My chess tournament- Part 19- Hitting the Jackpot in Vegas

Hello chess.com members! A few days ago I competed in the 24th Annual North American Open, held at Bally's Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, Nevada, from December 26-29. This was my 9th time going to Vegas for a chess tournament! I went every six months ever since the summer of 2010. Since I never fly, it's always a long 10-11 hour road trip . Luckily, I don't get carsick and I'm pretty used to them by now.

After celebrating a pretty boring Christmas, it was time to leave the next morning! This tournament was pretty special indeed since my sister was coming along!

My published rating being 2055 and my real rating being 2092, which was pretty close to 2100, I was seriously debating whether to play in U2100 or in the U2300. I've been in the U2100 section twice before, one when I was 1924 and another when I was 1964. In both of them, I scored 5.0/7, good enough for some money. The reason I decided on U2100 was because this was probably the last time I could win $ (yes, I was ). Also, I wanted to make sure I have mastered my own section before challenging myself further, since I was still irritated about losing to a 1900 last month. I wasn't too obsessed with money, and since there was pretty good competition I was hoping to play some good games.

Let me just say that despite the results of my games, a lot of them should have been the other way around or a draw. This was one of the luckiest tournaments I've ever had, and I don't often feel bad after winning, but sometimes I did. This did scare me a little since these were people I should crush with a giant attack or a winning ending, but somehow some of them managed to come back.

Since we left really late in the morning (we left at 7:20 am and the first round was at 6 pm), I ended up RUSHING to the playing hall at 6:40 p.m in my PJ's. That was pretty much the latest I've ever been. Plus, I'm not exactly a quick mover, so I was scared that I would be under really bad time pressure. So I just played my first move and left to freshen up.

I told myself to calm down, that the first round wouldn't be that hard. 

In the first round I was paired with an 1884 from NY. He was a slow mover, so I managed to equalize time wise. He brought his rook out too early hoping to attack, but it cost him as I won a pawn. Obviously there was still work to do. Then he "blundered". I put that in quotes since it was actually the best move and if I tried to take advantage of the "blunder" I would lose any advantage I had. That's pretty much what happened. After some ridiculous time pressure and me praying I didn't hang my rook or get something forked or checkmated, the smoke cleared and it was pretty much a drawn rook ending. I would think that if someone had to lose, it would be ME. Because I'm horrible at endgames. But I figured I would try one last chance for my opponent to blunder, with a tricky K+P ending. I have no idea why those are so hard since there are only kings and pawns, but he did blunder with a risky move even though we had both gotten an extra 30 minutes on the clock, and soon he resigned. Not the best game:

Obviously I wasn't proud of this. I fell into my opponent's accidental trap and then it was just a draw. Good thing my opponent blundered!

Pretty much I thought if I struggle this much against someone over 200 points below my rating, how on earth was I supposed to do better against harder people?

Luckily, I got a good night's rest for the 11:30 a.m. game tomorrow. Whatever happened in between the game doesn't matter. Let's just erase that from my mind. I have 1/1 now, right! No one will know how I struggled to win it. It doesn't show a half point.

The next game was quite worse than the last one. I played an 1830 from AZ. I managed to slowly get a crushing attack with a crazy opening line in the French, but then my worst nightmare happened! After forcing my opponents king out in the open, I could NOT finish it off. It was +12 in my favor! Then under time trouble I BLUNDERED pretty badly. My opponent somehow managed to escape! WHAT? No one does that! After a very unpleasant blunder I should have lost. But for some reason luck was still on my side. Quite huge actually, as my opponent made 3 inexplicable, huge blunders in a row after the time control and I won by some miracle!

Really embarassing game, but I'll show it anyway:

Here is the rest:

That was a very lucky save! I was still walking out of the game, unable to process what just happened. I KNEW I was completely winning that and I've converted positions like those easily. So one of the most disappointing wins ever. I shouldn't have even won that game!

I should prove that I'm near 2100 by crushing these opponents, not almost losing! A lot of these thoughts were in my head. My 2/2 score wasn't actually that perfect. I knew I was in for a challenge and I need to start playing better and being more watchful in order to do well.

I got lunch, took some rest, and tried to pretend that never happened.

Then the WEIRDEST thing happened- at the board I sat with my opponent who was supposed to have 2/2, but then he told me that he LOST the first game. Which meant that I was playing someone a point below me when that almost never happens in a swiss tournament. Since it was already really late to start the round, the people who made the pairings told us he was listed as 2 and someone made a mistake in marking the first game. They told us to play anyway, since it would delay the start of the round far more to change my opponent and change everyone else's opponents. My opponent was still at a decent rating so of course I didn't underestimate him or anything.

