How I became the Clarendon U1800 Champion
November 8, 2025
With the tournament only 5 days away, I started my preparation by doing puzzles on Lichess, as I had cancelled my Chess.com subscription because I wasn't using it as often. Therefore, I'm not willing to pay for a service that I don't utilise.
I really enjoy Lichess puzzles because they're drawn from actual games played on the site, and I learn a lot more when I solve them or don't. I also played some 3+0 blitz games to warm up and stay sharp under time pressure, which is beneficial in classical games as the clock starts to tick down.
Although I played some blitz games, I refrain from playing too much because blitz is often played on intuition, and the quality of the moves is usually suboptimal rather than based on concrete calculation and evaluation. I did play some blitz games on chess.com a few weeks ago, but after hitting my peak rating of 2268, my internet suddenly started lagging, and I went on a losing streak to 2202, and I usually would be upset about it and try to get back the elo I'd lost but I close the app and decided that I wasnt going to let online losses get me down.
November 13, 2025
On this day, I had a match against @AbubakrExpert. It was the first round of the Improvers Marathon tournament, and before the match, I went on Lichess to warm up with some puzzles. However, I noticed that since my puzzle rating was now in the 2500s, the puzzles are now more difficult, and I lost a majority of them. Even though I lost those puzzles, I didn't immediately move on to the next; I tried to play through them and understand why my move wasn't the best. I think it's very important to do so when training puzzles because it's not about the rating, it's about learning from the mistakes and losses that actually help a player to improve at the game. I'm aware that it's different when going through a lost game because I'd be lying if I said it isn't painful to revisit a game I lost, and I'm still working on handling how I react whenever I'm analyzing my losses. After accepting and learning from the puzzles I lost, I was ready for the game against my opponent.
I did some digging through my opponent's recent games, and since he plays the KID (King's Indian Defence), I memorised some lines I learned on Lotus Chess (I highly recommend it). I knew I had a decent advantage from the opening, but I had to prove it in the middlegame, where I noticed that my opponent really wanted to play f5, which is a standard plan in the KID; however, I knew that if he ever played f5 I'd have the g file for my attack and since the centre is locked, my king is actually safer than his in that scenario. My idea for playing f3 was to reinforce e4, maintain the bishop pair, and castle queenside, but the engine says it's not the best plan. My opponent was using very little time on his clock to make his moves despite having an hour plus 10 sections increments per move, which I thought was illogical since he was the lower rated player. I expected him to use his time to carefully consider the moves. Because of his reckless playing, I ended up winning his queen, and after a dubious rook sac and a spite check, he resigned.
November 14, 2024
On the day of the tournament, after waking up, I did a 3 minute meditation to clear my mind, I had breakfast, then I met with my friend @FXDEDWATERS in Mandeville to travel to the tournament at Glenmiur High School. I gave him some advice on areas where he needs to put his focus and how to handle playing in this section of the tournament. As for me, my sight was set on winning the tournament since last year, I missed out on first by half a point, so I was determined to win. Although I knew I had to win, I tried not to focus too much on the results; instead, I took it one game at a time and did my very best in every single game. I knew there would be strong players in the U1800 section, and among them was my friend and rival @chepf. Knowing this, I was a lot less nervous and tense than usual when I arrived at the tournament, and I believe this played a crucial role in my performance.
Round 1
I got the black pieces in round 1 against a 9 year old girl, Nyah Wood, who was rated 1515. I was pleased with receiving the black pieces against a lower rated player, since it would allow me to launch a counterattack where the worst I could get is a draw.
My opponent opened with 1 e4, and since she's lower rated, I was going to play my pet opening, the Pirc Defence. However, since this was a critical classical tournament, I wanted to take it seriously, so I opted for my classical repertoire that I spent hours memorising and understanding. I played the Caro Kann. I spent a lot of time practising this opening on Lotus Chess (I highly recommend the app), and I've reached expert level. I also played a lot of Rapid games in the Caro-Kann on chess.com, but I lost many games and rating points. However, I'm grateful that I lost those games because the agony of those defeats only fueled my drive to improve.
