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Road to Improvement? - Virginia Open Recap

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MarioChessNiraj
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Hello, once again!

Just for the readers, I'm hoping to get more active with my blog posts as I'm getting more active with playing OTB chess and playing major tournaments that I can find. Anyways, on to the recap!

Last weekend, I played in the Virginia Open Amateur section (U1900) with my rating going into the tournament as 1483. My goal going into the tournament was to regain 1500, since I lost the rating at the VA Scholastic States tournament, with my other goals being to try to get at least 3-2 and at least one upset. Some small goals that aren't too hard to achieve to be at my level, considering it was a Swiss tournament and I would have two easy games anyways. However, I had the tournament of my life, which was much over my expectations that I had, going 4-1. Here are the games: 

 

Game 1: The dreaded night game. These always spell bad news for me.

Game 2: Fresh start to the morning. Not such good thinking through this game with all the "he's lower rated than me" business going through my head. It happens too often, it really does kill me.
Game 3: I played a nice little kid who was a 722. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great game for him, so I won't annotate it, but I'll show the game just for see.
Game 4: Enter Sunday, 2-1. I knew I was going to play up, and I wasn't really expecting a win. Turned out, I had the day of my life in chess on that Sunday.
Game 5: The deciding factor as to whether or not I win money. If I lose this game, my chances are very slim. Not only that, placing will not even be possible with a 3-2 score.
Summary: 1483 ----> 1563!
 
The tournament of my life, if you ask me. I was really proud of these results, winning $122 and placing in 6th in the tournament (tie for 3rd place). Overall, I'm really proud of this tournament, and the improvement is coming along!