Hales Corners Challenge - Made it Over 1700!
Had another good tournament result yesterday. Played in a local event, the Hales Corners Challenge XIV. This is a four round G/60 tournament sponsored by the Southwest Chess Club, of which I am a member.
Due to the fact that the first round started at 10:00am but I had to work until noon I had to take a half point bye in the first round.
As I was leaving work to make the 30 minute drive for the second round which began at 1:00pm someone set the alarm off. So I had to wait for the cops and give them a statement. So I was thinking my frame of mind for chess might not be optimal.
My second round game seemed to have some dynamic imbalances, but when all was said and done I could execute any of the threats I saw without walking into a combination, and my opponent couldn't ignore my threats without losing material.
Since this game was relatively quick and I had about 50 minutes left until the next round I decided to have a quick lunch. I was hungry and didn't want to have to play my next round game on an empty stomach since I was likely to be paired up (at 1660 I was one of the lower rated players in the open section).
After lunch I checked out the pairings and saw that indeed I would be playing up. My opponent was a long time local player rated 1905. I know he plays G/30 almost constantly, so I knew that he would not be phased by the shorter time controls.
I played badly in the opening and dropped a pawn. I then settled down and decided to just dig in and try to hold my ground as best I could. I managed to get him to double his g pawns after which point I assumed I could hold the draw.