Oregon Class Championships Round 3

Round 3, I had 2/2 and I was paired with the only other player with 2/2. Given it was a 4 round tournament, I knew that if I won this game, I would be well on my way to winning the class B section. I was paired against Patrick Gay, the brother of Daniel Gay (who recently has been storming up the charts in Oregon, and had a 34 game no-loss streak).

I had black again, but I didn't particularly mind. I had won my first 2 games as black, so I was feeling optimistic. I was psychologically really interested in winning this game, so I felt a lot of pressure to play well, and I think I did myself proud.

Now I was 3/3 and feeling pretty good. I like that victory because it feels like I slowly outplayed him rather than him making any terrible blunders and me capitalizing on them. I had the bishop pair, and attacked his kingside, forcing concessions. Only one round left in the day/tournament, and I was playing for first place. Very exciting for me.