First USCF Victory

This is a game that has had me glowing for the past few days.

I joined the USCF in January. I had improved a lot in 2009, and it seemed about time to become an "official" member of the chess community. Currently, the club here in Springfield MO is having a City Championship tournament, my first oppurtunity to score some rated games. Rounds 1-3 were a little disappointing. I had lost the first two against 1600+ players, and I drew against a 1504 in round three.

This Saturday we were to have a special session of the tournament, 3 rounds in one day. I ended up missing it because I showed up at 7:00PM... the time of our Friday meetings (Saturday meetings start earlier in the day... Doh!). Luckily, the tournament director was still in the building and challenged me to a rated game.

I didn't feel optimistic when I sat down to this game. My opponent is currently leading the tournament and has a 1800+ rating. Still, I figured that it would be a learning experience, and I thought that perhaps if I played tight, I could at least earn some respect... I think the key to this victory was that I caught him off gaurd. During the opening, he would get up and fiddle with some of his papers... he even had a phone conversation... all while his clock was ticking! He didn't really start paying attention to the game until after I had built a substantial advantage.

Here, I quit recording because I was in time trouble. I had about 3min on the clock and he had about 30min. Against a stronger player, I had made it a point to take my time with each move... At this point, the game had become very exciting for me. A win is on the board, but with so little time on my clock, I was unsure if I would be force to except a draw or if I would eventually lose on time. After a couple of near triple repetitions, we had reached the following position with black to move.

Good Job buddy, you played very well and overplayed your opponent. Play more games, work on your chess and you will be an expert in no time 

Good result

27. Nxb5+ wins the queen

Good job.

Gives people with poor etiquitte a good lesson in actually playing and focusing against an opponent regardless of their rating. I haven't played any tournaments, but I'd find that partly offensive.

Way to stick it to him! 

That is kind of scary, the things that you don't see during the game...

More specifically, 27. Nd6xb5+! is a mate in 12.

Nicely played!

well done !!!