Shocking preformance at the C.F.C.C Winter Open?.....

Hello everyone, recently I played in the Central Florida Chess Club's Winter Open tournament! It was a five round swiss and the time control was G120 D5 that took place from January 21st-January 23rd. I didn't have many expectations going into my tournament, I was playing in the U2000 section and my only goal was to not lose rating (I decided to play up a section in this tournament. U2000 instead of the U1700). I also was excited because this was my first big tournament (I've only played in tournaments with less than 20 people before this)

At about 6:00 PM Me and my Dad got to the hotel the tournament was being played at. My first game was at 7:00 PM and we wanted to get there about an hour before my game started. When the list of players came out, it turned out that I was the lowest rated in my section......by over 100 elo (My USCF is 1511 and the 2nd lowest rated was 1630 xD).

So I was waiting outside of the playing hall for the pairings to come out for a bit and at about 6:30 PM they came out. So I go up to check and see my pairing as Me (1511) vs Please wait. So apparently someone in my section didn't show up and because I'm the lowest rated I didn't get a pairing. Luckily though this doesn't mean I don't get to play a game, because someone playing in the premier section also didn't show up so I could play against the lowest rated player in that section because he wasn't paired either. So here's our game (I have black):

Annnnnnnnnd after I played 10...Nc6 the arbiter walk up to us and said "someone in both of your sections showed up, so you guys can either continue your game or play the people in your sections". My opponent was going to get to play an IM and I was going to get to play an 1840 and they were both in our sections so of course we both said yes (and thank god this happened because after 10..Nc6 the final position is +2 xD). 

So here's my actual round one game and because this game started late the time control is G105 and well as for delay.....we'll get into that.(I have black again):

So it felt nice to get a win in, but I do feel bad about all the problems my clock was having (it turned out it just needed new battery's xD). This was also a pretty important game for me to win, because otherwise I would have gotten a bye in round two.

We ended up getting back home at about 10:00 PM and I shoved some leftover stir fry down my throat and got to bed. 

 I got my lazy butt out of bed at about 7:45 AM the next day, and ate some cereal. My second game was at 11:00 AM so we wanted to leave at 9:30 AM. Nothing eventful happened that morning, other than fixing my clock by putting new battery's in it. We got to the hotel, and I was paired against an 1859. The place was also much more crowded than the day before because everyone from the two day schedule was there. Anyways here's game two (I was black again):

That was an emotional roller coaster of a game. The eval went from equal, to better for black, to equal, to better for white, winning for white, better for white, equal, and finally winning for white xD. If I'm being honest though I didn't feel to bad about this loss, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. I obviously need to work on my middlegames in the exchange caro, and I need to work on my rook endgames.

I ended up going back to the car and waited there for a few hours for round 3 (round three was at 5:00 PM and this game ended at about 2:30 PM). While I was waiting I realized that I was starving so I shoved food down my throat to make my belly happy. I also texted a friend for a bit which was nice.

At about 4:30 PM me and my Dad walked into the hotel and I checked the pairings, I was playing against a 1737, and it was at this moment I realized the tournament had coffee for the players...... So I had the genius idea to drink a cup of coffee before my games to get a caffeine boost and hopefully that would make me play better chess. While I was drinking my coffee, Gary (the guy I played in the game that didn't finish) and we discussed the game for a bit. He asked if I'd checked it with an engine, then told me how black was almost busted, then he started talking for my Dad for a while (he had got a bye that round so they talked while I went in to play my game). 

So here's game three (I have white):

Despite the fact that I missed Ba3, I was pretty happy with this game as I never let go of my advantage and it felt good to end day two with a win. This also means I'm 2/3 with two more games to go! My game also ended at about 6:30 so we'd be getting home earlier which was nice.

So we got home, I ate some dinner and pretty much got to bed right away.

I woke up the next day at about 7:45 AM again. My game was at 10:00 AM so I ate some more cereal, and we got into the car and left at about 8:45 AM. When we got to the hotel and went into the waiting room, I saw that I was paired against a 1776. Then I realized something tragic, the coffee machine wasn't out yet so I wouldn't be able to drink any during the game . Anyways, here's game four (I was white):

That was a terrible game by me, but at least it had a pretty finish? I'm definitely going to take a closer look at the Scandi so I hopefully won't get into trouble like this in the future.

However this win is huge for me as I'm in running to at least tie for 2nd and earn some cash! I went back to the car to rest, it was 12:00 AM and my final game is at 2:30 PM so I had a few hours to get myself ready. 

At about 2:00 PM me and my Dad went into the hotel and I checked the pairings, I was playing a 1746 with black. He was also at 3/4 so whoever won the game would at least tie for 2nd, so I'm sure you can imagine how nervous both of us were (which is probably why this game was so bad xD). While we were waiting, I noticed that the coffee machine was there, but sadly there was no cups . I entered the playing hall and while me and my opponent were sitting at the table waiting for the round to start, I saw Gary and he looked at me, gave me a thumbs up and said "you're in the running!" Which made me feel better. Here's my final game (I'm black):

That was the most intense game of chess in my life, it last four hours, had many blunders by both of us, but in the end I came out on top. I left the playing hall and saw my Dad sitting in the lobby outside of it and I told him I won! He then told me something kinda funny, at one point when I left the playing hall to pee during my game he was sitting in the lobby and waved hi to me. Well apparently he didn't see me come back so he thought because I drank a lot of coffee, and was nervous I got sick and was in the bathroom xD So my poor Dad went searching for me in the bathroom and couldn't find me. Luckily he then checked the playing hall and saw I was in there, but man it would have sucked if I actually had some "stomach problems" during the game xD. We then went and asked the arbiter if I won anything and it turns out I did tie for 2nd place with two others (it was the 1630 and a 1506 who came in the two schedule). I ended up winning myself a nice chunk of cash and my rating gain for the tournament was 1511->1697 (just three points shy of 1700 xD). Here's the rating report for the tournament if anyone is interested http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?202201231782.4-14794421

And here were some pictures that were taken of me during the event

And in case anyone is interested, the Central Florida Chess Club posted more pictures of the event on there website and I think they're going to post a recap of the tournament too (although it's not up at the time of writing)

Final thoughts:

So overall this was a good tournament for me, although I obviously have a lot I need to work on like the Scandi, Hopton attack, Rook endgames, etc. I'm not quite sure when I'll be playing in my next tournament, but this has motivated me quite a bit to study harder so I'll be ready for my next one.

Thanks for reading and I'll see y'all in my next blog