Untitled Tuesday and Saturday recaps - February
The February recap was written by @SmyslovFan. Apologies for the delay; we're all volunteers here, and real life sometimes intervenes. The March recap should be coming soon.
Tudorache_M and SmyslovFan Split top Honors in the February 2020 Untitled Tuesday!
The February Untitled Tuesday was attended by 23 players, but more than a quarter of the players were rated over 2000. The tournament was shortened to nine rounds, but that just made the event that much more competitive. Top seeds were upset in the early rounds, and nobody had a perfect score. After eight rounds, six players were within half a point of first place!
The event saw an extremely rare tie for first place, between @SmyslovFan and @Tudorache_M. Not only did we finish with the same number of points, but the tie-breaks were dead even too! CP6033, one of the pre-tournament favorites, finished third.
Here are some of the key games from the event:
Round 1
As usual, there were quite a few upsets in the early rounds.
@CP6033-@patzers 2124 vs 1994 This wasn't a big upset in terms of ratings. However, this first round match between two perennial challengers helped to determine the outcome of the tournament! @Patzers played exceptionally well in an unusual Scotch line and managed to gain a clear edge with seemingly simple moves while gaining more than a minute on the clock!
@H-Sadah-@mathkid (draw) 1994 vs 1613
@H-Sadah and @mathkid are regulars in the Untitled events. H-Sadah is usually a top ten finisher. In this game, @H-Sadah sought complications against a lower rated player and pushed too hard. The draw was well deserved, but @mathkid could have expected an even better result!
@Rwn1chess vs @liamchez 1-0 1553 beats 1963
There are always surprises in Untitled Tuesday events. But when the tournament is nine rounds, it's extremely rare that anyone will win every game. Losing in the first round is rarely the end of the tournament for a contender such as @liamchez. But this game was tough. @liamchez was better through much of the game, but missed some tactics in extreme time pressure and decided to withdraw after this game. It may be that his connection was poor. The game went back and forth with both sides creating and missing winning opportunities.
Round 2
@patzers vs @Tudorache_M (Draw)
In a relatively short event with more than a quarter of the players being previous winners, it's no surprise to see two of the favorites facing each other in round 2.
Round 3
Entering the round, @MikeChesser (2286), @CrackLionX (1999)and I (2052) were in first with 2 points. @Tudorache_M and @patzers were half a point behind.
@Smyslov_fan vs @Tudorache_M">@Tudorache_M
This ended up being the game between the two tournament winners.
@CrackLionX defeated @MikeChesser in a difficult game that went back and forth. I present it here without notes, but will feature it in a future article.
In round 4, I won against @CrackLionX as White and @patzers moved into second by delivering a second defeat to top seeded @MikeChesser. @CP6033 caught up to @CrackLionX, setting up an exciting fifth round.
Round 5
@CrackLionX vs @CP6033
After five rounds, the table looked like this:
1. @SmyslovFan 5/5
2. @CrackLionX 4/5
3. @Tudorache_M 3.5/5
@patzers
5. @CP6033 3/5
@MikeChesser
I blundered a piece in the opening against @CP6033 due to a mix up in my move order and resigned in only 12 moves. @Tudorache_M and @CrackLionX drew their game, @patzers suffered an upset to @Rwn1Chess who was rated 1617, and @MikeChesser won comfortably in his game.
Round 7
In round seven, I faced the highest seeded player, @MikeChesser. We played a fascinating King's Indian where I got a nice edge in the opening, but gave him too much play on the Kingside. He finished me off with a beautiful tactical shot!
Round 8
After two losses, I was no longer in sole first place. In fact, there were four players tied for first with only two rounds to go!
1. @Tudorache_M 5/7
@MikeChesser
@SmyslovFan
@CP6033
5. @RwnChess 4.5/7
@patzers
@CrackLionX
@Nyameba has quickly become a regular feature in these Untitled Tuesday fixtures. He entered the February tournament in the fifth round, but scored 3/3 (one was a bye) to join the top ten. In round eight, he played @Tudorache_M.
@Tudorache_M vs @Nyameba
@CP6033 and @MikeChesser drew a complex, error-filled game that effectively knocked them both out of contention for first place.
Round 9
The standings before the final round were:
1. @Tudorache_M 6/8
@SmyslovFan
3. @MikeChesser 5.5/8
@CP6033
@CrackLionX
@patzers
Most of us had already played each other and were paired against players lower in the standings. @patzers was the unlucky one who got paired against @Nyameba, and lost. The only match between the top six players was between @Tudorache_M and @MikeChesser.
@MikeChesser vs @Tudorache_M
This was an extremely closely fought tournament with all of the top six players, all Untitled Tuesday regulars, fighting every round. Congratulations to all of the players for making this a really exciting event!
Here's a link to the Untitled Tuesday February 2020 tournament:
https://www.chess.com/tournament/live/untitled-tuesday---february-1144120
CP6033 Takes Clear First in February's Untitled Saturday!
The Untitled Saturday for February 2020 was well attended with 44 competitors, 13 of which were rated over 2000! Most of the usual suspects were in attendance, with players from at least twenty different countries! @CP6033 won the event with 8 out of 10 points, a clear point ahead of @cjxchess17 and @wrtlbrmft who finished second and third respectively. @ChessZone9937 and @AstroHorse7 were the only players rated under 2000 to finish in the top ten.
Congratulations to @CP6033 and all of the competitors!
Here's a link to the February 2020 Saturday Untitled Tournament:
https://www.chess.com/tournament/live/saturday-event---february-1144576
To play in future Untitled Tuesday events, please join this club: https://www.chess.com/club/untitled-tuesday. Entry is restricted to untitled players who have been on the site for at least three months.
