A New Peak

Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! Y'all know how it is... if I play otb chess, y'all get a blog. That's the deal. Indeed I did receive the opportunity recently to play in an amazing and fierce event in which the average rating of all the players was 2183. I was quite thrilled to receive an invitation to compete in the 2024 Falcon Invitational, an event in which Alabama's top players fight it out on the board of 64 squares and 32 figurines (not the best way to describe chess, I know). The event is so stacked that if I somehow go 4/4, I get to NM. Spoiler alert, that of course did not happen... but I did do well, playing some of the best chess I've ever played, and reaching a new peak rating. So without further ado, let's get to it!

TOURNAMENT DETAILS

• Six players are competing in this event - 3 NMs, 2 future NMs, and me. I'm rated 4th out of 6 players - before, and after, the event.
• 4 rounds, time control is G70 with a 5-second delay
• My goal is to go 4/4 and get to NM... however, with that being very unrealistic, I would be happy to reach a new peak rating at least. This is the best chance I've had in quite some time... let's make it count.
  

ROUND ONE

This event is tough not only because of how strong everyone is but also... everyone knows who is competing in advance and can figure out their first-round opponent, meaning anyone here could have prepped for me. I of course have prep for everyone (except the lowest player here, who seemed impossible to prep for), but even still, opening the tournament against NM Scott Varagona is... tough. But I was ready for Scott, whom I am thankful for inviting me to the event. I intended to play into classical Nimzo in which I defeated him two years ago. Figured he would expect me to try my usual e6-b6 setup. So I switched things up. And what did he do? Switch things up.

Crapola. He wasn't supposed to play a3 in the opening. I was perhaps unwise to believe he would play into a classical nimzo again - although Qc2 had always been what he played against me in the past - and I should have expected something different. Instead, he played a3 and I inwardly rolled my eyes at my foolishness. Now, I did play the opening pretty accurately, and I played well in the middlegame. But I spent too much time doing so. I believe it cost me later on. Ultimately, Scott outplayed me once again, and I have taken yet another loss at the hands of Alabama's greatest player. And you best believe this one will make me better. Gg Scott, I look forward to our next battle...

ROUND TWO

Right then, I start off the 2024 Falcon Invitational with a loss. Fun fact - I have never won in the first round of this event. I've drawn the first round at least once (even that game should have been lost), but I think my 4 other first-round games have been losses. So I'm not too put off by this, it's an apparent Falcon tradition for me at this point 😅 anywho, I start 0/1, and next up for me is NM Bill Melvin. And I play black against him. Most people would rather not have to play black against NMs in back-to-back games, but I wasn't complaining too much... I get to play my beloved french defense, why would I complain?! 

But... but.. but... y'all said I couldn't beat NMs with the french defense. *snickers*

Kidding aside... wow. This has to instantly be one of the best games I ever played. According to chess.com, I played with a 99.2 accuracy. Almost every move I made was either the best move or a book move. 13...Nc5 was my lone inaccuracy, and I would play that again. It's not too often I get to play a game like this, truly. Hey maybe y'all should give the french defense a try, it's good 😁

Regardless. I held on for the win there, earning my first victory against a 2200-rated player in nearly two years! You'd think I would have been excited after all this... but after the game, I was still very calm and quiet and serious. I was in what my mom calls "tournament mode" so I was just focused on the next game. Sure, this one win was awesome. But it amounts to nothing if I fall flat on my face in the next two games. There is plenty of time to celebrate after the event... for now, I'm staying focused and getting ready for round 3.

ROUND THREE

Alrighty, I find myself with a nice 1/2 score heading into round three. As fate would have it though, I am now paired with my 2023 Alabama state co-champion NM Matthew Puckett who I was shocked to learn had lost his first two games to 2100s. He's having an off day.

Now most of you would look at that and go "Oh wow, Isaac, he's having an off day, you can beat him for sure!" But, since I'm me, I looked at that and thought... "Well crap, he already lost two games, he isn't losing again." Sooo somehow, my opponent's 0/2 start actually made me think my winning chances were less realistic. Because there was just no way a 2300 is dropping 3 games in a row to 2100s. So I entered this game thinking a draw while playing white would just be an amazing result, and I figured I wouldn't push too hard to win. I elected to play an alapin vs his sicilian, which is known to be drawish. I thought I could reach a position where perhaps I would have chances... but nah. 