My opponent played very solidly in the opening, even tho I thought I was better after I played e5. I spent about 15 minutes calculating what the position would look like after e5, and I made sure to calculate the most forcing lines, as I've learnt in Forcing Chess Moves by Charles Hertan. After e5, I saw dxe5, Nxe5, Nxe5, Bxe5, and I thought my opponent had to play g4, then I thought I had Bh2+, Kf1, Rxe1+, Kxe1, and here I was evaluating whether I should play Qe7+, Kf1, Re8 and if the bishop is taken h5 I have an attack on the king (Qe1+, Kg2, Qg1+, Kf3, Qh1# according to the engine). Since I was now down to 10 minutes on the clock, I just played Qe7+, and she quickly responded. I thought her king was escaping to the queenside, but I still had hope in my attack since I had a centralised knight, a rook on the C file, a bit of central space and piece coordination. My idea behind b6 was to free my queen from tactically defending a7 (if Bxa7, I have b4 winning the bishop), but after her next move, my eyes lit up, and I immediately knew that a tactic was on the board. She wasn't able to get the king to safety, but Kb1 would allow me to win a pawn with Nxc3+. Therefore, she thought Nxc4 wasn't possible, since it doesn't give check. However, I immediately noticed that the bishop on d3 was undefended. The queen would be attacked, coupled with my rook on C8, if bxc3, Rxc3+ and I win back the piece with a pawn. I played Nxc3 in about 30 seconds. My opponent was playing fast because I was short on time, but now that she knows the position is critical, she thought for a while and played Qa6, attacking my rook. I didn't have a discovered attack with the knight, but I knew Qc7 would be enough to renew the threat. After we exchanged queens, I knew I had to win the endgame because kids aren't so good at endgames.
Round 2
In round 2, I got paired against my protege and former DC teammate, and fortunately, I got the white pieces. Before the game started, I was thinking about whether I should play d4 or e4 against him, and I reasoned that A) If I played d4 against him, he would most likely play the King's Indian Defence, and I wasn't in the mood for a sharp tactical game. B) If I play e4, then he's most likely to play the Sicilian Defence, and I was 99% sure he'd play a Dragon Sicilian since it's basically the only variation he plays. I've always beaten him whenever we played the Sicilian. I wasn't sure whether I should go back to playing e4, since I haven't played it in a Classical game for a while. Still, I practised many lines and variations in the opening before I transitioned to d4, so I was confident in my decision to play e4 against him, and that's what I did.
Although it's been a long while since I played the Sicilian, I still remember the lines and variations. I intended to play the Moscow/Canal attack, but I didn't want to exchange my light square bishop too early, so I played Bc4 to reach a position similar to the Italian game. I was amazed when my opponent voluntarily exchanged his light square bishop for my knight without much thought. At first, I thought he had Ne5, attacking my queen and bishop, but I had Bb5+, and getting my queen to a better position after he responded to the check. He realised this and then played g6 to get his king castled, but I thought this move was a bit too slow, so I started thinking about how I could exploit it. My first instinct was to play Bg5, but after Bg7, I didn't see any advantage. Next I looked at Rd1, Bg7, d4, cxd4, cxd4, O-O, e5, dxe5, dxe5, Nxe5, and I thought this position was bad for me. Then I realised that my bishop and queen would be attacking f7 if the knight wasn't there, and his b7 pawn is undefended, and just like a puzzle piece fitting together, I figured that if my queen were on b3, it would be attacking b7 and adding pressure to f7 with the bishop on C4. I decided on playing Qd1 with the idea of going to b3 if he plays Bg7. However, I then looked for his best responses and noticed that if he played Qb6, it would stop my idea. I was 90% sure he wouldn't think much of my retreating queen move and would focus on his plan of Bg7 & O-O, and as expected, he did just that. I quickly played Qb3, and then the realisation hit him, so he started to think because he was playing his moves quicker than me, I had around 34 minutes to his 40. Even though I was up a pawn, I knew I had to utilize the advantage by developing my queenside and trading down to an endgame and pushing the pawns. My opponent made it a lot easier by blundering the d6 pawn, and instead of keeping the queens on the board, he traded into the endgame down two pawns. To my opponent's credit, he did try to resist by attacking my pawns, and he had a chance to hold the game by playing an insane line after we exchanged rooks on d8, he had Rc5, Rc1, Nd3!! (Rxd3, Rc1+, Rd1, Rxd1#), Kg1, Rxd5, but since he was getting lower on the clock, he took the d5 pawn with the knight and allowed d7 and the pawn can't be stopped, followed by Bf6+, and I'm just up a queen, so he resigned.
