Tournament Report! - 2022 U.S. Open!

Hey Everyone! So... I kind of have ignored my blogging for most of the year. Let's briefly talk about that. But if you aren't interested, go down to the headline - (The Tournament!)

First off, I am rusty to say the least. I would appreciate any feedback on this blog, and future ones! Secondly, I will be back to blogging fairly regularly now. Now I know, I know, I always say "I promise I will post more often" And I never end up doing it. This is mainly because of school, and my new endeavors to stream, coach, and play OTB tournaments!

Starting next year (2023) I will have graduated high-school, which will free up my time immensely, and I plan to use that time for more blogs, streams, and chess training. 

Alright, I might make a separate blog on why I haven't been posting, and what my goals are for these blogs. Alright, now lets get to the blog, it's a long one, so strap in and get your popcorn!

        THE TOURNAMENT! Day #1 Wait, how did I get here??

Ok, so I am at the US Open?? This wasn't exactly planned.... how did I get here? Let's go back in time to Monday Night August 1st, where I was talking to my good friend Niall.....

**Niall Calls me** **Ring Ring**

Josh: Hello?

Niall: Hey man, I’ve been crushing it at the Denker, probably going to win it! (brushes shoulders)

Josh: Wow that’s awesome bro! Tell me more!

Niall: Well, I beat one guy named Hersh, he was an NM…...that’s it. (Awkward silence)

Josh: Super cool! Keep it up, let’s goooo!!

Niall: Yeah. Anyways, I was talking to my Mom, and we have a spare bed down here at the house….

Josh: (gulp) 

Niall: So I was curious if you would like to come down here for the U.S. Open!

Josh: Wow, that would be amazing! I would be an idiot to turn that down!

Niall: So what's the answer, are you interested?

Josh: Nope, not interested.

**Hangs up** (drops mic)

XD Ok, so I obviously didn't say no! I told him I would check with my parents, then I hung up. After I talked with them, we decided we wouldn't be able to drive down (13 hour drive or so) so my only option would be to book a flight. We did a bit of research, and I was able to afford it, so I booked a flight for Wednesday morning. (First flight ever btw lol) First flight from Boise to Phoenix, then 3 hour or so wait, then a flight to Palm springs where Niall and his mom would pick me up!

ROUND #1 - UNRATED?... (G60)

An Unrated, this is either really good, or really bad. No in-between. Look, call me chicken, but unrated players are scary! You have 0 clue how good they are, and know nothing about them! Plus, this IS the US open, why would this be his first tournament!? Anyways, here we go....

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I went for cheese. (shrugs sheepishly) May not have been best, but I was never worse and it was a quick game.  

Round #2 - My first 2100! (G60)

Alright, so I get my pairing, and I saw I was playing a 2100 on an upward rise. A kid as well. I got a good opening, but didn't play the middle game correctly. Also, my opponent was kind of annoying to play. Throughout the game he kept on adjusting MY pieces on MY side of the board! Like, I am calculating a line on my turn, and his hand is in my face! I probably should have called a TD at some point, but it is a 60 minute game, so I just did my best to ignore it. lol

Wow, ok, that game SUCKED. However, even though I gave him at least two clear chances nearing the end I was able to hold the draw. I am disappointed I messed up in the early middle game, however, I am happy I was able to hold a torturous position. My opponent definitely should have won. 

Round #3 - Easy Pairing? (G60)

So, I am playing a 1486, however earlier in the tournament he drew someone around the rating of 2150, so I was expecting anything. I was really excited to have another shot to win, because I was disappointed that I didn't play better in the previous round. Let's get into it:

Alright, I didn't really have anything to fear in that game, although that opening weaknesses is an issue....

I met Danya, and talked to him a little bit. He was pretty nice, he even gave me a couple tips for my next round! He briefly looked the game as well, during and then after looking at the notation sheet. Let's check it out!

Round #4 - Playing against a GM... (G60)

Going into this game, I was 2.5/3, so I knew I would play someone higher rated....but oof a GM? Dang. With a couple general tips from Danya, I was ready to take on GM Eduardo Rozentalis.

Wow, just wow. I was playing SO WELL. But he is a GM, and his calculation was so much faster and deeper then mine. I am disappointed in myself that I couldn't at least draw that game.

Alright, so that was the end of day 1, that was honestly grueling, but I think I played fairly well.

 The Tournament Day #2 - My Birthday!

Day 2 I was feeling pretty good, and it was also my Birthday! Nothing too special, the tournament itself made the day super special! Niall and his Mom had a cake prepared at the end of the day (Thank you!) and I got some Birthday wishes from friends there, and family.

But you guys are here for the games, so let's get into it!

