I would like another 15 minutes please!

My 15 minutes of chess fame came when I tied for 3rd in the U1800 section  of the $500,000 HB Global chess tournament way back in 2005.  I played a great last round game where I tripled the major pieces on the 7th rank.

My opponent even resorted to what could be termed "Gamesmanship" when he started staring at me and standing behind me (making his moves from there!) He gained 233 points in the event!

The game is here

Cross table here.

Why am I bringing this up now?  That's the best way I can think of to get over the disappointment of losing my last round game at the NASNAJ Open in Houston last Sunday.

A combination of good luck & good chess had me sitting pretty on 3.5/4.0 going into the last round half a point ahead.

All I needed was a draw for a guaranteed share of 1st. A win would have given me $350, a nice plaque and a rating close to 1950.  I ended up with $50 and a rating of 1921 (Still an all time high) .
The difference between winning and losing at the HB Global was $2500 vs $500

After getting a huge positional edge, I didn't cash in on several tactical shots to bring home the point.

I am Black here, with so many options including ...Nxe3, ...Bxf4, ...Bb4, I chose the weak ...Nxd2 and in a few moves White was able to get his pieces out. I had to sac the exchange to get counter play and even after that had a good position, but had eaten up too much time.

The game is here.

I think that I am playing at 2000 level positionaly but tactically I am probably playing at a 1800 level.

NOT-A-SENIOR-NOT-A-JUNIOR OPENJuly 22-24, Houston

Results here

1. Draw CORNELIUS JONES III (1790)
2. Win SAM DILLON (1635)
3. Win TRAVIS R GUENTHER (1880)
4. Win JULIAN A HERNANDEZ (1840)
5. Loss LUIS P GONZALEZ (1814)