Back in the Saddle!

Over the weekend I played in the Golden Buckeye Ohio Senior Championship. Although I did not win, I had a pretty good showing, scoring 2.5/5 (+2 / -2 / = 1) against an average opponent rating of 1744. This was also my estimated performance rating (1744)—my best this year! I entered the tournament as the 20th seed out of 24 and tied for 9th-12th place, about ten places above my initial seeding. As you can imagine, I'm pretty happy. 

My score was also good enough to get first place in the quinquagenarian bracket (for all those who don't place 1st-3rd overall, first in each age range—50-59, 60-69, etc.—gets a trophy).

This was a huge upswing from my performances earlier this year, most of which were dismal (if you've been reading this, you know how I've lamented my poor showings since January). In my last two tournaments, I seemed to level off, gaining back 12 of my lost rating points. With this tournament, I gained back a whopping 55 points, erasing the 52 points I lost in the US Senior Open back in July, and very nearly scratching my way back to 1600. I'm still five points short of that but you can't have everything, I suppose.

I can say that overall my play just felt more focused than it has all year, and everything seemed to flow better. Even in the games I lost, there were moments when I was able to create meaningful chances to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I had no outright blunders (something that has plagued me all year long), and in no game was I simply wiped off the board – in fact my losses and my draw, all against 1800's, were all fighting games that ran to over 50 moves.

For now, I'm flying a bit high emotionally, and so I'll post just my two wins because, after the year I've had, I'm not willing to kill my buzz just yet. 

The first one came in round 3 against a 1708. My opponent blundered with 15...Ne7 allowing 16. Bxf6. After that I clamped down on the kingside and never let go (though I did miss the absolutely beautiful 17. Nxe5!).

The second one came in round 4 against a 1600. I managed to pick off a pawn, then another, and traded off into a winning king and pawn endgame.

Lastly, here is my training accountability for the week (again trying a new format, this time borrowed from GM Noel Studer's blog).