Georgia State Championship

Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! I know, I know, two blogs in one week is crazy for me. Some might say it's impossible. No, I did not get hacked. Yes, I am totally fine. Totally. Anyway, last time y'all heard from me, I had a bit of a letdown at the Falcon Invitational. Not a big deal, however, because the very next weekend, I was set to compete in Georgia's state championship. Surely, I thought, there was no way I would mess up two straight good opportunities to gain rating. I should absolutely be able to regain the 13 points I lost at the Falcon. I felt pretty good about my chances, honestly. Just show up and play good chess. 

Unfortunately, I seem to have left all my good chess in Music City. But, as I've been telling/warning my opponents... while I may not play good chess, I sure as heck will make it fun. So stay tuned and witness several games that will make you go, "Oh, this must be a game played by Isaac Snow," and not necessarily for good reason!

ROUND ONE

Ah, Atlanta. I've only played here twice before, I believe. The 2018 Nationals (I hung a piece in the first round there...), and the 2022 Georgia State Championship, which somehow went so well that I earned a rating of 2142 - my peak at the time. Three years later... I'm lower-rated than that, but I'm definitely stronger. I was eager to see how things would go in this tournament. Playing on the 2-day schedule, I felt ready for round 1. Survive against someone lower-rated than myself, and I earn a game against someone stronger. I've got this... right?

...yeah, so, that was a struggle. But somehow I won! 

Ok, ok, not nearly as dramatic as my other escapes. But I'm counting it. I thought I was gonna lose that game. I couldn't believe how badly I had played that middlegame. But then inspiration struck, and I lucked my way into a winning position. No complaints here, just happy to start 1/1. But I knew I'd have to play better in my remaining games... or else I may be in trouble.

ROUND TWO

*A brief interaction after my first game*

Ethan Sheehan: How did you win that game?

Me: *me internally wishing a 2400 hadn't just seen me play so poorly* I don't know, I got really lucky...

Something like that, anyway. And no, there isn't anything especially noteworthy about this interaction. Except that, somewhat predictably, I was paired with him for my next game. Which, to me, made it really funny. Like, of all the people I could have been paired with, it's the 2400 who had seen my first game, seen how poorly I played, and asked me how I won. 

So uh. I wasn't exactly thrilled by this turn of events. Again, I knew he had seen me play poorly. And I've heard tales from other Alabama players about how ridiculously strong Ethan is. It sounded like he is the type who can play boring and grind out a miserable win against you, Magnus-style. Or, ya know, completely blow up the board in your face. So I don't want it to be too boring, but I also don't want to get blown off the board. Let's see what I ended up doin...

So. Uh. Yikes.... Nxf7 sure came outta nowhere. I shouldn't have missed it, I was quite disappointed that I did... but oh well. Got my blunder of the tournament out of the way, right?

Honestly, I think even if I had stayed solid, I would have lost. Yes, I should have just taken my chances with the boring game and tried to hold a draw. But I would have likely gotten outplayed in a drawn endgame, as many others supposedly have against him. What I regret is not playing for something sharper in the opening. That was a mistake on my part. If there's a next time, I'll play more sharply. 

For what it's worth, I will mention that Ethan seemed like a nice dude, and I at least enjoyed our post-game chat. And I think that's worth mentioning, as there are some 2400+ rated players who... aren't so nice. Ethan went on to win the event and become Georgia's state champion again, so congrats to him!

ROUND THREE

Alright, so I'm 1/2... no shame in that at all, but now I have to play somebody lower-rated than me again. That's just how this works. And I was given an intriguing pairing. Way back in October of 2020, as a 2050-rated player, I faced a 1700 who just absolutely destroyed me. It was bad, y'all. Bad enough for me to remember his name and the opening. Now, 5 years later... we've been paired again. To a certain degree, I was happy about this. I get a chance to avenge a tough loss from years ago. On the other hand... he did destroy me back then. But I'm sure things will be different this time, though!

...

......

............

........................

Sooo... that sucked. That sucked a lot, actually. What the heck just happened?! I was doing well... everything seemed fine... he had nothing... and then suddenly I'm just completely lost. Wow wow wow. Wow. Honestly, I wish his attack at the end had been sound; I would feel better about that. But nooo, I had a way to defend and win. But I just couldn't find it after a 20-minute think. Just... wow.

