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My Chess Journey

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juniormars27
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It's been a while since I have competitively played chess, but I had an amazing journey in the years that I did compete. I'm writing this blog for myself to have it as a souvenir of my favorite games and memories, but feel free to read if you're interested in my chess story!

2018 was probably my peak year in chess. I achieved a USCF rating of 2106 as an eleven-year-old (which I believe had me ranked in the top ten for our age group), won a state championship, finished fairly decently in a few national championships, and competed in the World Cadet Chess Championships, playing in the same U12 championship that Gukesh was playing in (he just won the FIDE Candidates Tournament today!). 

I'm sure there's a lot of games that I've totally forgotten about and will never recover, but after going through my old ChessBase 14, I've managed to find some interesting games. The first one was in round six of the National Elementary Championships, and I remember it was on one of the top boards. I had the white pieces. 

Good opening, found a tactic, and converted cleanly. Textbook way to win a game in my opinion.

Next game here was from the Barber Tournament of State Champions, which was quite the experience. The state champions of all fifty states compete in a six round swiss-style tournament with their states' flag next to them as they play. The opening ceremony hosted by US Chess and Dewain Barber (the tournament sponsor) was always a unique experience. I did qualify the following two years again from winning state championships, however, COVID forced an online tournament for my third year, and the second year is a complete blur in my head. If I'm not mistaken, I believe I was only player from Michigan at the time to have represented the state in three consecutive Barbers. Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky did commentate on one of my wins in the online tournament; I'll have to find that game.

I grinded out an endgame with the black pieces, my knight dominating his bishop. This will always be my personal favorite display of using the knight efficiently.
 
I did not perform as well as I could have in the World Cadets Chess Championships, which I think was due to a mental block. I started off the tournament 3/3 super confident. In round four, I drew to the U12 China champion after having the advantage the whole game. Unfortunately, I went on a losing streak after a 3.5/4 start, losing games against lower rated players from winning positions. I completely crumbled in the second half of the tournament, and I'll always have a lot of regret from not pulling myself back together. For the US team, we were each assigned coaches for the tournament, and my coach was Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman. When we reviewed this game I played together, Lenderman complimented my play, saying I pretty much played a flawless game.
 
Note that the ratings are FIDE ratings, my opponent and I both had much higher national ratings. I also missed mate in two towards the end LOL but I already had complete control of the position. I was black.
 
 
I blitzed out the first fourteen moves, it was all prep I made with Grandmaster Lenderman. happy
 
That's all for now, but there are so many more moments I wish I could relive. I was in a clearly winning position (engine says +4) against now youngest-ever Grandmaster Abhimanyu Mishra when we were both extremely young and at around 2000 ELO. I messed up and lost though. I have a draw against former US Women's Champion Jennifer Yu; I remember I agreed to a draw early in a position where I had a slight advantage. The idea of drawing that game was too hard to turn down! I do have a handful of wins against FMs and IMs, but I've never beaten a GM in a OTB game. Maybe I'll be able to check that box one day. 
 
Even though I've drifted away from the world of competitive chess, I really am thankful I got to experience it.