Really a good tournament, congrats!
My chess tournament- Part 10- My experience at the NAYCC in Toronto, Canada
Sort:
Sep 14, 2013
0
#4
Thanks for sharing! I really like your style, but my play is too solid to try and emulate it.
Nate
Nice games
@nate23 you don't have to copy my play to be good :) thanks!
@NM Danielminghe Thanks!!!
@carywilburn thanks!
Nice games and great report on the tournament! One quick thing I noticed whilst playing through - against Ye, H you had 32...Nc1+ or on move 33. But honestly the main thing you should probably take away from this is that you performed poorly in the last two rounds (especially the last game) and kinda spoilt what had been a great run up until that point! Maybe figure out a way to stay motivated in those rounds. But well played!
Sep 14, 2013
0
#10
@Abhishek2, great blog. If you would like it considered for a mention in the newsletter, let me know.
Very interesting games!
Sep 14, 2013
0
#13
Also... did you put the "result" (e.g. "1-0") into the PGN? The result didn't show up in the game viewer.
Sep 14, 2013
0
#15
Sorry, you are right. It's in the PGN, but doesn't display in the game viewer, at least not on mine (WIN 7, Chrome, etc...). Hmmm... At least you indicate in your comments what happend.
Great blog BTW.
I remember a rule about the tournament. If you had to go to the bathroom you had to ask a TD and they will accompany you, because you can't speak to anyone along the way. Really strict, which makes local rules seem bad.
These were great games, and I especially loved reading this as I know both William and Kadhir (the NY players). But honestly, I really don't like the way FIDE gives out titles willy-nilly for winning certain tournaments or finishing in a certain place. I think they should just stick with the rating and (sometimes) norm requirements.
@NM JMB2010 thanks! but it was a nine-round tournament, and FIDE has all these requirements, it's a big international tournament and kids shouldn't really win money, so a title seems fair
Hey everyone! I attended the North American Youth Championship in Toronto, Canada a little less than a month ago. I have to say, it was really fun and the competition was quite intense! These youth championships of North America occur annually and change between Canada, USA, and Mexico. Kids from all across the continent come to compete with each other for titles and trophies. The tournament was initially supposed to be 7 rounds, but it got increased to 9. The time control was 90/30, a classic FIDE time control which was quite short in my opinion. It lasts a tiring 5 days! Often in these type of tournaments people start strong then collapse in the final rounds, or someone who didn't rank very high in the initial rankings ends up winning!
I participated in the U14 Boys section since I turned 12 last October. I was very keen on winning this tournament so I practiced a lot but also took breaks to do other things so I don't get too tired. I started as #11 in my section, taking my FIDE rating. There were around 65 people in my section.
So I actually came there a day early since I didn't have to worry about missing school. After a whole day of flying my relatives picked me up from the airport in Buffalo, NY and took me to Niagra Falls. Unlike a lot of people I rarely travel as far to the east coast so I was fascinated. Niagra Falls looked great changing colors with the lights and all. Soon I crossed the border into Canada. Not that it came as a surprise or anything, but all of a sudden the miles changed to kilometers, and gas was measured in liters. I'm not used to the metric system so it was quite weird!
So the next morning I took a train to Toronto (which took a long time) and explored the downtown. Unlike the crowded, cold San Francisco downtown that I'm used to, this was completely different. People were quite nice and I didn't see as many people living on the streets. But there wasn't much time to explore. I had to find the tournament place! It took a long time, dragging that big suitcase all around the city, but eventually I reached the University of Toronto, where the tournament was held. I went inside and registered, and got a nice badge. I dropped the suitcases in the dorm where I was staying and, checked the pairings for the first round and went to my board, where there were several announcements about FIDE rules. They were SUPER strict. I was playing someone on the bottom half of the list, but I was still going to play my best.
In the first round I played a 1493 from Canada. My opponent played something passive, but he was still able to hold- but he didn't manage his time well. He made the losing move in a dead equal position with two seconds on the clock. I reorganized my pieces to put pressure on his king. The game took quite long. My annotations of all my games don't include Fritz's analysis because it crashed a few days ago, so engine lines or refutations to my moves and evaluations would be helpful. Here's the game:
Whew! That was a tough fight. That night something bad happened. I was itchy all day and soon enough I realized something- I got an allergic reaction and now I have tons of rashes!
I hoped they didn't get worse and I tried not to itch them.
The next morning I played a 1768 from Canada. He didn't castle until much later in the game, but my breakthrough to open his king couldn't work, so I didn't play it. His pieces never seemed to coordinate properly and eventually I won a piece and the game. Here's the game:
For the next round I was expecting to play someone like, 1850. Boy, was I wrong. I ended up in the bottom half of people with 2 out of 2, so I had to play the person ranked #3!
I played a 2127 from NY. I generally have a win-lose style, so to get a draw was rather surprising. I managed to win his queen for a rook and bishop but it was hard to do anything. At one point I offered him a draw, but he declined because he was hoping I would fall for one of his traps, which I almost did but I didn't. Then he offered me a draw. I was happy to accept having only 5 minutes on my clock but I should have played on since I had a passed pawn- only I could push for a win. Here's the game:
Very interesting game.
What was even weirder- After this draw I could only play 2 people!
Just my luck. The next day, even though I drew, I got someone even stronger than my previous opponent. Turns out he drew one of his games too. I played a 2121 from the same state, NY. I had a small advantage due to my open c file but then he missed a sneaky tactic which won me a pawn. I had winning chances but after inaccuracies my advantage gradually dropped from 1.5 to 1.2 to 0.8 to 0.5, and finally, I lost the advantage with a blunder that made it -0.3, and I had to offer a draw since I lost all my winning chances. Here's the game:
A pity I didn't see Qc2, but I was happy as these last two people I played complimented me on my play. Now I was eager to do well!
Now in the next round I got someone pretty close to my rating. I played a 1971 from Canada. I got an advantage out of the queenless middlegame, and it was pretty big. His play was quite mediocre, but luckily for him I couldn't find anything. He didn't fall for any traps and played quite well towards the end, and he offered a draw and I accepted. Here's the game:
The next day I was also paired with a decent player, a 1901 from Canada. I couldn't seem to get the advantage and soon he was completely winning. But then I offered a draw he miraculously accepted. Talk about throwing away a winning position! Here's the game:
That was the first game in which I was losing. That's not a good sign!
That evening I was paired with someone who lives in the same area as me (A 1963 from California)! My record against him is 1 win, 2 losses. I was pretty confident with my ability to beat him or at least draw but he was playing really well so I had to be careful. Here's the game:
Wow! What a game. I managed to create chances and my opponent was punished for poor time management in the end.
The next morning I played a super strong player and a local favorite, a 1999 from Canada. He played really well, and I had one drawing chance that I missed in the end, which would have brought me back in contention for the title of FM if I had seen it. It sucks that I didn't. My opponent let his guard down and gave me chances after getting an absolutely dominating position. Here's the game:
Ugh, I should have seen that I had to activate my king in these types of situations! Oh well, now I get an easy pairing for the next round.
The next round was a sad end to the tournament. I got tired and I ended up in a bad position. A win would have gotten me fifth place in the tournament and a trophy to take home. Here's the game
:
Even though the end was disappointing, I still think I did pretty well. Maybe not result wise, but I was pretty darn close to getting a title. Congrats to the people who did (FM Alex Bian, CM Kadhir Pillai, and CM Joseph Bellissimo!).
Until next time!