My 1/18/14 OTB Tournament Games
Last Saturday I went to another USCF tourney.
The church in which the tournament was held was quite large and I wasn't sure where the tournament was being held, so by the time I found it, the first round had started.
This meant I got a half point bye. Several players commented that I'd have to play very well to get anything since starting at 0.5/1 was a disadvantage, but I was kind of glad to get it since it helped relax my nerves
So the second round is the first round I played. My opponent was a 1419 rated player who had drawn the top seed (a 1900) player in the first round. He said he's done some work for chess.com before.
All games were G/70;d5. I recorded the time (the minutes anyway) that each player had on their clock after moving. This shows me more areas I need to work on.
I didn't play very well at first in that game, but I was still quite happy to win it.
In the next round I had an easier game against a player rated 1686.
I wonder about the opening again, but overall I was quite happy with the game. Now I have 2.5. It was a small tournament and now another player and I were leading, but there were quite a few players with 2 points.
If I'd win the last game, I'd get clear first. Losing would mean I'd get nothing. Drawing would mean I'd split first with 1-4 other players.
My idea for the last round was to play very solid and not have any chances of losing. Then if my opponent played well we'd draw and if he made a mistake I'd win. This kind of thinking wasn't very good. I played too passive. I had a 2-0 score against my opponent, so I really didn't have reason to worry. And anyway, the most solid moves are the best moves, whether they be tactical or positional.
Anyway, here's the game:
So anyway, as you can see I played way too passive in the first part of the game and in the second part of the game didn't know how to try to win. Lastly, I accepted a draw offer when I had calculated a position which would be very hard for black to defend IMO, but at the game I evaluated it as unclear and risky
But still, it wasn't too bad of a result. As the third seed I tied for first with 3 other players. My rating also moved up to 1856.
For Christmas I got some money for a lesson or two (hopefully) of chess coaching, so I think I'll go over these games with a coach later Any recommendations of coaches? I want them to be a strong player, a good teacher, and not too much money since that is limited by the amount I received. Thanks!