2014 Michigan Open (Reserve <1800)

I shouldn't post in the comments instead of adding to the blog.  Please read from bottom to top below for the time being.  :(

So I will start adding the Standard time control games here (rounds 5 - 7).  

Round 5: 

My first loss.  I hated the way I played this game.  I simplified the position way too early when I should have headed for complications and my opponent had a pretty easy win.  I will say Chris was the 2nd highest rated player in the Reserve Section (<1800).

And so ended Day 1 of the 2-day format.  Five games with a score of 3.5.  I felt good about the upcoming games and was having tons of fun and meeting people (Hi Pat!).  I hung out mainly with a cool cat named Dominic who had 4.5 points after five games and won his section of the blitz tournament played between games 4 and 5.  I didn't participate in the blitz tournament although it might have helped with my 5th game :).

So the last two games of the tournament are my favorite.  Both were well played and hard fought.

Round 6:

I had never met my opponent, Elaine, before but she is a nice lady and dangerous on a chess board.  She kindly took my new profile pic for me.  Thank you!

Round 7:

So I had 4.0 points going into the final game.  There were a couple players (Jeff and Joy) who were playing awesome and were clearly going to take 1st and 2nd.  The rest of us were hovering in that 4.0 - 5.0 range so a win might tie me for 3rd place (I thought).  I still don't know how the final standings turned out but this is my favorite game from the tournament.  Raymond is a scrappy dude and we both fought hard for the win.  We also took most of our cigarette breaks together and got along the whole game.