Road to 1500, Finally Broke! ~ George Washington Open Games (Dual Blog!)
Well, first blog in a LONG time. Recently, I got more active into OTB chess and I went to the GW Open Chess Tournament in Virginia. I played in the U1500 section, my rating being 1492, with the intention on breaking 1500, after many, many, many teases of barely getting there. I came out of the tournament with a pretty good understanding of the playing style and how to play people under 1400. Tactics, tactics, tactics.
The thing is, every game that was played, including my loss, involved tactics that took your opponent from a great position to an almost dead lost one. In my games, I'll show how I did that, and how my opponents did it as well.
Game 1: G/60, d10
At the end of all of this, I finished in 2nd place, earned a check for $120, and my rating increased to 1513, which has been a milestone for a long time! Overall, a great tournament, and a common theme that I learned, where tactics will always dominate when it comes to playing lower rated players.
P.S: Remember my Maryland Open Duel Blog? My friend David posted his great 3-2 results from the same tournament, beating two experts! Check it out here: https://www.chess.com/blog/kasparov57349/so-close-to-expert-the-george-washington-open-dual-blog
