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Annotated Games From My 16th Tournament (Liberty Bell Open U1700 1st Place!)

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EliasAStern
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Hey Guys,
This last weekend I played in the U1700 section of the Liberty Bell Open In Philladelphia... and guess what? I WON! I got lucky a couple of times and won a game I should have drawn, which I initially should have lost, and drew a game which was clearly lost. It seemed like a lot of the games went on for a really long time, and my opponents couldnt keep playing good moves. They would often blunder out of fine positions.  Time controls were 110 minutes for the first 40 moves, plus 30 minutes Sudden Death.
This first game I was worse out of the opening, but my opponent traded some pieces and relieved pressure, and I managed to come back and bring it into the realm of a draw. My opponent blundered late in the endgame and lost.
The next game I crushed my opponent right out of the opening.

 Again, crushing my opponent. This time, before move 12 :p.

An interesting French defense. The middlegame was difficult to play for both sides. There wasnt a clear plan and both white and black were somewhat lacking in good squares on which to put their pieces. Nevertheless, we both played quite solidly (except for 1 missed tactic) and the game was drawn after 35 moves.  

An intersting Smith-Morra. I had some nice pressure, but couldnt find a breakthrough. We got to a slightly better major piece endgame, where he should have traded pawns for material equality, but a slight positional inferiority. Instead, he went for an unsound attack, allowing me to consolidate one pawn, and win another.

 

 This was a sharp tactical battle out of the grand prix. I am really proud of my play this game where I found some nice pawn breaks and some cool checkmating ideas. 

 Going into the last round I was 5.5/6 and my opponent was 5/6. I played the opening horribly and allowed white to build a big kingside attack. I thought I had defended the attack, but I missed a tactic that dropped the exchange. Somehow, from a completely lost position, I was able to buckle down and, after 5 hours of play, make a draw. What an awesome way to end the tournament.



So, I finished in first place with 6/7 and took home the 1,163 dollar prize. My new rating is 1820! I am going back to school on the 27th, so it may be a little while until my next tournament. In the mean time, Ill continue training.

Thanks for Reading,

Elias