Lexington Open 2011 - Day 2

At the end of day one, one of the tournament directors said to me, "Well it's yours to lose."  As it turns out that's exactly what I did.  I blew two games in a row to finish in a three-way tie for second with a three-way tie for first meaning I didn't finish in the money.  In the first game I underestimated my opponent's strength and fell into a silly trap.  I didn't spend enough time analyzing his options and thought to win the game quickly.  I was tired from the previous day and my chess stamina just wasn't where it needed to be.  The first tournament I played in was four rounds of G/45 and I was exhausted.  This was two days with 3 rounds and 2 rounds of G/90.  Anyway, I dropped a queen for two pieces and though I got a winning position and several opportunities to win, I was defeating myself in my head because I couldn't forget the stupid mistake I made early in the game.

The second game was not much different.  I was tired and not concentrating enough.  When I felt like things were getting bad for me, I actually wasn't doing so badly.  I guess I was just tired of playing and subconciously ended it.