That is when things got WEIRD. He looked really sleepy in the beginning and on move 7 he went to the corner and SLEPT for a few minutes. But it's hard to get sleep since you're looking at your board to see if your opponent moved and all. I had spent 30 minutes on one of my moves and it was clear the late night wasn't helping him. Then on move 9 he offered me a draw. Who accepts a draw on move 9? So I said no, then he "blundered" his bishop. I put that in quotes since it looked like that at first but with further inspection of the position (which he didn't do) I actually only had a slight edge. So he resigned thinking he blundered his bishop, on move 11. Here's the oddly short game:

So I didn't blunder, but I still got lucky, pretty much since

A) They paired me with an opponent with only 1/2 because of a result error,

B) My opponent was super sleepy and probably jealous of the small mocha I was drinking during the game.

C) He resigned thinking he had blundered his bishop, but in reality it wasn't actually a blunder, and it wasn't hard to see why it wasn't.

So that's how I ended up winning in an hour against a 2000 and suprising everyone.

Going into Day 3 of the tournament, I was still awaiting yet a worthy opponent,  and I was wondering if I could hold my own or I would get crushed. But either way I knew I was in for a fight. My 3/3 didn't require that much work, just 2 swindles and a sleepy opponent. 

Since I was also pretty tired (especially because of round 2) I didn't explore any hotels, but I got to sleep earlier and all so I was in a pretty good mood the next day. I had pretty much told myself not to dwell on how I got 3/3 and just appreciate it, when some other top players drew or even lost a game.

I was paired against a 2085 from Maryland. I was white and my opponent managed to get a good position from the opening, but it was still equal for a while until he played too quickly and blundered his pawn. Then all of a sudden I was completely crushing but the position was extremely tricky. I didn't play the best moves and I had to settle for a draw (eventually). Here's the disappointing game:

There actually was some "drama" at the end. My opponent claimed a draw when there wasn't. After I saw no way to win I claimed a draw. After the second TD came and started going over the whole game we both knew it was a draw and just agreed .

I was really annoyed at blowing a completely winning position. So the one game where I was winning I don't win? Maybe I should be losing instead to win .

I could have been 4/4 with an amazing start! I wasn't very far behind and 3.5/4 is definitely not bad. Since the game ran really late, I just got some food and went back to the hotel.

There was ONE person with 4/4 and there were 6 people (including me) with 3.5/4. Since they base tiebreaks by rating (which saves time but doesn't make much sense), I was the lowest rated (my published rating was 2055), so I ended up playing someone with 3.0/4. The least they could do after pairing me with someone 1/2 was make it up to me and pair me with someone with 3.5/4! 

I was still playing a hard opponent though, since he was the top person in the list with 3/4. He was really high rated and lost to the person with 4/4. 

THIS was when it started to get ugly. This tournament so far has absolutely been crazy. It started with an aggressive opening by me which my opponent didn't react in the right way. I actually got an edge despite being down a pawn. I didn't play it right, and missed a pretty obvious move which equalized by my opponent. I actually wasn't losing since I found some cool, sneaky tricks in the position (which my opponent was too smart to fall for of course). Soon it simplified to a completely drawn ending but my opponent did a good job in creating imbalances and combined with time pressure, fatigue, and lack of endgame skill, I wasn't able to hold. Here's the most disappointing game:

That was pretty much the most disappointing and frustrating game I've had in this tournament. Because

A) I had an edge in the opening and should have just castled and maintained the pressure. The pawn wasn't going anywhere.

B) Even then, I managed to play accurately and reach a drawn endgame.

C) I ended up LOSING it because I wasn't careful and I can remember instances where I should have thought my moves over.

D) I blundered mate in ONE.

E) I had basically eliminated my chances to win (or so I thought).

So it was really a letdown for me, because I was so close but didn't make it in the end. And usually when I lose ONE game, I lose the next few after than and end up with a bad tournament even though I started well. Sometimes, it's hard to "stop the bleeding". But one of the most important things in tournaments is not giving up. In long round tournaments (like 7) people can have a setback but still recover and come back on top. 

I decided to look at the positives. I would still get a decent opponent with 3.5/5. Now I wasn't at the top, I wasn't under that much pressure anymore. Surprisingly, I was still in a good mood ready to fight the next day. That was a key moment of the tournament. I decided to try to win my two games today (which was a hard goal).

In the morning I was paired with a 1981 from Florida. He got pretty greedy in the opening and I thought I was crushing, but I played inaccurately and allowed him to consolidate two pawns up. Then he won a THIRD pawn and I was really under pressure. I did NOT want to lose this. I was determined not to lose. I played tricky moves to put pressure on my opponent, and eventually we reached this endgame where I had some activity but with the right move black should win. My opponent's not an engine, and struggling to make move 40 he blundered a piece! Well, a piece vs. two pawns didn't mean a clear win for me so I took advantage of his slight inaccuracies to win in the end! (quicker than I thought). Here's the intense game:

So that was yet another game I could have lost. I was down THREE pawns and only won because my opponent was under pressure. If my opponent had been patient and defended his weaknesses first then I might not have even posted this. Just kidding. 

