2nd Master Draw at Great Lakes Open

I competed in the 5 round Great Lakes Open last weekend in Battle Creek, Michigan, home to Kellogg's Cereal City.

The first round of the tournament I faced a NM who has dipped a bit below the 2200 level. He gave me a pretty straightforward draw and I was surprised that he didn't try harder to unbalance the position--where he would have had a much better chance to win.

This was the highlight of the tournament for me. The is draw gave me a 33% score against the three masters I've played so far in 2016!

My only win was in the fourth round, a 20 move miniature against a boy playing in his very first tournament, a win it is hard to get too excited about.

My other three opponents were up and coming Class A youth who simply outplayed me, tactically and positionally. I may post those games later, when I've had more time to pick them apart.

I guess you could say, other than the master draw, this was a bit of a "Corn Flakes" tournament.