7/19/16 (Denker, Day -10)

Salutations once more, all!

As mentioned in the previous post, I did indeed attend an open tournament this past Saturday. I was not particularly happy with my play, but it wasn't all bad. I went 2/4, with a bye; however, I was able to play and win a rated "house" game during that time.

1st round: I lost on time to a ~1677. I should have drawn, but I made a strange mental mistake: I willingly parted with an outside passed pawn, thinking that I didn't need it. But why didn't I keep it? Wouldn't that have been far better? We'll never know.

2nd round: I lost to a ~1477. The game went back and forth, and I eventually lost to a tactical blow.

3rd round: Here I had the bye. But as I mentioned a minute ago, a "house" player stepped in to give me a good game instead of an empty 2 1/2 hours. He was rated ~1681, and I was able to beat him on time (barely!). It was a wild game; I myself had 13 seconds left! I even took a picture of the crazy final position (I was Black):

"White to move and [?]" (Is White winning or Black?)

My opponent was surprisingly gracious and extremely good-natured even after losing the way he did. In fact, he called it "the way to lose in style."

4th round: I played an ~1175. For the first time in a while (I think), I had fun playing tournament chess. After a hard opening, I went for a risky try — partly betting on my opponent's inexperience. He followed up inaccurately; the rest of the game was a long train of light tactics. There was no immediate win for me, but that was fine with me; I enjoyed being able to "just play chess" without having to be constantly thinking hard.

So there you have it. It was one of those tournaments. But, as I tell myself from time to time, "Sometimes, you've gotta go through something to get past it."

Well, that's it for now. Just 10 more days! — Or as I like to put it,

38 quarter-days,

—Dartmouth

P.S.  I'm planning to attend one last tournament (this Saturday) before The Big One. Let's see how this one goes! (Hopefully, I won't be staffing a "Free Pawn" booth in the endgame!)