This game was probably another strong sign for me to finally stop playing my Ng5 line, honestly. It has been hurting me more than it has been helping me lately. But I can't blame it all on the line when I was winning. I simply failed to find the right moves when it mattered most. He got me. His attack worked out well for him. Well played... GG.

ROUND FOUR

Well... at this point, I'm basically guaranteed to lose rating. Losing to a 1900 is absolutely gonna cost me. But I've got two games remaining... I've gotta finish strong. If I can't save face in these last two games, I could end up getting tilted again like last summer. And that is something up with which I will not put.

After a mediocre night of sleep, I felt ready for round four. I can't afford another loss. And I'm due for a good game... 

Alright, so it wasn't a good game given how close I came to throwing away the win. But it was a win. I'll take it. Not complaining about a win here. This moves me to 2/4... if I can finish 3/5, maybe the rating loss won't be so bad. I can finish strong, at least. That's important to me. Minimize the loss as much as possible.

ROUND FIVE

Just one more game... one more win... gotta finish strong...

At this point, though, I knew I probably wasn't gonna finish with a good game. And that's not me being negative, it's just realistic based on my play so far. It's better to accept reality and do what you can about it. So this might not be a good game. But... it's gonna be fun. That's what I told my opponent before the game, anyway. And, honestly, I think I stayed true to my word. Cause I don't think I played particularly well in this game... but it sure was fun.

Well... somehow, I won! I took some chances there, for sure. Most sane 2100s wouldn't have played 17. g4, because... it's uh not good. But it suits me, so I guess that makes it ok? This time it does. Everything worked out well for me in the end. Credit to my opponent, though. He was playing a fantastic game, he really was. But, as we all know too well... it only takes one blunder to ruin your game. And in this case, it was pretty sharp. Regardless, he played very well. Kind of surprised he isn't higher-rated, but he'll get there. Just keep workin. GG.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Well. This was another disappointment. There's no sense in denying that or downplaying it. This was another disappointment. I will say I am happy with myself for being able to finish strong and stop the bleeding; this could have been so much worse. But it was still a disappointment. I went in at 2137 thinking I could at least get back to 2150.... I ended up falling to 2129. Only an 8-point loss, so that alone isn't too bad. But that's 21 points lost over the last two tournaments. I went the wrong way.

This was supposed to be it, y'all. The Falcon, the Georgia State Championship... I honestly thought this would be my breakthrough. I don't say that meaning I was overconfident or anything. But after that performance in Tennessee, I thought I was breaking through. I thought the next two tournaments would go well. I thought that today I'd either be NM or close to it. But I flopped at the Falcon, and then I don't even know how to describe what I did in Georgia. It just didn't work out. Seems to be a common theme for me lately...

But, despite all that... I remain hopeful for the future. I'm due for a good event again. I've got time now to work hard, figure out what's holding me back this time, and fix it. Admittedly, I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong now, but I hope to figure it out. I'll be playing in several more out-of-state events this year as I hope to break through and reach NM by the end of 2025. I think it is still doable. I think I am good enough. I just have to go out and prove it. I hope that's what I'm gonna do.

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

Good job, you made it to the end. Thank you so much for reading! I truly hope you enjoyed your time here. I once again apologize for a post that is less... happy than we hoped. But, as I said last time, that's how otb chess is sometimes. It doesn't always go your way. And I keep it real with y'all, I'm gonna share all the good and all the bad. Hopefully, we'll get to the good sooner rather than later. 

Next up, I'll be sharing another otb recap with y'all. That one will be less "serious," I guess. Because I didn't take it too seriously. I kind of just showed up, played fun but unprepared otb chess for what I thought was the last time for at least 5 months, and... yeah. We'll get to that within the next two weeks. It could be 3 days, could be 14 days, but I'll get that one posted soon.

I'll post another sometime in July. I believe I will be playing somewhere mid-July at least, and I'd like to play before that as well. So I feel confident there will be an otb recap sometime in July. 

Alrighty, that's all I got for y'all. Once more, thank you so much for reading. Hopefully, NM by the end of 2025... stay tuned for more. I'll see y'all in the comments 🙃