Round #5 - (Facepalm) (G60)

This game was a disaster. I won't put much annotation. I played this line in round 3, but I knew I had opening confusion, and wasn't able to fix it before I went to bed! And, I knew a 2000+ player would punish it. I tried to improvise. (terrible idea) Long story short, this was an opening mishap that blew up spectacularly. Here it is:

That. Was. Devastatingly bad. Sigh.... oh well, just try to push forward and play good chess!

Round #6 - The comeback? (G60)

I now have lost two in a row, and still am only at 2.5 points. I don't feel like I have gotten a chance to prove my worth against someone in the 1800-2k range. And, this pairing was no different, it was a lower rated player. All my pairings are way up, or way down, not a great way to earn rating and do well in a tournament. But I work with what I got. We NEED a win:

Guys, stop judging. It wasn't even close. That kid was scary fast, underrated especially if he takes his time, and had great instincts! He destroyed me twice in the blitz tournament. I played pretty badly to be honest. I should have taken on e5... at least that is the end of the 60 minute portion.

      Round #7 - My best game ever? (40/100 SD/30+30)

Alright. If you guys look at ANY of my games, THIS is the game to watch. I will let my annotations show you what I mean:

Alright, I don't know about you guys, but Nh7 was the highlight of my birthday, and I had to calculate a lot of different variations, and the moves that lead up to it, Qh2, and Bc1 were very key moves to find. Let me know your thoughts on this game, appreciate the feedback!

Day #3 - Super tired, I play blitz anyways.

I was very tired today, I didn't feel it that much during the blitz, although I wasn't as tactically aware as I normally a, had a poor performance in the blitz. Day 4# I cannot play, because we have a 13 hour drive back to Idaho ahead of us. I took a 9th round bye. Here is the last game:

          Round #8 - Another opening mishap. (40/100 SD/30+30)

I know, I know, ANOTHER opening issue?? Ok, look. I had 6 opening issues before the tournament. I fixed 3 of them, and wasn't able to work out the other ones throughout the tournament. I had long games, and was very tired in-between games. I just got unlucky, 8 rounds with only 2 weak openings, and both of the opening variations were played against me.

Yeah.... that ending was disappointing, I was so tired during that opening, and I butchered it early. I didn't even make any real mistakes after the opening, I was just worse while he improved. Props to this guy though. He finished 31st in the entire tournament with 6.5/9 Very impressive.

Bro... you made it here? Sheeeeesh!

Really appreciate you sticking throughout the entire blog! Here are the promotions and recap:

 First off. Promotions!

• Niall McKenzie - HUGE shout out to Niall and his Mom, They picked me up at the airport, housed and fed me, and even drove me back up to Idaho and let me stay at their place for a night. I really can't thank them enough! You're such a good friend Niall, even though you like to troll me.  

• Zachary Snow (aka Lightning) - Shout out to Lightning, although we didn't get a picture, he is shorter then I am (surprisingly), is an amazing streamer, blogger, and competitive chess player trying to get NM soon. Go check him out! P.S. He and others also didn't know I was going to be there. So on Wednesday a couple hours after I landed, I surprised him and jumped in his face. lol 

• Joseph_Truelsons_Fan - I got to talk to him a little while during the blitz. Seemed pretty chill.

• Angryspacevoid - We played some blitz, great chess player, and very friendly! First time we met he said, "Nice to finally meet you in person" And I just stared at him like an idiot... and was like... hold up, who are you? LOL

• Rodgy - We didn't talk very much, I didn't recognize him at first. I honestly didn't see him much.

• HorseLover - Saw her at the blitz, we all hung out a bit, however, again I didn't see them too much, I had very long games.

• The Idaho gang! - I am sure I am missing people to shout out here, but some of the gang from Idaho was: Adam (TD) Kaustubh, Finn, Presutti, and a friend of Niall's.

I saw and met some other people I knew from other online chess events and such, so that is all cool. I also met Danya, and many other titled players.

RECAP!

Hey everyone, if you looked through all the games and liked the blog, type 1 in the comments!

I really do enjoy blogging, and plan to do it a lot more now, I hope you enjoyed the blog, you're a true legend for reading all the way through! 

My goal was 5/9, my high expectation goal was 6/9. Unfortunately I fell short of 6 points, but I reached my goal of 5, so I am happy! I felt like I played pretty well, however I didn't gain much rating, it was very unfortunate that I played all higher rated players, or all lower rated players. Nothing in-between kind of sucks. Had a blast for my Birthday, appreciate all the support everyone!

If you enjoyed this blog, please consider joining my discord! I post when I stream, blog, do giveaways, tournaments and more there. Would love to have ya! 

Have a great day everyone! Peace.

P.S. If you are interested in the standings, they are here.