My last tournament of 2022!

Hi! Welcome back to my blog! From December 26 to December 30th, I played in the North American Open. I played the Open section and was one of the lower rated people, with a fide of 1846. I knew this tournament would be a good opportunity to gain some fide and uscf rating. 

I arrived at the hotel the day before the tournament to get settled and ready. I had to drive from my home, which was an 8-hour drive. 

(The ratings shown are fide)

Round 1:

In round 1 was paired with Victor Plotkin. He was a strong FM with a uscf of 2354. I knew I was the heavy underdog, but I was going to play as good as I could. Let's get into the game!

I was able to draw a much higher rated. I was happy with the game, but just wished I had seen that 26. Qc4 didn't work, and would've played a different line. This game took me to 0.5/1.

Round 2:

In round 2 I was paired with Andrew Ryba. He was a strong player rated 2314 uscf. He was similarly rated compared to my first round opponent. Let's get into the game! 

I out-defended him in the middlegame and won an exhange. The extra exchange wasn't very good, but it was equal. In the endgame, we both missed a couple of winning chances and it ended peacefully. This game was my one of my longest games, it last 5 hours and 10 minutes! This game took me to 1/2.

Round 3:

In round 3 I was paired with Alex Wang. He was a strong player with a uscf rating of 2266. I prepped beforehand, and saw that he played the Grunfeld. Let's get into the game!

I played well and pulled of a huge upset. My opponent made a mistake and I capitalized. This was my best start to a tournament ever!. This game took me to 2/3, and I knew I had a good chance of playing someone very high rated.

Round 4:

In round 4 I was paired with Advaith Vijaykumar. He has a uscf of 2134, and I had previously gotten beat by him. He played white against me last time, and is playing white again. I knew he played a d4 opening that I have never seen before other than the game against him. I was going to play the opening based on my intuition. Let's get into the game.

That was not only the luckiest game of my life, but the longest game of my life, a 5 and a half hour game! I don't think anyone has drawn a -57 position. In the end, there may have been a chance for him to stop the checks, but it was hard to find. This game takes to 2.5/4, a score I never expected in the open section.

At this point in the tournament I was feeling very confident. I had not lost a single game 4 games into the tournament.

Round 5:

In round 5 I was paired with Ashton Jin. He was 2308 uscf and I knew he would be one of my strongest opponents yet. Let's get into the game!

My opponent played really well. In the opening, I lost a pawn but had compensation. Later, I won the pawn back but he played well and beat me. This game puts me at 2.5/5

Round 6:

In round 6 I was paired with Vincent Qin. He was 2063 and had crossed 2100 before. I will not annotate this game because it was a boring draw. I won a pawn but it just traded into an opposite colored bishop endgame. 

In the end I was slightly better but did not want to grind it out. This game put me at 3/6.

Round 7:

In round 7 I was paired with Advaith Karthik. He was 2187 uscf and had crossed 2200 before. He was going to be a tough game. Let's get into the game!