Round 1: Seed #16 GM Jesse Kraai faces CM Joshua Altman. Jesse gets an advantage in a double-rook ending, but then drops a pawn.
Round 2: GM Kraai vs WIM Svitlana Demchenko. Jesse demonstrates the power of the two bishops.
Round 3: GM Kraai vs GM Zhou Jianchao. Jesse faces the #2 seed. White gets the better minor piece, pressuring Black. Jesse loses a pawn, then the exchange, and finally the game.
Round 4: GM Kraai vs Naman Kumar. Jesse gets the two bishops advantage, but is unable to bring home the full point.
Round 5: GM Kraai vs Eric Kurtz. Jesse arrives almost an hour late for the game. An early skirmish peters out to a drawn rook ending.
Round 6: GM Kraai vs Bijan Tahmassebi. This time Jesse gets the good knight vs bad bishop and wins the ending.
Round 7: GM Kraai vs Lev Paciorkowski. Jesse gets a strong position in the middlegame, but his opponent escapes in the ending.
Round 8: GM Kraai vs GM Carlos Hevia Alejano. Jesse gets the better of it, but the game ends in perpetual check.
Round 9: GM Kraai vs FM Eugene Yanayt. Jesse distains a draw and makes the last mistake in the seesaw battle that follows.
He loses 23 rating points putting him at 2406.
8th Cherry Blossom Classic - MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND !!!
May 27th - 31st, May 28th/29th - 31st 2021
Washington Dulles Airport Marriott
45020 Aviation Dr, Dulles, VA 20166, VA 20166
Jesse is returning to the "real world" this weekend for an Over-The-Board Tournament!
There are 58 players in the Open Tournament with an average rating of 2171.
You can follow our hero here: http://cherryblossomchess.com/