North American Youth Chess Championship
Changed my match strategy to play for a win in every game. This sort of worked as I did get a lot of winning/better positions. Unfortunetely, it revealed my weaknesses in tactics and endgames. Worst of all was time pressure, which really messed me up in a lot of games.
Game 1: Tony Lin 2230
Everything was good until I blundered my rook.
Game 2: Owen Qian
Better endgame, hung a piece. Do not know why I did it. Still dont know.
Game 3: Robert Li 1791
The whole game I build up a winning advantage being up 3 pawns. Suddenly, during tie pressure, my opponent shows his pro blitz skills and trolling abilities. Take lessons from this guy. When in a losing position, just keep setting traps and offering your opponent draws to mess up their concentration.
Game 4: Lan Qian 1550
This guy is extremely underrated since he managed to defeat both Kajan (1805) and Kuhan (1780) and ended with a score of at least 4.5. Still, I would have won had I known basic endgames.
Game 5: Kajan T. 1820
My opponent plays an umambitious setup in the caro kann. After overpressing and nearly losing after an inaccuracy, the game fizzles into a draw.
Game 6: Satya 1200
Finally, they decide I need a free point. Still, this opponent played reasonably well until around move 16.
Game 7: Joe M. 1600
He`s actually 871 but considering he drew a 1900 and a 1800 player, its fair to say that he`s at least 1600 strength.
Game 8: Andrew Ding 2231
Probably the only game in this entire tournament that I should have lost. No ridiculous blunders/misplaying in time pressure/bad endgames to blame here. I played an outdated opening and quickly got ground down.
Game 9: Jeevan Karamsetty 2091
The nightmare finish. Completely winning in the opening only to blunder the piece like an idiot. Afterwards, I really didn't put up any serious resistance.