The event finished without any spectacular or disasterous results. I beat NM Andy Lee in round 6 after I achieved a much better position, blundered it away in one move, and then had the favor significantly returned to me. In round 7 I lost to IM Pruess after chances were missed for both sides during the complications. In round 8 I recieved a forfeit due to some incidents. In round 9 I lost unfortunately smoothly to IM Sarkar after playing too aggressively in the opening. In round 10 I achieved a nice position from the opening against GM Panchanathan, then I played a few inaccurate moves to give him the advantage which followed him winning a second pawn but giving me real counter-play. He blundered allowing me to win a piece, but I was playing quickly as not trying to drag on the game and I thought I chose between two moves that were equally good, but he had a shot against my choice that didn't work against the other so he won the game quickly from there. All in all I feel what this tournament let me know the most was that I need to work harder on my calculations at the board and that I still have a few minor holes in my opening preparation that need some work. I need to slow down some of my decisions and calculate more thoroughly, but I believe if I can achieve this I can improve my results quickly.
Rating Change: 2119->2125
Monday, December 25, 2006
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
EBCC FIDE "swiss" half-way
So far I'm 1.5/5 for traditional scoring and 4/13 for BAP. I missed a forced draw in round one against IM Roussell-Roozmon, in round 2 I beat Mr. BAP himself, in round 3 I lost to FM Rensch who roughed me up. In round 4 I continue this losing to Sharavdorj as black although he's known for being particularly tough as white. In round 5 I got paired against Shankland, I missed on my guess for his prep and didn't know the line I played too well, but I defended pretty well and he rushed through the endgame so I managed to hold. Strange thing is in round 6 I'm paired against Andy Lee who is having a stellar tournament now with 3 wins in a row with the last two over IMs as black. Now I get him as black. THIS WILL BE MY 3RD BLACK IN A ROW! Oh well, I shouldn't mind, all my points so far are as black.
Monday, December 11, 2006
EBCC FIDE "Swiss"
EBCC FIDE "Swiss"
I guess the name of this tournament stuck even after it was changed from a swiss event to a BAP event. Maybe it should just be EBCC Norm tournament or maybe it should now be the EBCC FIDE Tournament, EBCC FIDE BAP, granted that last one is a little acronymn-packed. Of course the name is not so important, the tentative field so far (minus me) might be more important:
1) No opening disasters, that is no lost positions right from the opening carried through for the rest of the game.
2) AT LEAST 2.5/10, this is not an easy goal, but I don't want to pretend like I'll be "happy enough" with 4/10 either, I will be trying to win all of my games (at the beginning of them) this tournament.
3) Practice reasonably good time management (don't play too fast or too slow).
4) Don't miss any good tactical shots my opponents give me.
5) Don't play any scared chess, be looking to punish moves I believe are "wrong".
6) Avoid getting taught "lessons" at the board, but make sure to have most opportunity to learn from each game.
Now some other possible, but not easy goals:
1) Beat an IM
2) Finish better than 2nd to last.
I guess the name of this tournament stuck even after it was changed from a swiss event to a BAP event. Maybe it should just be EBCC Norm tournament or maybe it should now be the EBCC FIDE Tournament, EBCC FIDE BAP, granted that last one is a little acronymn-packed. Of course the name is not so important, the tentative field so far (minus me) might be more important:
Name Title FIDE USCF Fed
Magesh Panchanathan GM 2485 2526 IND
Jesse Kraai IM 2473 2545 USA
John Fedorowicz GM 2469 2517 USA
Dashzegve Sharavdorj GM 2463 2523 MGL
Lev Milman IM 2463 2504 USA
Josh Friedel IM 2460 2535 USA
Thomas Roussel-Roozmon IM 2446 2572 CAN
Vladimir Mezentsev IM 2409 2488 RUS
David Pruess IM 2404 2461 USA
Justin Sarkar IM 2380 2390 USA
Danny Rensch FM 2369 2428 USA
Andy Lee NM 2259 2257 USA
Batchimeg Tuvshintugs WIM 2237 2278 USA
Sam Shankland NM 2208 USA
Clint Ballard 2062 1914 USA
(from http://www.eastbaychess.com/tourney/06/masters.php)
The tournament is a 10-rounder so presuming the field doesn't change (which is probably likely as it's less than a week before the start of the event)I will face a minimum of 5 IMs/GMs. That's a minimum of 5 cracks at doing what I've failed to do so far, secure a point (or fraction thereof) against an IM or higher. I'm not sure what my goal should be for this tournament, it might be that if I don't get on the board early it might be hard to make a comeback in this field. But I'll make some practical goals for this tournament:
1) No opening disasters, that is no lost positions right from the opening carried through for the rest of the game.