Round 3
Before this game, I was expecting my opponent to play e4, after which I was prepared to play the Caro-Kann. To my surprise, he played d4, and I used to play Nf6 and go for a Nimzo Indian, but through my analysis of my opening stats, I haven't had much success, so I decided to go back to playing the Slav Defence, which I've been practising some lines on Lotus Chess.
I misplayed the opening because he played the exchange Slav, and I knew the game was now equal, but I wanted to push for a win despite my evaluation. After he played Rfb1, I knew he was preparing a minority attack with b4 and b5, and I didn't want to allow it, so I played b5 myself, closing down the queenside, but at the cost of blocking my bishop and weakening c6. He played the move Qb2, intending to double the rooks on the C file and pressure my backwards c6 pawn, but I immediately countered this plan with Ng4, and although it's not the best move, my idea was to sacrifice on e3 and to bring my queen towards his king for an attack. He was getting lower on time, so he didn't find the best move and defended the threat with Re1, but this only allows me to bring my queen and other knight to support the attack. I knew the momentum shifted from the queenside to the kingside, and my opponent was now burning more time, and I wanted to keep attacking and not allow him any time to think. I instinctively played Ne4 without much calculation other than the assumption that if he takes with the bishop, he'd have one less defender on the kingside. That's why I immediately recaptured after he played Bxg4. I missed the crushing line: Qh1+, Ke2, Qxg2, Qc2, f5! He offered a trade of knights and a queen, but I avoided it because I'd lose momentum. So I kept the pieces on and continued the assault. There was a funny moment in the game when he touched the queen on move 31 and was about to move another piece, but I called touch, which is why he played Qd2. I tried to keep up the pressure by doubling the rooks on the E file and attacking his weaknesses, but despite being low on time, I'm impressed that he found the best defensive moves to thwart my attack; however, after I played the final move Nf6, he was thinking for a while until he lost on time. I wasn't too proud of winning like that, because it would have been a different story if he'd played g4 or Nf4, which I'd expected, but I was relieved the game was over, and I finished the day on 3/3.
After finishing the first day on 3/3, I would be lying if I said I wasn't happy about it; however, I did not let the excitement get to me since I'm only halfway through the tournament and I remember the advice from thechessnerd youtube video where he advised that during a tournamnet no matter the result one should stay completely detatached and emotionless until the end of the tournament. I followed this advice and kept my excitement in check. When I got home, I told my mom I had won all three of my games, and she was delighted. I uploaded my games to my chess.com library, but I didn't analyse them because I didn't want to give myself false dopamine. After logging my games, I had dinner, and I went to my bed at 9 PM to get some good sleep and recover my mind for the following day.
November 15, 2025
I woke up at 5 AM and did 3 minutes of meditation before showering and having breakfast. Before I leave, my mom wishes me the best and prays for me. I set off to Mandeville to meet with my friend Michiale, and we travelled to Glenmiur High for the last three rounds of the tournament.
Round 4
In this round, I was paired against the only other person with 3/3, Sajay McIntosh. Before the game, I looked at his chess.com profile to see what he plays as white and black. I noticed that he recently started playing an interesting move in the Nimzo-Indian, so, since I was given the white pieces, I wanted to avoid the Nimzo. I played the Anti-Nimzo, and after 3. Nf3, he played Be7, and after I played Nc3, he played the bishop to b4, losing a tempo, so I played Qb3 to attack the bishop and force a response and replied with a5.
After a3, I was expecting him to take my knight, and after Qxc3, Ne4, Qc2, f5, I thought we would have a dynamic middlegame, but what I wasn't expecting was a4?? I was going to capture his bishop with my queen immediately, but then I remembered a queen trap video with the same motif. My opponent got up from the board after making his move, which made me think he'd realise his mistake. I started calculating, and at first I thought my queen would be trapped after Qxb4, Nc6, Qc5, Ra5. But I realised my queen wasn't completely trapped because Nb5 blocked the attack on it. After that, he thought for a while and played h6. I saw this move and knew he was renewing the threat of trapping my queen, so I prepared d5 to escape to e3. Although I was up a bishop, I knew I shouldn't get ahead of myself because the game isn't won until it's over. He put up a valiant resistance, but after Ne5, dxc4, Nxd7, cxd3 and Nxb6, the writing was on the wall because I'll be winning another piece; therefore, he resigned.
