Annotated Games From My 14th Tournament (Empire City Open)

Hey Dear Readers,

I played in the Empire City Open this weekend and had a really good tournament. Time controls were 110 minutes for the first 40 moves plus an extra 30 minutes at 40 moves.  I was in the U1900 section so I didnt really know what to expect.

Day 1

My first match did not go to well. In fact, I pretty much got crushed out of the opening. I guess I should be more cautious when playing against the Grand Prix Attack.

That night, I played a pretty strong young wonman. However, I was better the entire game.  The way this manifested itself ultimately, is that she traded off her dsb early, and then critically weakened her dark squares.

Day 2

This game I played a young kid.  I decided to play the Caro-Kann and played quite solidly. It was pretty drawish the entire time and it ended quickly after only 25 moves.

The fourth round saw me with what seemed like a significant advantage out of the opening, however, things became pretty equal. We were both low on time, and I think my opponent was disheartened and tired after defending against my dangerous advantage and he didnt play that well. I ended up winning because of a blunder on the last move of time control.  Honestly, I probably dont deserve this win.

Day 3

The fifth round was interesting. I played a symetrical fianchetto position which I am not quite as familiar with. I got super low on time, and misplayed an endgame. I definitely should not have exchanged queens, which allowed him to advance his king into the center of the board, and shepard his pawns to safety.

The last game was a signature quick win out the Smith-Morra.

All in all, I was really happy with this tournament. I definitely have to get better at managing time and I also feel like im making some key positional errors when capturing and recapturing pieces. Of course, as always, make a point of looking at all the forcing moves.

My new rating after this tournament is 1694!!! SO CLOSE TO MY CURRENT GOAL OF 1700!!! I plan on playing as many tournaments as possible until break, so Im sure Ill see you guys soon.

Thanks For Reading and Until Next Time,

Elias