The Best Two Days of my LIFE!!!!!! (Improvers Journey February 2025 Pt.1)
Welcome back to my Improvers Journey! This series is dedicated to following my chess journey through the Chess.com Improvers club, a movement that is helping over 30,000 members find coaching, helpful tips, and growth. In January, I focused on improving my openings and building a solid repertoire for in-person tournaments. This blog is Part 1. of the February Journey, in which I break down an OTB (over the board) chess tournament that I played last weekend. This tournament featured the greatest move I have ever played IN MY LIFE, the best classical game I have ever played IN MY LIFE, and maybe, just maybe, the best tournament result I've gotten IN MY LIFE!!!!!! Buckle up, 'cause this gets wild! Let's roll!
On February 15-16, I competed in the 132nd Minnesota Open, a six round Swiss with a lot of history behind its century of repeats. There are five rated sections based on rating, The Premier (Open), Amateur (U2000). Reserve (U1700), Sophomore (U1400), and Bantam (U1100). I played in the Amateur section, so it would be a challenge for me because of the many 1900s that this tournament offered. There were quite a few 1600s and below, because you had the option to play up one section if you so desired. My rating coming into this event was 1855, which is also my peak. I've played less than 75 classical games, but I'm over 1850, how crazy is that! I was playing in the 2-day schedule, an option which allowed me to play only on Saturday and Sunday (and not having to play on Friday, which the 3-day schedule required), but with the downside of having to play FOUR classical games on Saturday, which was extremely exhausting. But I survived (!), as evidenced by me writing this blog, and did I come away with interest or any prize? Let's find out.
So the morning of the tournament started like usual: I got up around 6:30, played the 3check bullet arena for 30 minutes (which I won😆), had some breakfast of eggs-in-a-basket, got my notation together and set off for the tournament with my wonderful mother, a couple friends, and a good feeling. At the tournament location, I found out I would be playing a young gentleman who I had chatted with across many tournaments and I would have the black pieces. My opponent was rated 1695, however this is not an accurate reflection of his strength. Only six months ago, he was rated 1100. I wasn't exactly nervous, but I knew I would have a tough fight ahead of me. The other thing to note is that the 2-day and 3-day schedules have to merge somehow, so the first two games of the 2-day schedule were in G60d5, sixty minutes with a five second delay. Then it merges with the 3-day schedule and from then on the last four games will be 90+30s.
Okay 1/1. One win, never a bad thing. Next game started in 30 minutes, so I quickly analyzed my game against Matthew and moved on to the next game. Second game (also in G60 d5) I was playing another 1600. My opponent had however, beaten an 1800 in the first round, so I was expecting a fight. I had the White pieces, my plan was to play a Zukertort and grind out a win, mostly to prove to myself that I could win positional games as well as tactical ones. Perhaps the move of my life is in this game?
Now the real test begins. I'm 2/2, but the games are just going to get harder. Four games left, all of them will be 90+30s. At this point, I am actually one of three people in my section who have a perfect score. That's crazy to think about, but right now I'm 2/2, another 1900 is 2/2and a 1700 is 2/2. There are many other tough players who drew one game and won the other, so I'm nowhere close to winning. In the third round, I was paired against a strong 1900 on Board one. (Actually board 20, because the Open section uses boards 1-19, but board one in my section. 
) I ate some energy snacks, drank my drink (a berry focus packet), and sat down. I'm playing Black against the strongest undefeated opponent, for my third classical game in a row. I'm not tired yet, let's see what I've got.
Wow. 3/3!!! After this round, I was the ONLY person in my section with a perfect score of 3/3. This is a wonderful feeling to have - trust me - but it also has the downside of being paired against the highest rated opponents. I only had an hour or so to recover before my next game. When the pairings came out, I found out I would be playing Ryan, the sections highest seed at 1995. This didn't intimidate me as much as it should have, because I had played him before and almost won. However I knew I wasn't going to get the same chances as before, so I decided to play solidly and not press too hard. The game started at 7:00 PM, and these games can go for four hours, so I was definitely going to get a late night. Enough chit-chat, let's play the game.
Well that's a bit of a damper. But there's a saying: "When you're at the top, there's only one way to go. And that's down.". I was at the top, then I fell. Saturday's game have finished, and Sunday is when it will all be revealed. I got home at 11:30 PM, got seven hours, watched a church live-stream, and headed back to the playing hall. I was playing another 1600, but this one was even more fearsome. He was 3/4, with two wins, a draw and a half point bye. I was white for the second game in a row, and I decided to play for a win. I knew it would be difficult, but I was in prime position for the best places, and all I had to do was play good chess. Easy, right?
Whew, what a game. I played fairly well, but I only barely won the endgame. Time to brush up on pawn structures, I guess. Moving on, at this stage in the tournament, I was tied for first with three other players: Mr. Yuval, (that's right, the 1900 I beat in the third round was at 4 points as well), another 1900 who decided to take a final round half-point bye, and @ChessicalMoves, who was playing the same tournament as me and had played incredibly up to this point. With the top game being Mr. Yuval vs @ChessicalMoves, I was paired against a gentleman rated 1900 with 3.5/5 points, half a point below me. A win would guarantee first place, a draw would guarantee second place, and a loss would knock me out of the money and the top spots. I had the black pieces for the third time this tournament, can you guess what opening I played?
I'm going to do something different for this game. I'm going to show you the game without the computer analysis, without the little symbols that tell you if me or my opponent made a mistake or a great move etc. I'll show you the game with my thoughts and what was going on in my head, and then I'll let you see the computer's thoughts.
So that looked all fine to you right? A back and forth game, y'know, we both had pressure, I blundered my rook, but survived. What's the big deal? Well, I have to say that I thought the same thing as you, until I put the notation into the computer. Here's what Chess.com's game review had to say about this game.
Wow. So according to the computer in all of it's wisdom, White was winning the entire game, I never had any pressure, even at the end where Andres offered a draw he was winning, I should have lost, I mean, what the heck? I should have lost! I should have been out of the running! The only thing I can say is that God has a plan for me. There's no reason in the world why I should survive a game like that unless it's part of God's plan.
Here's the game with the computer emoticons saying the quality of the move.
So, ummm, yikes. Well, the game is over. You're all wondering what happened next, so I'll hush up about the game and tell you the aftermath. I scored 4.5/6, which put me in second place (behind Mr. Yuval who won his game) tied with three other people. I won $331.25!!!!! And more importantly, I got second place in tie-breaks, which means I qualified for the Minnesota State U2000 Championships!!!! That's right, in just over a month I'll be competing for a state championship. This will not be my first rodeo, as I have qualified before (but I got crushed so we don't talk about that lol), but this time I'm ready for a fight. I increased my USCF rating to 1902 as well!!!! Ya boi is a 1900 and I'm coming for all you 2000s out there. 😆
I want to thank a couple people from this site (who will remain anonymous for now) who gave me feedback about my playing style and areas to improve. I also want to thank my opponents for some great games, the TDs for a well-run tournament, and my family for supporting me. And last but not least, thanks to all of you for reading this blog! May the light of the stars shine on your path and may you always win with the Bongcloud!
P.S. If you spot any errors in this article or think of any tips for me, drop a comment down below! Your constructive criticism is appreciated!
P.P.S Huge shoutout to @redloudcar and @ChessicalMoves for playing the tournament with me! They each scored over 50% in their sections and hopefully had a blast as well!
Past Improvers Journey 2025 Blog posts
