Hello all,

Here is a writeup of the most recent tournament I attended in San Jose.  This was at the same location as my previous forum post where I covered my experiences at the Bay Area Chess Adult Open.

I would like to present to you games and photos of the event.  Unfortunately it was not good news for me as far as playing goes.  I lost both my games and took 2 byes.  Overall the results were definitely disappointing, as I felt like I had winning chances in both games, but made mistakes that cost me:

Game 1: My opponent was playing super cautious and super defensively.  He fixated on a pawn weakness that I did not prevent from happening and then when it happened, I did not respond effectively.  I should add that I was in time trouble the whole game, making a whole lot of blitz moves, and so having to play a lot of quick moves means there is a chance you will not make more effective moves, and I think that was the case here.  Also of note is that I deviated from my plan of just playing moves and not worrying about the clock.  I don't mind losing on time, so as long as I feel good about the moves I play, and I can walk away knowing I put thoughtful time into the moves.  So I made a mental note to not worry about time for my next games, thus returning to my plan.

Game 2: I took a bye because I remember the previous tournament where I played a marathon and then played a second game after that, and was exhausted, so I corrected that error.  I wanted to be fresh when I play games, as I want to give myself as good a chance as possible.  I think this was the right move in this particular instance, and I am glad I did it.

Game 3: This match really got to me.  My opponent arrives 20 minutes late, is eating pizza, is playing on the internet, and is reading a book, all while playing me.  He was basically saying "You know what, I can do all of this and still beat you." If I am playing a match, I want to be present for the match.  I think that is respect for your opponent.  Just because I am lower rated than this guy does not mean I am not a threat, and until I blundered, I felt I had good chances to at least draw and maybe even win if he made a blunder and I tried to put pressure on him the whole game and I took the game seriously the whole game.  He treated me as though I was some guy he could beat in his sleep, with his eyes closed, and frankly, that is disrespect to your opponent.  After that match, I said to myself that I should not be playing chess today.  If I cannot punish him and take advantage of his behavior, then I really should not be playing chess today.  Today is not my day to play chess.

Game 4: I took a second bye as a result of what happened in Game 3.  I was not in the mood to play chess.  I do not mind losing, because losing is part of any competitive sport.  It is just what took place really left a bad taste in my mouth, and I was not interested in playing anymore that day.

 

Here are some pictures of the event, probably the highlight of the tournament for me:

At the start of the tournament.

At the start of the tournament.  The guy with the grey shirt

is pretty nice.  He was at the last tournament I was at. 

Forgot to ask him his name.

The best part of the tournament for me.

I got a chance to take a picture with Tanuj

Vasudeva, the chess phenom.  He is a FIDE

master and is like 8 or 9 years old. I first met

this kid at the New Fremont Chess Club

with his father.  They are really great people,

and Tanuj is a really sweet genuine kid.  I

consider him and his dad to be friends of mine,

and if you want to see the game where I played

him, you can check out one of my New Fremont

Chess Club tournament forum posts - where I

believe the game is posted.

Another picture of the superstar.

Ken with the black vest shirt and Von sitting across from him.

Played Ken this tournament. Played Von last tournament. 

Both really good guys.

Another picture of Ken and Von.

 

Ok time for the horrific games:

Time controls for both games: 30/90, G55 (with 5 second delay)

cool!