Reno's Far West Open

I'm preparing for the Far West Open in Reno this weekend.  I had a good tournamenter there last year and hope some magic strikes me again this year.

I've taken a few days off -- wanting to build up a strong desire to play again.  My performance goes way up when I am in a good and positive state of mind.  If I've played too much too recently, it seems I'm more than tired, but my desire to play goes down.  If I force myself to play my results are in the basement.

Last year at the National Open I experienced lots of negative energy.  Though I was excited to be there and wanted to play well, try as I did I could not play a good game to save my life.  Every game it was the same though I tried to push the "reset" button after each loss.

It's an awful feeling to exert yourself to the max and have nothing come back in return.  It's a sort of blindness.  I've experienced it, and have learned not to schedule too many tournaments close together and not to study too many days in a row without a break.

I'm pretty much obsessed with chess so I have to work at not overdoing it.

I have also experienced the supreme feeling of good healthy energy.  It seems as though nearly every move is obvious and easy to find.  I love to play in that zone.  Course no one can predict when you'll fall into the "oh no" zone or ascend into the power zone.  It happens to everyone, even GM's I am told.

The best I can do is to manage myself as best I can, based on past experience --  good and bad.

Today I am feeling stronger, ready to go.  Course the chess board doesn't lie, it will reveal what is true this weekend.

See you over a board soon, I hope, Brian