A Budding Chess Player's First Tournament

Hi! I'm BraveSirRobby. This is my first real step into the chess world. And what better way to start than with the Pacific Coast Open!

A little about me first: I'm a virtually-untrianed 20-something guy who learned chess by losing to his dad as a kid. I've played more off than on over the last two decades. This tournament came up very VERY unexpectedly. As in my friend said, "Hey, there's a chess tournament in three days that I think you'll enjoy; wanna play?" And, as the good college student that I am, I studied... by cramming. I hadn't played a single game of chess in 8 months, so I started to prepare (while juggling my summer job) by playing a couple of games here online and read two-and-a-half chapters of "Winning Chess Tactics" by Yasser Seirawan. the only chapters I got through were the ones about about pins and batteries. I only touched on the the double attack. I didn't have enough time to solve the puzzles, so I went into the Adult <1200 section with some overall theories, Silman's Rules of Recognition, and my own, (rusty) analytical mind.

Needless to say, I was nervous.

I ended up playing five games, and although I blundered, I fought with all my might! However, even though victory was so close several times I could taste it... I lost each game.

That is, except the final round.

Now I've become hooked on chess and strive to become a better player so that one day I can truly beat my dad. (And beat other people too. That'd be cool. ;P)