The Falcon

Hello there, welcome to the Lightning Reports! I previously stated that my Journey To NM blogs would be going on a break, but... turns out I can post. Life is... funny sometimes. Yeah. So funny. Anyway, here I am. In this post, we're goin back to April for the Falcon Invitational -  the annual event where NM Scott Varagona invites a handful of players, rated above 2000, who actively play in Alabama, to get destroyed by him (he's really just that good, I assumed he would win lol). I was happy to even be there. 

I entered the event rated 2150, and I saw the Falcon as a chance for another substantial rating gain. Everyone participating was rated above 2070. This is exactly what I need, and everything feels like it is set up for me to finally break through. If I could win all four of my games, I'd go straight to 2200. And, honestly, I didn't think it was that far-fetched of an idea for me to go 4/4. I'm higher-rated than 3 participants (which we all know means very little at the board), I felt confident I could outplay the floored 2200, and... I am sometimes extremely lucky against Scott Varagona. I knew realistically I wasn't going 4/4, and it is quite unlikely, but... we're sayin there's a chance.

ROUND ONE

I began the event as the #3 seed (out of 6 players), which was pretty cool. I liked starting as one of the higher-rated players here. Normally, at the Falcon, I tend to be one of the lower-rated players. But not this time. Surely that bodes well for me, right?

Anywho, I opened the tournament against the lowest-rated player in the tournament... Jonathan Rasberry. Y'all may have seen his name pop up a few times lately. He beat the crap outta me last summer during my epic tilt, and then I got back at him in our most recent game. Now, having to play him again, I wasn't exactly sure what to expect. Last time, he played into the exchange french defense, but it seemed likely he'd have something else prepared this time. I had a guess as to what he would play, but it got... weird. 

So... yikes. That was pathetic on my part. After the opening went my way, I started playing strangely. And then... it was like I just let all my intrusive thoughts win as I blew up my own position for no good reason. It's like watching me play bullet. I truly don't know what was up with me in that game, but oh well. He took full advantage and got the win. GG, well played.

ROUND TWO

Alright, well, starting 0/1... sucks. But I've got three more games to play, and I can still gain rating from this. Just play good chess. Besides, me losing with my french defense is something that doesn't happen that often. I'm sure the french defense will come back and serve me well. Right?

In round two, I was paired with NM Bill Melvin, which I admittedly was happy about. I lost and now get to face someone higher-rated than me... that's an immediate opportunity to undo my loss, which I appreciated. I had a positive approach here. On the other hand... if I lose to NM Bill Melvin, as many understandably do... I'm 0/2. But I wasn't thinking like that here. Let's just play good chess and undo the round one loss...

Well. It wasn't my best game... but it's a win. And it was a fun game. No complaints here. Well, I guess the french defense being 0/2 so far is a small complaint from me, but I'm sure the french defense will do better in the next game! Anywho, I'm 1/2 now and if I can finish strong... there is rating to be gained. 

ROUND THREE

Ok, well, you'll never believe this, but in round three I was paired with Aaron Decord. Yep, the same Aaron Decord whom I have now faced in 15 regular-rated games, more than anyone else. I mean, I knew I would probably play him here, but still. The good news is this time things would be different...

He didn't play d4...

And 2 months later, it's still weird to me haha

Yeah... that's rough. This man has played d4 for as long as I can remember... but here he is playing e4 and trashing my french defense (which, as I lamented that day, the french defense went 0/3 in my games... tragic. Absolutely tragic). Sure. Why not. Maybe I'll finally take a hint and move on... HA, that's funny. I'm so funny.

Honestly, I shouldn't have played into that line. But I can't blame it. I lost that game due to him outcalculating me at the end. I can't complain, I just got beat. Sometimes that's what happens. Very well played. Aaron and I continue to go back and forth, both of us seemingly unable to win consecutive games against the other (watch, I'm gonna lose our next game now). So I guess I should have expected the loss haha. GG.

ROUND FOUR

Welp, the Falcon has turned out to be a disappointment for me so far. But if I can just finish with a win, perhaps I won't even lose rating. The problem is... I'm playing last year's winner Christian Friedman, whom I have never really been able to beat. Doesn't matter what our ratings are at the time; he's always had my number. But this time... I dunno, I thought I had a good chance to beat him. I thought that for a long time in this game.

Good grief, man. I really thought I had him beat. But I could never really pull away with the win. The joke's on me, though. I was worse for a while and didn't know. Looking back on this game, a draw feels like the appropriate result. I didn't like it, but it's fair. Once again, I fail to defeat Christian Friedman... such is life. Guess that means it's my turn to win next time?

FINAL THOUGHTS

Well. I went in knowing a 4/4 score got me to NM, and I honestly thought it was doable. Just play good chess. Genuinely, if I could play the way I played in Tennessee, it truly was doable. But I didn't do that, and instead, the result... was a 1.5/4 finish, with my rating dropping from 2150 to 2137. That's not too bad, but, needless to say, the Falcon was a disappointment for me. Sometimes that's just how it goes. As I told several people... somebody has to be the punching bag. Right? Somebody has to take the losses. I wasn't the only one to take losses, but still. That's just how it works. I accepted the reality and moved on. I'm 2137 now, but I've got another opportunity after this... let's move on and make the most of it.

Congratulations to NM Scott Varagona for winning the event! Unfortunately, he was the one person I did not get to play (well, he would have crushed me that day, so maybe it is actually fortunate we did not play...). I'd like to say thank you to Scott, as well, for even inviting me to the event. Always a privilege to compete in the Falcon Invitational. Gotta love it. I can only hope I get to come back next year 😅

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

Good job, you made it to the end. Thank you all for reading, I truly hope you enjoyed your time here. I'm sorry that this post is less... happy. But that's the reality of otb chess sometimes. It doesn't always go your way. Rest assured, there are better days ahead. We'll just have to make it there.

I'll be posting two more J2NM blogs soon with even more entertaining games, so be on the lookout for that. I'll likely post another one sometime in July because I feel confident I'll be playing otb again soon. My original summer plans didn't work out... so I might as well resume my journey to NM! New goal is NM by the end of 2025... maybe this time the goal shall be met. For now, this is all I have to offer. Thank you for reading, I'll see y'all in the comments 🙃