Great Falls Open 2017 - Round 2

I knew right away that Round 2 would be tough, as I was squaring off against the number one seed, Scott Caldwell. I've played Scott a few times at the Octopus's weekly club in Missoula and achieved parity with him there, but those were unrated games of only 30 minutes' duration. This was my first rated long game against the person whose rating outstrips mine by 80 points, and who just came back from a strong performance at the famed Collyer Open in Spokane, Washington.

One slight advantage I had was my love for the obscure Budapest defense, which caught Scott off guard and proved strong enough to hand him his only loss. This was my best game of the tournament, and it made all my others look pathetic in comparison.