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