Journey to Chess Master #4: Goal Achieved!

I ended my last blog with a rating of 2182 and it took me 3 crazy tournaments to get to master.  I will show the highlights of how I reached my goal!

Aristo

My first tournament was the National Grade Level Championship.  I was playing a 2270, and we both were 3/3 and looking for another win.

After that game, I was 4/4, then I lost to a 2400 and beat a 2100.  The last round extremely crucial; if I won the last round, I would finish with 6/7, be the National Co-Champion, and become a master...

Sadly, that we both wanted to win very badly, so we kept on fighting and fighting.  Eventually, we were the last game in all the about 1000 games of the round.  We both wanted to win so badly, that no one wanted a threefold repetition, so the TD had to call it a draw.  Overall, it was still a great tournament that brought my rating from 2182 --> 2199 and tied for 4th and got 6th on tiebreaks.  

My next tournament was a weekend tournament where I just needed 1 point to get master.  The first round I played an IM and lost, then I played a 2120 and won, so I was already over 2200, then in the 3rd round, I played a 1930.

After that devastating loss, I played a nice game against a 2060 to bounce back. 

After that game, I limited the damage from the loss to the 1930 by winning against a 2010.  My rating went from 2199 --> 2198.

The last tournament I played in was a one-day tournament that was very far away.  I started with a win against a 1930 which put me over 2200, but I wanted to keep playing.  The very next round I played a 2300...

After that loss, I beat a 2000 and I wasn't sure if I would be master or not, so it came down to the last round.  I was playing against a 2200, so I would have to beat a master to be a master.  Overall, I played a pretty nice positional game.

After that game, my rating went from 2199 --> 2209!  I achieved my goal and I hope you can achieve yours too.