A few weeks ago, I played in the 2001-2400 section of the US Championship Online Qualifier. Normally, the US Open is held over the board as a qualifier for the US Championship. However, due to the pandemic, the organizers of the US Open decided not to hold the event. Instead, Chess.com organized an online qualification system where the winner qualifies for the 2021 US Championship. I won't get into all of the details involving the format, but the top 8 in my section would qualify for the 2400+ section the day later. There were 12 rounds, with each game being at a 10+0 time control. Without further ado, here are the first six games in the event!
In the first round, I was paired with a lower rated player and hoping to win the game to start the event on a good note.
1/1. So far so good! I was content with this win, as I made no major mistakes throughout the game. At this point, I was expecting a tough opponent in Round 2, as I was one of the lower rated players to win their first game.
As anticipated, I faced a tough opponent: NM Mitch Fishbein (who many may know as @Everyfishknows on Chess.com).
While the second game didn't go my way, I felt that I got outplayed by a strong opponent. I assumed the requirement for qualifying for the next stage would be about 9/12, so I wasn't out of the tournament yet.
In Round 3, I was back to an even score, so again I played a lower rated opponent. The opponent was @GoPikachu, who I had played many games with in the past in different leagues, but never in a longer time control.
This was undeniably a very messy game, but a win is a win. I was pretty happy with 2/3 and looking to get more tough opponents.
In Round 4, I got paired with a tough opponent, who was 2350 chess.com rapid. I decided to just do my best and not spend too much time (as I was down on time for most of the last game).
Another messy win! With 3/4, I was on pace to make it to the 2400+ section, but it wouldn't be easy. I expected another tough opponent, possibly even a titled player, in the next round.
In Round 5, I got paired with a player who was 2270 chess.com rapid, so certainly not someone to mess around against.
Whew! This was yet another somewhat lucky win, bringing me to 4/5. So far so good!
Going into the sixth round, I was tied for fifth, so I wanted to stay solid and just try to cruise into the top 8.
Again, I was somewhat lucky, but I used the clock to my advantage, which is the way to go particularly when there is no increment. As it turned out, my opponent got 4th in the 117 player field despite losing to me, so that makes me more satisfied with my performance in looking back on this game.
Now, I was tied for third with 5/6. While my games weren't very impressive, the result certainly exceeded my expectations. For the second time in the tournament, I got paired against a titled player, so I knew that I needed to really focus to have a chance.
This loss was certainly a turning point for the tournament, as I threw away a winning position. Now, I was on 5/7, which meant that I still had good chances to qualify.
Now tied for seventh, I was paired against another tough opponent.
This was a second loss in a row, which was tough psychologically, as I had already been playing for hours. Overall, it felt like I was outplayed and lost despite playing good moves for most of the game.
In the past few events, 9/12 was the cutoff to advance, so I felt that I needed to win on demand as I was on 5/8.
The third loss in a row felt tough, especially because I played each game out to mate, so I put a lot of energy into the games I had already played. I decided to keep playing in the tournament as I felt I still had a chance to qualify for the next stage due to a small field.
In the tenth game, I finally faced a slightly easier opponent, so I really needed a win to boost my confidence going into the final stretch.
Finally another win! This was possibly my favorite game from the tournament as I won pretty cleanly. I was back on track and had chances if I won my last two games.
I needed to win and decided not to (or was too tired to) think about how I should play in the opening to really go for it, as this wasn't a very high stakes tournament.
After this game, I decided to quit the tournament a round early as I didn't have a chance to make it through to the next stage. While I was a little disappointed not to advance after starting with 5/6, this was an exciting tournament and I gained experience playing against strong players (my performance rating was around 2000 USCF). Thanks for reading!
