Epicure - The adventures continue

The next tournament on my agenda was the Epicure tournament.  I was badly in need of rated play and the U1800 division was just calling my name.  Was I really good enough to mix it up with the 1600s and such in my area?  I was determined to find out.

Unfortunately, my first game would not prove to be such a challenge.  It turned out that I was on the 49% of the Swiss System, which means I would get the lower rated competition for the first few rounds while the higher rated players sorted themselves out.  Still, I can only play the person sitting on the other end of the board, so I was determined to make the most of it.

Round 1 was a relatively good challenge, though most of the challenege was because I wasted time in the early middlegame, forcing me to make moves to fix my own mistakes.  Clearly not a game to be arrogant over.  This was a game I should have won much more easily.  Also, there were three more games yet to humble me and show me how little I knew.

The chess gods then deemed fit to grace me with another lower rated opponent.  This fellow came late to the tournament and was given a first round bye.  As a result, he was paired against me (a I was still one of the lowest rated players then 1-0).  Anarchy soon followed:

Ok.  So, two games and two wins.  Still, these are the lower rated people in the tournament.  The next games would be the real test, as I would finally get pitter against the higher level competition.

My next game is actually against a familiar opponent.  Those who followed my earlier games may recall that I played in the Alpha Chess Academy Open tournament, snagging second place.  During that tournament, I freely admit to stealing a game against one much higher rated player when he simply dropped his bishop.  See http://www.chess.com/blog/falafalafocus/taking-over-the-mean-streets-of-weston

Well, now he would have his chance for bloody vengeance.  Would I win the day?