Chasing Dreams at the Minnesota State Scholastic!
I have a dream...
That line has started off hundreds if not thousands of people on adventures beyond their wildest imagination. Dreaming is the greatest gift man has been given, the capacity to imagine things in a state as they are not, the ability to gaze hopefully toward the horizon in expectation of better things to come.
When we dream about chess, we think about what seems impossible. We think of earning the Grandmaster title, becoming a World Champion, or maybe my friends who are bloggers dream of getting the Top Blogger title. Often dreams look and feel impossible, but it's easier than you might think to work towards them.
Today's blog will be a little different to my other recaps. We will be going through a recent chess tournament I played, but I'll also be talking about dreams and how to break them down into smaller goals to complete them. And as I show you my games, I'll analyze them and tell you how they fit into my dream.
Vamos!
Table of Contents: Back to Top
- I had a dream once...
- The Minnesota State Scholastic.
- Two Perfect Games.
- Chess is Fair.
- Positional Mastery.
- Chaos.
- Striking.
- Always Dreaming...
As many people can attest, I like to dream. Looking ahead to the future is something I often do, and when it comes to chess, it's no different. One of my dreams is to represent New Zealand in a Chess Olympiad, which would be an awesome chance to play on the world stage.
Like many chess players, I also dream of becoming a Grandmaster someday, a long-term goal that will take years. And then I have short(er)-term goals, such as becoming a US National Master, continuing to write about my chess journey, and winning championships.
We all have dreams. Some of us are shooting for the stars, others keeping it more realistic, but we all have this in common. We have all dreamt of something, hoped for something, set a goal or a target to hit.
Dreams can be any shape or form!
You might have noticed that I changed the word from 'dream' to 'goal' slightly in that last paragraph. I did this for a couple reasons. The first was to highlight the difference between a dream and a goal.
A dream is something that you hope happens in the future, a thought that you hope happens someday. Dreams don't have deadlines, and they often appear as wishful thinking to those around you. Instead of being chained to reality, dreams take you on a journey in your imagination, where anything is possible.
Goals should be a bit different. When you set a goal, you're putting a time constraint on something you want or need to do. Goals should be attainable and realistic, and they help you along your path. Usually, goals are short-term and they are almost always down-to-earth compared to dreams.
For a simple comparison, let's take these two statements: "I want to become a Grandmaster" and "I am working to become a National Master this year". One of them is a nice thought, and one is a challenge to achieve. The dream is thinking outside of the box, imagining what could happen, and the goal is the test with a time-crunch.
So how do I work toward my dreams? First off, I set goals. I recently took a very good course on goal-setting by Dwane Thomas, and it's not too hard to say that his course has the potential to be one of the most influential courses I'll ever take. Dwane is a language teacher by trade (he's the creator of the best-selling series Visual Latin), but he also is a self-taught expert on goals, and he wrote a short book about goal-setting that's free for download. --> No Goals No Glory.
Dwane Thomas breaks down goals into five steps:
- Determine what goal you're going to set.
- Write the goal down.
- Break the goal down into action steps.
- Work on those steps every day.
- Track your progress.
That's it.
My goal for 2026 is to become a National Master. If I follow these steps, I have every chance to get it. The same goes for you reading this and for everyone out there. You can achieve whatever you set your mind to.
This has been a rather long prologue/talking point, but I just wanted to share some encouragement to you all. No matter where you are in life, you can complete your goals. It is possible. I'll share one more quote by Dwane Thomas before we get into the chess.
There are no unrealistic goals. Only unrealistic deadlines.
— Dwane Thomas
I once set the goal of becoming an NM before I was 16. Not an unrealistic goal, just an unrealistic deadline.
Let's get into the chess for today!
The Minnesota State Scholastic.
Becoming a champion is a dream, and what better place to start than the Minnesota State Scholastic? This tournament is, in my opinion, the hardest chess competition to win in the state. Split into four sections — K-12, K-8, K-5, and K-3 — this championship has sections by grade instead of rating, and crowns the title of High School, Middle School, Elementary and Primary Champions, as well as providing the qualifiers for the National Championship at the US Open. There's a lot to unpack, so let's get into it!
As a general summary of the sections, each grade is roughly correspondent to an age under 18, so 12th grade would be 18, an 11th grader would typically be 17, etc. Since I'm homeschooled, my grades are a little bit unorthodox, but it was easy to see that I would play in the K-12 section. And since each section is by grade not rating, every single one of my opponents would be between the ages of 15 and 18, regardless of rating.
Not only is this tournament a chance for high school students to win fame and glory, this is also the time when different schools pit their teams against each other in what is basically a team match.. in a Swiss tournament. The school team with the most points from their top four scoring players wins.
As the flyer mentioned, the prize for winning the tournament is a big shiny trophy. Not only that, but you get your name in the Minnesota Chess list of Champions so you'll forever be remembered as the champion you are. And the top six players advance to the Denker qualifiers, fighting for the chance to represent Minnesota on the national stage. There's a lot to play for!
And finally, the K-12 section has 7 rounds across two days — four on Saturday and three on Sunday — with a time control of G60d5. You get one hour for the whole game, with a five second delay from move 1. The shorter time control always leads to chaos, from my experience!
