Montana Open 2017 - Round 3

In Round 3 I reached the second board and played black against an expert from Washington, who gave me a chance to use my favorite Owen defense. It was an amazing game. I started out strong and had the element of surprise, but just at the end of the middle game, I made a calculated risk by giving him a passed pawn that I thought (incorrectly) that I could contain.

Even though I had a mere 1.5 points after my first day, I was pleased with how I was playing and looked forward to tearing things up on the second day. My buddy Will Davis, a phenomenal player who is closer to expert than I am, also had only 1.5 points. I retired to a nearby bar with my fellow Montanans, including my co-champions Duke and Skovron, who were ahead of me with 2 points each. By the time the tournament ended, though, I had leapfrogged them.