game away. So bad. Loss.
I'm in the basement by myself, couldn't stand to be around people for a while.
The third and final round is starting soon, so I'll go back and play it out.
Game 3, opponent 1302: I played an okay opening, with a decent middlegame, getting a decent advantage. My opponent played a bad Queen move, had to sacrifice a knight for a pawn to get out, and then immediately dropped a rook and resigned. Basically, I played okayish, probably a bit below average, but for an 1845, it's enough to beat a 1302.
In summary: I played 3 much lower rated players: I played a bad game but my opponent played worse, so I still won, I played an absolutely awful game that my opponent tried to gift me that I just threw away and list, and then finally a half way decent game which is a win against the opposition I'm playing. In total, 2.0/3. A relatively bad tournament, but it was still okay. Lesson learned: while not fearing the opponent's opening is good, I still need to respect their opening, and give it a decent amount of in-game study.
Net rating change: -20
Just for reference, my rating is ~1850. I probably lose 75% of my games to a 2050, and win 75% against a 1650.
Game 1, opponent rating 1348: I played a decent opening, could've been better, but not too bad. I had a good middlegame, but wasn't able to convert it into anything, going into the endgame, I spent way too long trying to see if a move was good, and played it. It was mediocre, and then I missed a good move. We went into a king and pawn endgame, and my opponent just went for the wrong pawn structure under time pressure, and turned his win info a loss . Basically, I won when I didn't deserve to. (We probably deserved a draw) Not a great game.
Game 2, opponent rating ~1550: I played a bad opening plan, and a bad middlegame plan, but my opponent spent a ton of time to get a very slightly better game. Then, with 30 seconds on his clock, and 30 minutes on mine, I spent about 5 minutes on a move, only to throw my rook away. I noticed just as I took my hand off the piece. Such an awful, awful move. I soon threw my other rook away, and my opponent converted the point. Basically, I played bad, but somehow ended up on a decent position on the board and a great position on the clock, and threw the game away. So bad. Loss.
I'm in the basement by myself, couldn't stand to be around people for a while.
The third and final round is starting soon, so I'll go back and play it out.
Game 3, opponent 1302: I played an okay opening, with a decent middlegame, getting a decent advantage. My opponent played a bad Queen move, had to sacrifice a knight for a pawn to get out, and then immediately dropped a rook and resigned. Basically, I played okayish, probably a bit below average, but for an 1845, it's enough to beat a 1302.
In summary: I played 3 much lower rated players: I played a bad game but my opponent played worse, so I still won, I played an absolutely awful game that my opponent tried to gift me that I just threw away and list, and then finally a half way decent game which is a win against the opposition I'm playing. In total, 2.0/3. A relatively bad tournament, but it was still okay. Lesson learned: while not fearing the opponent's opening is good, I still need to respect their opening, and give it a decent amount of in-game study.
Net rating change: -20
Postings from Facebook Messenger Group
Well, I fell off the wagon of posting my games, obviously. I've still been playing chess, but it's been more difficult to find time. However, I have created a facebook group to keep people posted, with brief summaries, but I figure it's better to have control over it myself, so I'll now start posting those to this blog.
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