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I have been playing chess for around 11 years. Ever since I can remember I dreamed of being a National Master. Just a month and a half ago on July 26, 2024 I reached NM. I am going to show some games from an event I played to (re)*cross 2200 and become a NM

       

 Austin Summer Open 2024

This is a tournament that I had been planning to play in for some time, even before I became an NM, and my USCF had recently fallen below 2200 due to a terrible tournament in San Diego, so I was hungry for revenge in this event.

                       

 Round #1

In the first game I was paired against YangYang Shen (1997) A player who I have played before and always gives me an interesting game. One thing I should note before this game was that pairings came out 1 minute before the round started so I had zero time to prepare.

W first round IMO, I didn't really make too many innacuracies and outplayed her in the Catalan, overall a good start to the event for me.
Round #2

In round 2 I was paired against another strong girl from I think Brownsville? 2028 rated Sunny Zhang, I knew she's been improving fast, so I had to stay focused for this game.

Round #3
Ahh Round 3. Usually historic for ruining my tournaments. However this round I am playing against 2280 rated Rachael Li, I think the highest rated female in Texas? I've played her around 4 times before this and all the games resulted in draws. Will one of us strike or continue the pattern?
Let's goooo I didn't lose in round 3 of a tournament! I'm happy with this result, I dont think I played bad and I played a very boring line lol, next time I will fight for a win against her! (Rg1 lol)
So already I am feeling very satisfied about my performance, and I'm gaining about 13 USCF (15 FIDE as well) and I'm feeling very good. I go to sleep and wake up to find pairings out...
Round #4
In this round I am playing 2262 rated Rohit Gundam, a player who has a 2-0 record against your boy in USCF rated games, and the first one I lost Rook 2 versus Rook 3, will I be able to redeem myself against Mr. Gundam?

LETS GOOOOOOOO I ACTUALLY WON A GAME AGAINST SOMEONE HIGHER RATED THAN ME! I was over the moon about this, because I dont usually get upset wins lol which is why I have a draw master reputation, but I was ecstatic to get this win. But my next pairing was an ominous one

FINAL ROUND (#5)

In the last round I am paired against the only GM in the section, Grandmaster Vladimir Belous rated 2550 USCF and 2480 FIDE, I found my opponent played KID and Kalashnikov, so I had a plan for what I was going to do, let's see the final round 

Um.....

Wait....

WHAT???????

YOU'RE TELLING ME I DREW THAT?????!??!?!?!?!?

I've had some crazy rediculous swindles in my time but that one has to be the cheesiest, down an exchange with literally no hope if a move like Rf2 was played, I somehow managed to salvage a draw.

An insane event, I really should not have won r4 or drawn r5, but that's chess, you win games you arent supposed to and swindle when you shouldn't. Although I had hit NM before this, this tournament really solidified myself as a true NM because I had dropped u2200 before this. Keep playing chess and having fun with it, and I'll see yall when I want to make another blog
(Also follow me on TWITCH https://www.twitch.tv/lschess)

* I reached 2200 through playing a hometown tournament and dropped, and I think showing the games from the recrossing was alot more significant and interesting

Thanks for reading!