Bittersweet Birmingham Challenge Recap
Hello everyone! After a summer of almost no OTB for me (except for the event I recapped here), I finally got back into the swing of things with a local U1800 tournament, which I competed in last Saturday (September 24 for anyone reading this in the future 
). As always, it was a 60/0 d5 time control, and the prizes have been included below.
I was pretty optimistic about my tournament prospects considering I had finally conquered my OTB anxiety last time I played up. Additionally, I had learned a lot since my last event, and playing up a section had been a real eye-opener for me, in terms of discovering my weaknesses and strengths in chess. This time I figured I had a pretty solid shot at winning the U1400 prize, although this sort of statement never seems to age well for me.
This was the first OTB tournament that I've played that actually didn't have a pre-registration list sent out because the TD didn't "feel like it" lol. I was slightly bothered because I like to have a good idea of who I could potentially face beforehand, and I'll occasionally prep for specific opponents, but I supposed it's also a plus in a way because conversely, no one will know I'm going.
Before the Tournament:
The week before my tournament I actually hardly prepped, which is saying a lot, even for me. I was busier that week than I had anticipated and it didn't help that I accidentally deleted an essay I had due for school -_-. To make matters worse, I was on a bad tilt in rapid at the time, and my chess was looking far from tournament worthy. (Oh, and by the way, that tilt has only gotten worse 
):
Luckily, I had enough free time the Friday before to brush up on my tactics and openings and to play some classical games on lichess. I ended up winning all six. Was my one day of chess prep going to be enough for me to claim victory at the tournament? Were my poor chess skills going to be enough to finally salvage my USCF rating? Without further ado, let's jump right into the tournament morning...
Once again, I woke up way earlier than was necessary and paced my house waiting for the time to go by. Disclaimer: this didn't help the time go by faster whatsoever. I honestly should've gone back to sleep so that I wasn't a zombie during round 1. Unfortunately, this revolutionary idea never occurred to me and soon enough I arrived at the tournament, fifteen minutes early. Now, this was also a mistake since Alabama has the slowest tournament director in the entire United States Chess Federation. You can always count on his tournaments to begin later than listed, and every chess player in Alabama knows this phenomenon as "Caesar Time." However, this time was worse than usual. Round 1 was supposed to start at 9:00 sharp, but by 9:30 pairings still weren't up. The TD's printer also decided to be super helpful at this moment and break down so the pairings for all three sections had to be hand-written. Fortunately, I had enough people to talk to while I was waiting, but sheesh, that's ridiculous. We ended up starting forty-five minutes late...
Round 1: BYE...just kidding
As the 17th, and dead bottom seed, I had a first-round bye. I was actually sort of happy for a plethora of reasons. That was one less game I had to annotate for my blog, I could use this time to actually wake up, and I could watch football. (American football, not that fake sport Europeans play). I went outside, turned on the Georgia/Kent State game, and sat down, just to have my dreams crushed by the TD yelling my name. Apparently, someone from the U1200 had decided to play up and I now had an opponent.
Round 1: Underestimating the Scandi
Insights:
- 4.Nxd5- early opening mistake. There was no reason to be afraid of the doubled pawns because even if black had decided to capture on c3, black would've had absolutely zero development. So yes, I would've had an extra pawn island and a mildly inconvenient structure, but the position would've favored me.
- 16. g4- my position is already dreadful as a result of my dubious opening line, but allowing Bc4 followed by a string of tactics makes my life more miserable than it has to be. Rc1 is the top engine suggestion, where after Bxh3, I can break open the queenside with c6, reviving my counterplay.
- Blunder Row (17. Qe3, 18. 0-0-0, and 19. Qxe4)- Thus, I blundered three consecutive times, hanging material twice in that sequence. Conceding large chunks of material at my level should honestly never happen. All three of those blunders could've easily been prevented.
- 31. Rh7, last straw, blundering the discovered check against my queen. If I had played perfectly with 31. f7 and 32. g6, the position was dead equal, with some positions favoring white if black is not precise.
