My initial goal was to reach 2000, by the Feb 2007 suplement.By mid December I had reached 1889, but due to various reasons I could not schedule any games with the time time controls that I like. (Not less than G/90)
I decided to played in 3 tournaments anyway,
The 1st in Grand Rapids,MI. I lost 19 points there in crazy time scrambles. (G/60)
The 2nd in Kansas City, MO where I won the first lost the second to a master and then lost to a 1600 in the last round being up a piece but with less time. This was a G/45, 3 round event. Lost another 15 points there.
The 3rd was in Bloomington, IL where I tied for first with 3.5/4 (with 1 bye), but the wins were against lower rated players. That was good for $80.
The latest USCF record shows my rating at 1859, but I have a draw against a 2100 player that was accidently left out, after that gets factored in I will be at 1866.
The 2nd in Kansas City, MO where I won the first lost the second to a master and then lost to a 1600 in the last round being up a piece but with less time. This was a G/45, 3 round event. Lost another 15 points there.
The 3rd was in Bloomington, IL where I tied for first with 3.5/4 (with 1 bye), but the wins were against lower rated players. That was good for $80.
The latest USCF record shows my rating at 1859, but I have a draw against a 2100 player that was accidently left out, after that gets factored in I will be at 1866.
I will be playing a lot less now. I was planning on doing some studying and playing about once a month, although I am having second thoughts. Maybe its just a big waste of time. Maybe I am just dissapointed because I feel that I should have not played in those fast time control events.
I will post the games soon.
You're still too obsessed with your rating! So what if you lose 10 points? It is a known fact that after you make a rating jump you will always lose a fair amount of those points in the months following your rating jump. Don't get discouraged, EVERYONE has setbacks after their rating jumps. Keep studying, playing in an occasional tournament, looking over games with your coach, and sooner or later, you WILL (100% guaranteed as long as you do ALL three of the things mentioned above) make another rating jump.
ReplyDeleteI finally reached 2000 for the first time last September. It took me three and one-half years to pick up the last fifty points.
ReplyDeleteI agree that focusing on your rating can be a negative. I hope you make expert, but I hope you enjoy the game even if you do not.
PS. I am putting my 2007 rating on the line for the first time this weekend. If it is my last tournament as an expert, it will still be fun.
What is "just a big waste of time"? I'm confused by what you are trying to get from this experience. Is it about "understanding and playing chess like an Expert" or "seeing my Expert rating in print"? I sense your disappointment, but ... do you feel that you understand and play chess like an Expert today, and your rating for some reason does not reflect your true strength, or do you feel that you don't play Expert-level chess and (you're discouraged because you feel) you never will?
ReplyDeleteI just this morning finished a ten day Buddhist meditation course. So it's especially easy for me to repeat what I may have said before: your progress to Expert will come when you give up your craving for ratings, and focus on PLAYING the game we all love.
Bhavatu sabba mangalam ...
I agree don't worry about your rating right now. I admire vince for going to a tourney and risking his rating just cause u get to your target rating say 2000 is no good if you then stop playing for fear of losing your rating points !
ReplyDeleteJon Burgess
I am thinking of starting a blog titled "Staying at 2000" which I managed to do by going 3 1/2-1 1/2 at Tim Just's Winter Open.
ReplyDeleteHey, my last rating change was 2007->2010! It is tough to gain points when you're paired down all the time.
ReplyDeleteThere is certainly no margin for error when you are paired down. In the thirty games that took me from 1948 to 2010, I was lucky not to give away any points to players under 1800, and I only dropped 1 1/2 points to players under 1900.
ReplyDeleteI wonder whether one of Ivan's problems is that his opening repertoire does not put enough pressure on lower rated players. Even a 1400 has certain position that he can play like an expert if you let him hang around long enough.
vince
ReplyDeletegreat performance at your recent tourney you did very well and you continue to improve which is great news !
Jon Burgess