Annotated Games From My Ninth Tournament (Manhattan Open)

Hello All,

I just finished up the Manhattan Open and had a really interesting tournament. It was my first time playing chess in a long time because I was on a bike trip for a month, so i had a bit of a hard time. However, during this time I was reading Reasses Your Chess which has been really thought provoking, so I was really excited to test out my skills. The first game found me better out of the opening and then worse, and then I had the chance for a draw and I thought I could press for a win, I just played terribly this game.

The second game was a very simple caro-kann which was totally equal but I managed to win.

Next I lost a five hour slugfest where I thought I had killed my opponent out of the opening, then, after wasting a few moves, although I had two pawns, he had a lot of initiative. I missed some key defensive moves, and after barely making first time control, I tragically missed the move Rxe2 which would have won me the game.

My last two game were interesting. It felt like in my fourth game I was worse out of the opening, but my oponent left his king in the center too long and I was able to score the full point.

My favorite game of the tournament. This game seemed especially pertiant to the reasses your chess that I had been reading. However, I missed the key move Qb3+ that would have won me the game. This says to me that I need to check, religiously, and have to work on making a habit, forcing moves, CHECKS ESPECIALLY!!

Until Next Time.

Take Care,

Elias