2) AT LEAST 2.5/10, this is not an easy goal, but I don't want to pretend like I'll be "happy enough" with 4/10 either, I will be trying to win all of my games (at the beginning of them) this tournament.
3) Practice reasonably good time management (don't play too fast or too slow).
4) Don't miss any good tactical shots my opponents give me.
5) Don't play any scared chess, be looking to punish moves I believe are "wrong".
6) Avoid getting taught "lessons" at the board, but make sure to have most opportunity to learn from each game.
Now some other possible, but not easy goals:
1) Beat an IM
2) Finish better than 2nd to last.
Friday, December 08, 2006
Guthrie McClain Memorial
Guthrie McClain Memorial
Okay, I was a little slow about writing this one up, sorry to my loyal fans. First round I won pretty smoothly. Second round I got a gigantic advantage out of the opening only to blow it away and I eventually won some same color bishop endgame after missing many wins in it where it may have even been drawn at some point (although I'm not 100% sure). Third round I played a low expert, I was careless in the opening and allowed a check to displace my king where I still stood well, but needed to play some active moves as despite my exposed king I was still ahead in development, I failed to do so and got an inferior position. I did create tricks in the position however which allowed me to come back and I even missed a simple win. I was still pushing in an opposition color bishop + rook endgame where in time trouble I blundered to allow a simplification into a dead-drawn opposite color bishop endgame, but the original endgame may have been drawn anyways. In the fourth round I faced the talented kid Nicholas Nip. As a note, in the current rating list I have now played (and gotten at least a draw) against the #1 age 8, age 10, age 11, and age 16. Nicholas surprised me in the opening being very well prepared after last time when he carelessly dropped a piece in the same opening. I got a tough position and tried to sacrifice an exchange to stay alive, but I played a few inaccurate moves and he collapsed my position. In the last round I played my friend Chad Salinas who I knew when we were both in Southern California. I actually misplayed the opening and he was probably already ok, but then he blundered away a crucial center pawn and resigned.
What can I say about this tournament? My score of 3.5/5 isn't great, but it's not terrible either. I wasn't too happy with my technique in round 2, and I shouldn't have missed simple stuff in round 3, in round 4 I wasn't happy, but my opponent played well, of course I'd prefer to "school" these grade-school prodigies, but g/45 is tough. In round 5 I need to study this opening line a little better (which I have some now and am even considering adding it as a possible defense as black), but at least I didn't miss my opportunities.
Rating Change: 2125 -> 2119
Okay, I was a little slow about writing this one up, sorry to my loyal fans. First round I won pretty smoothly. Second round I got a gigantic advantage out of the opening only to blow it away and I eventually won some same color bishop endgame after missing many wins in it where it may have even been drawn at some point (although I'm not 100% sure). Third round I played a low expert, I was careless in the opening and allowed a check to displace my king where I still stood well, but needed to play some active moves as despite my exposed king I was still ahead in development, I failed to do so and got an inferior position. I did create tricks in the position however which allowed me to come back and I even missed a simple win. I was still pushing in an opposition color bishop + rook endgame where in time trouble I blundered to allow a simplification into a dead-drawn opposite color bishop endgame, but the original endgame may have been drawn anyways. In the fourth round I faced the talented kid Nicholas Nip. As a note, in the current rating list I have now played (and gotten at least a draw) against the #1 age 8, age 10, age 11, and age 16. Nicholas surprised me in the opening being very well prepared after last time when he carelessly dropped a piece in the same opening. I got a tough position and tried to sacrifice an exchange to stay alive, but I played a few inaccurate moves and he collapsed my position. In the last round I played my friend Chad Salinas who I knew when we were both in Southern California. I actually misplayed the opening and he was probably already ok, but then he blundered away a crucial center pawn and resigned.
What can I say about this tournament? My score of 3.5/5 isn't great, but it's not terrible either. I wasn't too happy with my technique in round 2, and I shouldn't have missed simple stuff in round 3, in round 4 I wasn't happy, but my opponent played well, of course I'd prefer to "school" these grade-school prodigies, but g/45 is tough. In round 5 I need to study this opening line a little better (which I have some now and am even considering adding it as a possible defense as black), but at least I didn't miss my opportunities.
Rating Change: 2125 -> 2119
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)