My First Fide Event

yesterday was the night where everything finished for the first ever FIDE event i went to and it was a really nice finish. the downside was the aftermath cause nationals was still something we were rushing and i didn't have much time due to playing. As an update to the current situation i am in a bus awaiting the hotel entrance as i will be here for over 18 hours for Maryland. Back to the whole purpose of the Article, originally i was never supposed to be in this event due to financial reasons but a nice friend decided to pay for me the entry fee so i was appreciative.

it was a 90+30 classical event made to promote the club and the future of chess within the area as its hard to find any FIDE tournaments nearby so it was something special to participate and support in general. the picture above is a painting i saw when i visited my friends workplace, he was playing in the event like i stated but in the U2050 section which was won by FM jean Marco Cruz

(He is also participating in the K12 Nationals at Maryland so watch out Trophies he is skilled)

At school they surprised me by calling that a person was willing to pay the entry so that i could play and i immediately accepted as it was an important opportunity. onto the event, it revolved around having 3 closed groups with U1800, U2050, and then the IM/GM norm section. the first 2 minor groups were scheduled on the same days while the IM/GM tourney was held later due to the fact that most of the young members were traveling like me for nationals, thus the timing.

Eric Rosen Would be Proud

the day before the event or the day of the event i contacted a member to help drive me everyday and he was also playing so that made it better. he lived nearby so it was quite nice seeing him for 5 days but we were both in different groups so it was very interesting. my first round opponent was a miser named Orlando who was around 1700 FIDE who i practically blundered horribly in the game with a skewer yet somehow i managed to stalemate.

i was really frustrated but laughed pretty much, returning the next day with a win which boosted my mindset and feeling toward the Event. it was one draw, how bad can it be? oh well.... i ended up throwing a easily winning game which was +3 against a female player named Varinia.

so yeah had a crushing game, gave some counter-play yet i was still winning but in the end i simply wasn't paying enough attention to my own king safety and focused more on attacking when realistically all i had to do was play f5 in the end and its game over. really unfortunate but not to worry this game i played the following day was probably my favorite win in general.

Crushing with the Caro Kann in Round 4

the star move of the game with Bh6 right from the opening! that felt like a novelty move, i have never seen anyone use it in the Exchange but it felt like a cool idea. i took inspiration from some Modern players here and kept thinking about the counterintuitive knight shuffles which made me improvise that on the spot instead of Bg7 playing solid. the game after that was more simple and felt like Black was pushing for the win, committing to the attack on the kingside insanely

the game was the highest and most precise game i've played in the event against a high rated player, in fact not just high rated but the #1 seed expected to win. he ended up in 2nd place but alongside first place they both managed to get past the 1900 barrier and surpass 2000 USCF.

this was the last game of the Event in round 9 against a very known opponent who i have a fairly positive score in faster time controls. he did beat me in a classical game which i showed a few months ago but this was the first time i beaten him and have pretty much come a long way. he did state the night prior jokingly that he would prepare something for the caro so i decided to take him out of book with the scandinavian which payed off in the endgame as i converted well

Maryland Nationals & New OTB rating peak, Ending

although i was a bit confused considering me and someone were tied for 3rd with the same score of points, i did finish in fourth place. they did place an error however marking the 3rd round against varinia as a win even though i did state i lose so it should have been 6/9 not 7/9. another thing that surprised me was that this also counted for USCF rating so despite the error i should gain 60 points in total which is now my new peak, pretty hype nearing the 1900 range.

so yeah that was my first FIDE event, originally was a last minute replacement and scored pretty decently although my expectations were slightly higher. i will recap the Maryland experience and for those of you wondering it is currently going to 5am in one more minute so stay safe and for many of the people playing like @trophies100, @anikolay, @xhive24, @squealingnickel i can't wait to meet and see you all in the blitz today hope you are all safe and take care everyone