The game was one of the shortest of the fourth round, and I had the opportunity to speak with him afterwards, and he said he played a4 because he saw an opening video that morning with the same queen trap motif. We analysed how the game could have proceeded, and he shared some tips for playing the French Defence despite the bad C8 bishop. It was a good conversation, and I learnt something new. Since the game concluded early, I had more time to get myself ready for the next round.
Round 5
Up until this round, I've been going to the bathroom before each game to wash my face, avoid fatigue, and cool down because the temperature would peak at noon. I sometimes found it affected my concentration in previous tournaments. After the pairings came out, I knew I had to win this game as payback, since he beat me in the Chess In Motion Rapid to take first place, while I came 2nd.
It was an exchange Caro Kann, and I went for this Qe7 line to stop Bf4. I wanted to play Nge7, but I kept seeing ghosts after Ng5, so I opted for Nf6. I was hoping to castle queenside, but then I realised his attack would be faster than mine, since I can no longer play f6 and g5. After trading down to a bishop vs knight, I thought I'd equalised, so I offered him a draw, and he declined, so I offered a queen trade, and he also declined it. He later played f4, and I was a bit concerned that he's going to open the position with my king still in the centre. I manoeuvred my queen to the kingside to defend and counterattack. I had about 8 minutes, while he had 20. I was expecting Rf8 to stop me from castling, and he thought for a long time, then offered a queen exchange, and I immediately accepted, knowing that the endgame would be much simpler without the queens on. I thought I was slightly worse since my bishop was passively defending e6 and b5, but he also had weaknesses, namely the backwards c6 pawn and an isolated e-pawn. I threatened a repetition, and he declined. After he rerouted the knight to f4, attacking g6, I was happy because I could activate my bishop and get it into play on the diagonal. I noticed that if my bishop could annoy his rook by playing Bh5, Rd3, Bg6, I could force a repetition because his rook can't leave the defence of the c3 pawn, and if he played Re3, which he did in the game, I had d4, taking advantage of the pinned c3 pawn. I sacrificed my rook to promote the pawn, after which I thought I'd blunder a draw, but after taking some time to calculate, I realised that, given his king's position, I always have fork tactics once my king escapes the rook's checks. There was a funny moment in the game where he tried a last resort to resist by playing Rf7, seemingly giving a free rook, but if I'd played Bxf7, he had Nd7+ forking the king and queen, which would force a draw. Seeing this, I give a check to get out of the way so I can take the rook on the next move.
Now that I'm on 5/5 going into the final round, I only needed a draw to win the tournament outright, and even if I lose, I'd be tied for first, but the prize money of JMD $30,000 (USD $187) would be split between the tied players, and the player with the higher tiebreaks gets the trophy.
Round 6
I was paired against my friend and rival in this round, and he was on 4 points; if he won, he would be tied with me for first. However, there was the 9 year old kid Luke Wright on 4 points and was most likely to win his round 6, this would cause a three-way tie for first and we would have to split the 30K, that's 10K each, and the player with the highest tiebreak gets the trophy. I analysed the situation and realised that if I lost the final game, I'd still be in first place. I'd have the better tiebreaks since I had no previous draws, so I'd most likely get the trophy. Still, I didn't believe that after so much effort, going home with only 10K was worth it for Taniel and me; however, if we drew the last game, I'd be in clear first, Taniel would have 4.5 points and most likely be in 3rd place, and Luke would be in second with 5 points. It was the best option for me and Taniel to draw the last game since I'd get first place, yes, but my friend would also get third and go home with 15K and a trophy. I consulted him about it before the game to try to convince him that it would be best if we drew the last match, since we would go home with more money, and it would be worth it, but he really wanted to win, and he didn't accept my offer. I got the white pieces, which meant I could push for a win, but I didn't want to take any unnecessary risk when I'm this close to winning the tournament.