Well whatever happened in between the beginning of the game and the result doesn't matter. The result of the game does. I did feel bad for my opponent since he told me he had a high fever after the game. I don't consider that part of my luck though.

Surprisingly, I was still in the running for maybe tying for second or third place and getting some money if I win. There was only one round left and I had 4.5/6. In the two previous years, I had scored 5/7. Now I had a chance to beat that record!

Whoa there. Calm down. That was assuming you would WIN the last game, which would be super hard since you're paired against a 2086!

Those were pretty much my thoughts. So in some weird way, luck was still on my side. I thought that all of it had been lost because of the bad day I had yesterday. But I'm glad that I got to turn it around.

The last round against a 2086 from CA was such a thriller! He was only 11 years old, but he played really well in the tournament. I was a bit better out of the opening since he played a line that doesn't promise much for white. We ended up with an imbalanced position which led to an even endgame. But somehow I managed to find a concrete plan to improve my position. Then there came the critical moment where, under time pressure, I found an important move! I'll let you see the spectacular move and result for yourself:

I should call that the $2000 game. That was one of my most brilliant endgame combinations, and I've sacced queens before! What made me even more proud of myself was because I chose not to play it safe and to trust my calculation and it worked out wonderfully in the end. This proved that with the right mindset I can beat strong players. This made up for my struggle throughout the tournament, and the fact that I was able to come back and win both my games today. I was pretty calm after the game that maybe I won some money. That is, until someone else with 5.5/7 came up to me and told me I tied for first and would get at least $2000!  I was in utter shock. Didn't someone do better than me? I couldn't believe my ears. When I went upstairs to mark my result my dad ran up to me and hugged me. Apparently NO ONE had gotten 6 or above (which is pretty rare) and I was in a 6 way tie for first! 

There I was, eagerly calculating how much money I would win. Then someone else won their game and now it was a 7 way tie for first! I never imagined that I would tie for first at all! I calculated that I would get approximately $2200 dollars but then I saw a rule they had: If a player has been 30 points or more above the section limit within the past year, they get a maximum of a $2000 prize, and the remaining money goes to the next players in line!  So I found 3 people with restricted prize money and I ended up getting around $145 more, which means that I got $2345!    I still can't believe what happened. 

I had registered for a blitz tournament (a 10 game swiss with 5 rounds) since I was staying the night and driving home tomorrow. I ended up scoring 1-1 in the first two games against the US blitz champion, rated 2500! I pretty much wondered after that "Could this day get ANY better?" I didn't do that well in the later rounds but my blitz rating still went up to 2094!

After that, I redeemed my $2345 check with glee at 1 am and went to sleep, still processing what had happened.

Two days later, after the ride home, I got a new USCF rating of 2117! Which is my all time highest :)

I thought I did pretty well overall- not that great of a start despite the score but I finally managed to regain my composure in the end.

Here are the standings if you're interested:

 http://chessevents.com/2014/12/north-american-open-2014-standings-under-2100-section/

Congratulations to Bryon Doyle, Lennart Bjorksten, Victor Rosas, Shyam Gandhi, Samuel Bekker, and Raoul Crisologo for also getting first!

Thanks for reading! 

Here's some of my past posts:

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/my-chess-tournament--part-18

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/my-chess-tournament--part-17--pan-american-youth-chess-festival

http://www.chess.com/blog/Abhishek2/my-chess-tournament--part-16

http://www.chess.com/forum/view/game-showcase/my-chess-tournament--part-15

Sweet! Congratulations on the first place!

This is incredibly well written and instructive as well! I love your descriptions of the games along with ALL of your emotions! I also love how you mention that practicing tactics helped in that last game with the fabulous move. Heh. You just saved the best for last, eh? What a memorable tournament for you! CONGRATULATIONS and thanks for sharing the experience! I loved it and had a grin on my face as you describe your dad coming up to you and hugging. As a parent, I felt that pride too! What a night!

That was excellent.I can understand what it feels after losing a game but the way you came back was indeed superb!! Congo for the 1st prize!

Thanks!

Thank you so much! What a night indeed! 

well written and good games!

Nice job man!  I wish you the best of luck in your tournaments.  They are very exciting.  Keep up the good work, and keep us updated.  Looking forward to it man!

thanks!

Thank you, and I will keep you updated! 

You should post this in a blog.... very Good!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!

Thanks!

@Abhishek, absolutely tremendous result, only topped by your great blog. You've come a long way inbthe past year or two... :-)

My friend was at the tournament too! His rating jumped to National Master afterward. That's cool you went too (and did well!) and won money. 

I agree with NM "Nocheatingkid"'s post. Your commentary is interesting to read. And I think that's a real talent in itself! Have you ever been published for your chess game commentary? Cause you've got a great writing style. 

At the least you should see if Dr Cris can put a link to this in the DHLC newsletter :-)

Of course I am Harvey! That's a given!

thank you so much!

Who was he? Thank you! No, it's never been published before.