Once again, poor opening play led to my demise, and I was facing an underrated opponent who had a phenomenal tournament performance and went on to upset a few 1600s. Props to him for refuting every one of my mistakes and for outplaying me when the position got tactical.
Round 2: I Take Inspiration From Giri
In round 2, I was paired against a strong 1475 whom I had seen smoke players in previous tournaments I've attended. However, he had likewise lost to an 1100 in round 1 so I was hoping maybe I had caught him on an off-day. Although, I wasn't exactly playing at a stellar level of chess myself.
Much better. While nothing particularly interesting had happened in that game, I was projected to gain twenty rating points from that single draw, according to my USCF calculator. I never even held an advantage in that game and was actually in a bit of trouble for a brief couple of moves, so I was happy with that result. My opponent missed the chance to capitalize on my pawn fork and allowed me to equalize effortlessly.
Insights:
- Nothing. In fact, my opponent missed the opportunity to refute my minor mistake 15. Qb3. Instead of 16. Re1, he could've just captured my b & a-pawns.
Round 3: The Tensest Draw of My Life
For round 3, I was playing another 1400+ player yet again. Ironically, I had met this guy at Tom Nard back in February, and I had talked to him most of that morning and had dreaded the possibility of having to play him. Here I was, at 0.5/2 playing another strong 1400. I was an underdog by almost 400 USCF points. Let's see how this game played out.
That game was pure insanity. As I jested to my opponent after the game, that was the most intense draw I've ever had in my life. Sure, it was an anticlimactic outcome for a game of that caliber, but I actually enjoyed myself during that game, which as I've stated before is rare for OTB. You know, sometimes we'll get distracted by the possible rewards of chess tournaments that we forget to have fun during the game. That's why I try to take winning and rating gains as lightly as possible to avoid as much heartbreak if I can't accomplish my goal.
Insights:
- I got a lot of my mojo back with that game, by proving to myself that I can play a decent game of chess. It can't be stressed enough that OTB is just online chess+psychology, and confidence is key.
- 28. Ng3??-only blunder of the game, by both sides, spoiling my +3 advantage. Rg2 was the superior alternative, maintaining my lead in material, but I didn't want to risk any tactics by tying my rook to the defense of my pawn. That's another skill I could use to learn. It's okay to be patient and take some time away from belligerently seeking further advantage in the position to defend and consolidate the edge I already held.
- Also yay, I converted a drawn endgame for once in my life
Now I was feeling much better about my tournament performance and I was set to receive a +100 rating gain if I could just clutch out the ending with a W. Sadly, the tournament pairings waited until Round 4 to hurl a 1500 my way...
Round 4: Back to Square One:
For round 4, I was playing @tcudoug, one of the main tournament directors in Alabama, and a frequent winner of these U1800 sections. Additionally, I have a 2/3/11 record against him online, and he knows my openings inside and out. I was black this round and I resolved to just play the French and go for a draw. If you know me at all, you’ll know that this endeavor is most certainly not what happened and that I either threw a winning game or screw up a drawn endgame. This time was no different. At least I’m consistent, right…?
Umm yeah. Living testimony that I'm 1800 and I still can't play king+pawn endgames. Just depressing. Obviously, moving forward in the future, this is something that I desperately need to work on in order to improve.
Insights:
- 35. f6?? is a terrible move by me, and my opponent was quick to punish this erroneous move. Of course, a4, maintaining the king opposition was the correct choice here, but my exhausted brain wasn't in the condition to find that.
Conclusion:
As always, thanks so much for reading; I truly do appreciate it. If you enjoyed, consider leaving a comment below, I appreciate all feedback as it helps me get better as a blogger. This post is my first submission for the qualifier week of BlogChamps, an excellent 170+ member club where bloggers get together to discuss writing and where Top Bloggers like @Colorfulcake, @Lightning, and @Rodgy judge blogs in various blog competitions and offer professional writing tips to perfect YOUR blogs. If this appeals to you, join their link here. Until next time,
-Nimzo