As my opponent remarked after the game... "He played the alapin, he didn't even try" 😅

Well hey. He's 2300. I'm thrilled with a draw of course. Should I have tried harder to win by playing a sharper line in the opening? Perhaps. But I chose not to. I played it safe and got an easy draw. And I get white in the last round. For once, I have actually set myself up for success in round 4. Besides... I just went 1.5/3 vs the 3 best players in Alabama, playing black in two of the games. Man, I'm taking that every time. Every. Time.

ROUND FOUR

Alright, it all comes down to the last round. Will I win and reach a new peak? Draw and still gain rating? Lose and my tournament is suddenly just... meh? This is a huge game and I know it. Yet, it's even bigger for my opponent, who is 2.5/3 with big wins over Scott and Matthew to start his tournament.

Indeed, who else would I play in such a pivotal game if not Aaron Decord, my most played opponent? This is going to be our 12th regular rated game... heading into this, I have 4 wins, he has 5 wins, and we somehow only have 2 draws. And if you recall, we just played two months ago. I forgot how to chess and hung a knight after playing a great game. That's plenty of motivation right there. Now, I did have a surprise here, actually. In our last game, Aaron played into the most boring and drawish Italian game line, which I did not think he would do. When that happened I knew I didn't want that again. That was the game that finally showed me I needed a secondary option in case I needed to play for the win (always, and I mean always, use your losses to teach you something). So just for this tournament, I tried something... different. 

Yes, yes I did just play the Vienna Game in a big game in a serious tournament. Would I recommend playing this over the Italian game? Perhaps not. It was just that this was a game I felt I needed to win... so I switched it up and played into something in which I felt I had higher winning chances. And it worked! It may perhaps be a one-time thing, but it worked the one time at least! He played all the right moves in the opening... but it was so sharp that it only took one inaccuracy to go wrong. In the end, I earned what is surprisingly just my second ever win vs a 2100-rated player. And this is one I'm quite happy with - I played with 98 accuracy and there wasn't really much I could have done better. And of course, this isn't an ordinary 2100 I just beat, this is a guy who is well on his way to 2200 himself (he jumped to 2147). He'll get there soon. So yes, for once I leave a tournament with a win in the last round vs a strong player, and the drive home was a very happy one.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I spent the next couple of days eagerly awaiting the event to be rated. Waiting for confirmation that I had reached a new peak rating. Indeed, I did not wait long and found that I jumped from 2135 to 2154! While 19 points doesn't feel like a ton, it's so hard to gain rating at this level that it honestly is a lot of rating for me. Especially when you recall that I have been stuck for almost 3 years now. It's amazing to reach a new peak after all the hard work that has been put in, I'm quite thankful to have had the opportunity to play here and gain rating, I'm quite thankful to my coach who helped me prepare for this event, and I'm thankful to the Lord for blessing me with this gift to play some dang good chess. I'm now 46 points away from reaching NM at long last... I'm closer than ever before. Hopefully I can close the gap soon and make it happen.

One other thing I wanna say is congrats to the event's lowest-rated player, Christian Friedman, for stunning everyone and winning the whole thing. He entered the event rated 2061 and jumped all the way up to 2142, going 3/3 against NMs (with a draw against Aaron Decord). One of the more remarkable events I've seen someone have in Alabama... he's goin straight to 2200.

THE "GOOD JOB, YOU MADE IT TO THE END" PART OF THE BLOG

Good job, you made it to the end. Regardless of whether you skipped here, went straight to the comments to say the generic "first" or "nice blog" or if you really did read the whole thing somehow, good job. Thank you for reading, I truly hope you enjoyed your time here.

Regarding when my next blog will be... I couldn't tell ya that for sure. All I can say is my next blog is whenever I play otb again. I don't know when that will happen though. I'm really really hoping I can go up to Philly this summer and compete in the World Open, but we'll see. I'd like to play somewhere in June, too, but again... we'll see.

Anywho, thank y'all for reading, I hope y'all enjoyed your time here, and I will see y'all in the comments 🙃