I've played this tournament once before, back in 2025. (Wow, that feels like such a long time ago!) That time, I finished with 5.5/7, ending up in 8th place on tiebreaks, just shy of the 6th spot for the qualifiers. But I drew a 2300 NM in the blitz tournament after, so that was a nice highlight!
Click the image to view the blog!
The week before the State Scholastic flew by, and before I knew it the day was Saturday and the first game was upon me. I was playing this tournament alongside my brother (@ChessicalMoves), who was also playing the K-12 section, and we made a couple sandwiches and got ready to play.
It was a cold and dreary morning when I got to the University of St. Thomas, the venue for the tournament. Inside was the typical hustle and bustle of a college full of students, but upstairs was where the fun began. Up the spiral staircase we went, along a hall decked with chess vendors, and suddenly the giant playing hall was opening up.
Image: tommiemedia.com
I was eager to catch up with some friends, but that would have to wait until the first game finished. I barely made it into the playing hall before the round started, but I made it nonetheless and shook hands with my first-round opponent.
Game 1 was against Aiden. In keeping with a Swiss tournament, I had an easier pairing, but no game is easy in the State Scholastic. Aiden was rated 1250, and he had the white pieces. Time to dust off an old trap from bullet games!
Nice way to start the toughest tournament in Minnesota, going 1/1. This championship is full of upsets, and this was apparent from the very first round as the top-seed overall — and last year's champion — was held to a draw against a player 800 rating below him.
My game was over quickly, so I took the time to have a snack and watch the other games unfold. Other than on Board 1, there were no other major upsets, and the favourites for the most part prevailed.
In between rounds, I took the time to talk to people that I haven't seen since 2025, and had some great conversations! The second round started in two hours, so I had plenty of time to focus for the next game.
My second opponent was Sam, rated close to 1300. I had the white pieces for this game, and I got to move up to board 3! Since I had the chance to play a couple slightly easier games before things heated up in the later rounds of the tournament, I wanted to practice an opening that I rarely play.
Best by test! I haven't tested 1. e4 much, so it was a nice surprise to play my best here. A fun game to play, and I felt that I had played almost perfectly... after a brief hiccup in the opening. Chess.com's Game Review agreed and gave me an accuracy of 98%!
Apologies for the quality of the photo.
It was about 2 o'clock when I wrapped things up, time for a sandwich! In keeping with the theme of easy food, I had a grilled cheese sandwich and a mandarin, then analyzed my games and got ready for the third game.
2/2 so far, and those games were perfect. My dream hasn't been tested yet, and after some fairly straight-forward victories I let my guard down a little bit. I really hadn't been tested yet, but my next game would draw everything out of me.
The third game of the day was against Johan, rated 1582. I had the black pieces again, and I was excited to play a stronger opponent and test out my Caro-Kann in classical.
So I need to temper my dreams with reality...
Just because I have a dream to win doesn't mean my opponents will fall over and resign to make me feel better. This is a tough world, and chess is a fighting sport. I have the choice to play well and win, or play dumb moves like 5...a6 and get a miserable position that I should have lost.
Make sure your goals are tempered in reality, and don't give up when things get tough.
I'll apologize quickly for the lack of photos, there was a mix-up at the beginning of the round and some players had gone to the wrong boards. I ended up getting a picture with the wrong opponent!
Three games is usually the max for chess tournaments in Minnesota, but not here! The State Scholastic features four rounds in the first day, for an incredibly long day of chess that somehow wasn't as long as Day 1 of the Minnesota Open.
Opponent #4 was a young lady named Joshini. The sun had set in the crisp Minnesota evening, and the final game was about to start. Joshini was rated around 1900, and was going to be the toughest opponent yet.
I had the white pieces, and rather than do anything strange, I decided to keep it simple. What happened next became a struggle of pieces in the middle of the board, all with the goal of surviving.
Oh well. When I was reviewing the game in my head the next week, I remembered an interview that GM Ding Liren gave in the 2022 Candidates. Ding had just lost a tough game where he was winning, but the previous day he had won a game where he was losing.
Yesterday I won a lost position but today I lost a won position, so chess is fair.
— GM Ding Liren
Chess is fair. I should have lost my game in Round 3, and I probably shouldn't have lost this game since time scrambles are very much my forte. But it doesn't matter, and I really can't complain too much. GG Joshini, I look forward to our next game, hopefully with a longer time control!
Joshini had a great tournament, and went on to finish in fourth place, another very good performance for women's chess in Minnesota!
It was late when I finally got back home and fell asleep. The adrenaline was nearly too much for me, but I was able to get at least 6 hours. A loss doesn't sink my chances, but I most likely need to win all three of my games tomorrow.
Despite the late night yesterday, on Sunday all I could think of was chess! Specifically, winning the next game, and boy was I intent on winning!
Breakfast was a toasted bagel with a fried egg, while listening to a church service online. Then I packed lunch with my brother, and we headed off to battle.
My fifth opponent was Sammy, a player who I've seen around many times but never actually played. Sammy was rated 1355, but rating never tells the full picture, especially in the State Scholastic.
