Winter Thaw 2024

Last weekend I traveled to Helena to compete in my first tournament of 2024. I felt relaxed the entire time (one of the benefits of being in a slump), which motivated me to put together some creative games. It's safe to say that the Montana circuit is more competitive than ever. Neither age nor rating reflects a player's strength any longer. It's an exciting time, so I'm happy that I haven't hung up my cleats yet.

In the first round I faced a "chess dad" who decided to learn the game alongside his son. That's very bold, and he put together a strong opening the forced me to think outside the box to get the win.

In the second round I faced a man who got involved in chess only a few years ago, but who managed to take down Nikolay Bulakh at the Turkey Open in November (Nikolay was top seed in this tournament, and I was second seed). This game was a cliffhanger. I went up a piece early in the game but then seemed to have to give a piece back, as my queen would otherwise become trapped. I found a clever way out, though.

After taking a bye for round three and relaxing on Saturday evening, I learned that I was paired against none other than James Skovron on Sunday morning. James was still smarting from his loss to me in October, so I anticipated a tough game. Ironically, though, we played a very antiseptic game with no wild flourishes, brilliancies, or blunders, so we agreed to a draw and conserved our strength for the final round. It worked out better for him, as he went on to win but I scored another draw.

In the final round I faced a young man who had defeated everyone he had played so far, Matteo Nero. I had played Matteo on two prior occasions, with one win and one loss. What happened here was the most exciting game of the tournament for me. Matteo went up a pawn, but I got it back and went up a pawn of my own, thinking I could clinch the endgame. It turned out to be an unwinnable draw, so I congratulated him on winning the tournament (while apologizing for denying him the sweep).