Another Octopus Invitational

Over the weekend I played in an unrated game/60 invitational tournament hosted by the Octopus. His events are always fun because they allow me to play fast and loose, without worrying so much about accuracy. The Octopus actually lost two games in a row, which is very unusual and shows how well his opponents were playing. I had to grapple with them in the second and third rounds, but in the first round I faced a newcomer to competitive chess who recently graduated from law school and took the bar exam. There aren't that many lawyers on the circuit (likely because it's impossible to BS one's way to victory), so it's good to have another one around.

In the second round I faced Eric Wagner, who was fresh from defeating the Octopus in the first round and has been playing very well in general. He started off strong here too, as I sleepwalked into a bad position that forced me to get creative. Lucky for me, it worked, though I can't pretend it was pretty.

In the final round I faced Matt Guthrie, a master and fellow former Montana state champion who is now moving back from a long residence in Arizona. He had just handed the Octopus his second consecutive loss, so I knew this game would be challenging. I manage to win a few games off him in blitz, and I was doing fairly well here until I moved too fast and overlooked a very powerful response.