I had the black pieces, and was itching for a fight. It was time to show off some class, and I proceeded to play one of the best positional masterpieces I've ever played.
Another high accuracy game! This time I played with an accuracy of 93%, my third 90%+ performance of the tournament! Without a doubt, this was fun to play, and I'll learn a lot from this game.
Back on track with 4/5, I was ready to focus on the next two games. I had another sandwich, and then watched the rest of the games and got set for the sixth game of chess.
And we're on to the penultimate round! The stakes are getting higher, and the games are still tough. I was more or less back in the flow with a good win to start the day, but the job isn't finished yet.
My sixth opponent was Calder, another strong feller with a rating close to 1600. In keeping with the previous rounds, I had the white pieces and continued to alternate colours in succession. We shook hands, and the game commenced.
As the title so aptly put it, this game was chaos. I messed up my move order in the opening and hung a pawn, then took advantage of a few moves to start up an attack, only to see ghosts with the discovered attack and blow my win into a draw. Although at the end , I was worried that I was losing, so a draw was good at the time.
Well it's clear what I need to do now. In order to have any chance to place in the top six, I have to win the final game. No fancy business, just plain and simple. Win for a chance to get top six, draw or lose to get... nothing.
How do you deal with the pressure of a must-win game? What do you do when you have an hour before the game starts, and everything is weighing down on you? The solution for me was to put the tournament as much out of my mind as possible and talk to as many people from the community as possible.
But it turns out that the inevitable is... inevitable. It's time for the seventh round, the final game. All bets are off, and there's zero room for error. Time to play.
Joshua was the player I faced, only rated 1600, but with an impressive 5 points. Joshua had already beaten a 2000 rated player in this tournament, and was fighting for a place on the podium, since 6/7 would guarantee a top spot. I got one lucky break; somehow I ended up with the white pieces for the second game in a row.
And there we go! A combative opening led to an expansion on the kingside, which got out of control for Black when he sacrificed two pieces for a rook. 5.5/7, a good score which was the best I could do under the circumstances.
Despite not performing that well, I felt like this was a good tournament that showcased how well I can play. 4 of the 7 games were nearly perfect, with an average accuracy of 92.2% over those four. The other three games got a little crazy, but scoring 1.5/3 wasn't too bad.
My final score of 5.5/7 put me in a logjam of six players with the same score. There were three people who scored more than that, so whether or not I made it into the top six was left to tiebreaks. It's out of my hands now.
The worst part is always the waiting. Sitting with my family at the awards ceremony, the wait was nerve-wracking to sit through the trophy presentation until they came to the top 15 in the K-12. After what seemed like a ridiculously long time, my name was called. I had placed 7th on tiebreaks.
There are no words to describe this. Missing out on the qualifiers by half a point in tiebreaks is unfortunate. Very unfortunate. It really was that close, as I was tied in tiebreaks with the sixth place finisher until the fourth tiebreak, which he won by 0.5 points.
Oh well. I had my fate in my hands in the fifth round, and I came up slightly short. Such is life, sometimes. But I won't give up on my dream, and I won't let this defeat me. No matter how hard it gets, or how devastating the results are sometimes, I'll keep chasing my dreams.
There's one more thing I'd like to mention before I wrap this blog up. You're no doubt interested in who managed to win the championship. Oh boy, am I glad to present this!
May I introduce the Highschool Chess Champion of Minnesota, my brother, Jesse Harrison. That's right, my brother played the tournament of his life and won the championship!
Image: minnesotachess.com
Throughout the tournament, Jesse exhibited exceptional resiliency and courage, as he stuck to multiple tough positions and squeezed wins out of them. In the final round, Jesse played an intense game in a winner-take-all title match, and managed to win in a pawn endgame to take 1st place with 6.5/7! That's my brother!
I can basically say that I coached the 2026 Minnesota Highschool champion to victory. 
Let's put that up on my coaching resumé!
My coaching couldn't save my USCF rating though. Dropping a loss and a draw cost me 19 rating, and I descended down to 2032. It's not a huge blow to my NM dreams, and I have no doubt that I'll be able to regain my rating and climb higher in future tournaments.
Speaking of tournaments, the next one is coming up! In just a week, I'll be playing the U2200 section of the Minnesota State Championship, against some really really strong competition. I'm looking forward to that, and hopefully I perform well!
Chase your dreams. Break them down into goals, and then work towards completing those goals. There's nothing you can't do if you put your mind to it, and most importantly, stick to it when it gets tough. It won't be easy, there may be setbacks and difficulties, but never give up. Once again, I want to repeat a quote by Dwane Thomas:
There are no unrealistic goals. Only unrealistic deadlines.
— Dwane Thomas
Isn't that great news?
Thank you for reading this blog! It's been an amazing journey to write for you, and I hope to continue it for as long as I can! I highly recommend you set goals and work towards them, there's no telling what you can accomplish in life. It's a big world out there, why impose a limit on ourselves?
I'll see you with my next blog! Feel free to send me a friend request to not miss out on any recaps, and let me know if you have any questions.
God bless,
-theeldest1
