Austin Kids #71
This past weekend I played in a tournament called Austin Kids #71. I played in the open section, where most players were rated between 1500 and 2200 (with a few exceptions). As it was only a three round tournament, I knew that it was not really an opportunity to make a huge rating gain. Nevertheless, I tried to play my best chess and play some instructive games. I round 1, I was paired against a 2170 rated player. He played a Najdorf with an early b5 and the game quickly became extremely sharp and double-edged. I managed to develop a fairly strong attack but sacrificed a piece unecessarily only to lose a few moves later. In round 2, I was paired against a player in the mid-1700's who I have played a few times at other tournaments. This time I had the black pieces and played a Najdorf. He opted for the quiter Be2 line and a positional game ensued. After a bit of trouble in the early stage of the middlegame, I turned the tides and won the game. In the last round, I played a much weaker opponent; he played a Scheveningen Sicilian and I played my favorite line, the Keres Attack. He seemed to be fairly unfamiliar with the position and gave me a winning positional advantage very early on. It was all smooth sailing after that. Overall, it was a fun tournament, and I was able to test my new opening repertoire. 
Round 1
=Success
