My games from the Memphis Reserve tournament. The Memphis Reserve is a seven-round SS tournament in Memphis, TN held by the Memphis Chess Club, Inc. To see all games, click here.

Round 1

My opponent played the Caro-Kann, and I went into the Exchange Variation. Unfortunately, I had spent most of my time preparing for a Sicilian or a French Defense and went out of book on the sixth move. Although I still had a playable game, I lacked a plan and made positional errors that led to tactical errors.

Round 2

The next round I fared better, and faced a slightly lower-rated opponent. I played the Center-Counter (or Scandinavian) Defense, and though my opponent tried a few anti-Scandinavian tricks (like an early b4) I felt confident throughout the game. Of course, blunders abound, I'm sure.

Two losses from the 2009 Southern Mississippi Open:

In the first round, my opponent played an irregular Queen Pawn opening that I was unfamiliar with, until he played ...c4 at which point I tried to transpose into the Chigorin Defense. Unfortunately this did not allow the move order I would normally play in the Chigorin, and this caused me a great deal of discomfort with my position.

The second round was much worse. I played (or rather, misplayed) the Scotch gambit as white. Normally, after 4 ... d6 the game would transpose into a Philidor Defense with a favorable game for White. I, however, had forgotten this. I never felt comfortable in this game.

mhtraylor