Wyoming Closed Championship - My 2nd OTB Tournament
Over the weekend (Saturday happens to be National Chess Day) my dad and I drove over to Casper, Wyoming for the Wyoming Closed State Championship. This was my second ever OTB tournament in the US, and I was really hoping to do well in the tournament, gain experience, and improve my rating.
The time control of the games was 40/90 SD G/60, which means (I had to look this up myself before the tournament as it is an incredibly confusing statement) that the first 40 moves are played in 90 minutes and another 60 minutes added after that. The tournament, which took place over two days, had 5 rounds, so every round was extremely critical.
I am posting this blog because of many reasons:
-I hope to encourage those in places where chess is not very popular to play (and of course everyone else as well) by sharing my experience.
-I hope to teach people about how to improve their chess-playing abilities by providing detailed annotations of my own games from the tournament.
-I hope to reach out to those who have never gone to a real OTB tournament and encourage them, regardless of playing ability, to go to one.
-I myself hope to gain knowledge about chess through this process, and comments people may leave.
Anyway, now onto my games!
Round 1
The first round did not come without a hint of sadness. Mr. Uptain, my opponent, had a son, Mark Uptain, who was recently killed by a bear on a hunting trip. The whole Uptain family was very active in the Wyoming chess crowd. Tom played well, far above someone of his rating.
Round 2
I found out that I was playing a guy called Tim Schoessler. I got really nervous before the match after I realized that he had just won the Montanna Open and Wyoming Closed twice. We played a very interesting game, though not without mistakes.
Round 3
Round 3 was the first time I ever played a CM, CM Dan Joelson. He made me even more nervous after I realized that he was a CM and that he was an 18-time winner of the Wyoming Closed.
Round 4
I couldn't believe that I beat Mr. Joelson with the black pieces. Now, I had the black pieces for the third time in a row, against the third highest rated player of the tournament who had won two championship titles. Was that some kind of practical joke?
Round 5
I realized that all I needed was a draw to secure victory in the last round. I had just beaten the three top players of the tournament (as Mr. Schoessler put it, I beat the three people that have a combined 22 state championship titles in a row all with black pieces) so I wasn't too nervous about this game. Mr. Hoffman throughout the tournament would give my dad updates on my games after his games finished, so I already knew Mr. Hoffman quite well. Right before this game, my dad pulled me aside, and since he doesn't play chess, he told me this pleasant story about a snowboarder who was going to win the olympics but failed the very last jump. (Thanks Dad, inspiring story for the last round!).
My rating will improve tremendously after this tournament. According to the USCF rating calculator, it will shoot all the way up to 1839. My performance rating was an amazing 2444 (though this is skewed by the fact that I didn't lose or draw at all).
I had a great time at this tournament. I would like to thank the tournament director, Joseph Simon, and all the other people at the Wyoming Chess Association in their work that made this tournament possible. During the winter season, I will be focused on speech and debate, so I might not be able to go to another tournament for a while (though I will make it to the Wyoming Open at the start of November). If you are interested in my content, you can see my article about my first OTB tournament, the Eastern Idaho Open, here.
