5th Annual Austin Chess Club Championship Jan. 2-4 or 3-4

I performed below par.  Looking at the pre-entries, I was excited about playing a master in the first round.  I even did some research on likely 1st round opponents.

But they used accelerated pairings and I was paired down the 1st 2 rounds.  I only managed 2 draws against players rated around 1800.

I finally got the chance to play a master in round 3.  Liu, Bovey who is ranked #8 in Top age 13 list.

I had a wonderful chance to put him away with 32...f5, but bad time-management did not leave me with much time at this stage.

Due to family obligations, I could not play the last 2 rounds.





USCF Results

Prize winners

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Year	Winner(s)	Players
2015	FM RUIFENG LI, MBUGUA GITHORO	166
2014	FM RUIFENG LI	152
2013	ALEXANDER CHUA	137
2012	GM TIMUR GAREYEV	141
2011	IM GORAN VOJINOVIC	135

Game against IM Sean Nagle

It's not often one gets the opportunity to play an IM in a tournament game. I faced IM Sean Nagle in round 2 of the 2nd Bloomington Open in MN. Sean Nagle is an expert in the exchange variation. I thought I was doing fine, until I castled, when his pawns came rolling down and I was forced to damage my structure.

Etc.

	Start	Peak	End
2015	1906
2014	1871	1906	1906
2013	1888	1962	1871
2012	1871	1888	1888
2011	1901	1942	1871
2010	1863	1909	1901
2009	1869	1889	1863
2008	1890	1890	1869
2007	1863	1890	1890
2006	1802	1885	1863
2005	1743	1880	1802

Events since February 2014,

End Date Event ID	Event Name Section ID and Name	Reg Rtg Before / After
2014-11-09 201411094492	2014 BLOOMINGTON OPEN (MN) 1: OPEN	1863 => 1906
2014-11-02 201411021932	IOWA ROUND ROBIN 4 (IA) 1: OPEN	1865 => 1863
2014-10-12 201410123172	23RD MIDWEST CLASS CHAMPIONSHI (IL) 2: 1700-2099	1852 => 1865
2014-09-14 201409142902	GREG KNUTSON MEMORIAL (WI) 1: KNUTSON	1855 => 1852
2014-08-17 201408174322	60TH IOWA OPEN RESERVE RBO (IA) 1: 60TH IOWA OPEN	1892 => 1855
2014-07-26 201407265752	23RD ANNUAL CATFISH DAYS (MN) 1: OPEN	1906 => 1892
2014-05-04 201405045882	2014 ARPAD ELO (WI) 1: OPEN	1860 => 1906
2014-04-27 201404273192	GREATER PEORIA OPEN 2014 (IL) 1: OPEN	1856 => 1860
2014-04-13 201404137802	THE BILL WRIGHT SAINT LOUIS OP (MO) 2: U2000	1896 => 1856

Future Plans

JAN. 2-4 OR 3-4   5th Annual Austin Chess Club Championship

JAN. 10-11   Port of Dubuque Open

FEB. 20-22   US Amateur Team Chamoionship - North

Magnus on Reddit

Full transcript here

Some interesting ones:

[–]perrii 383 points 1 day ago

Hi! What do you think of Nakamura joking with calling you Sauron on Twitter?

[–]MagnusOenCarlsen[S] 2033 points 1 day ago

I've never actually watched Lord of the Rings... if I had, and Nakamura had been a better chess player, I might have been more insulted.

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[–]fra403 113 points 1 day ago

Hey Magnus, let me just start and say that i'm a really big fan.

I'm trying to break the 2000 barrier and I was wondering if you could give me any advice to achieve my goal.

Thanks for doing an AMA!

[–]MagnusOenCarlsen[S] 235 points 1 day ago

Studying tactics, I would say. Up to that level, most games are still decided by someone hanging a piece...or blundering a checkmate - haha

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[–]kalebreath 139 points 1 day ago

What's your favorite chess book? Favorite non-chess book?

[–]MagnusOenCarlsen[S] 535 points 1 day ago

Chess book: Kramnik: My Life & Games made a strong impression on my as a child

Non-chess book: close race between several Donald Duck comics (seriously).

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[–]TheZenDom 48 points 1 day ago*

Hello Magnus,

1. What are your thoughts on the ongoing Candidates 2014? Does Vishy winning make it easier for you or do you have another favourite in the tournament? I ask because judging from your tweets, you don't really hold Anand in the highest regard :)
2. What is your response to the general idea that you are too much of a grinder? A great many number of people have said that you specialize in squeezing out dry positions rather than playing attacking chess. Many GMs have called your style of chess as its death in some aspects.

• permalink

[–]MagnusOenCarlsen[S] 120 points 1 day ago

1. No, it didn't have anything to do with Anand, I'm very impressed by his level of preparation and general play both tactically and technically so far in the Candidates.
2. I think it's an important trait of a good player to be able to have the same level of focus and creativity in simple positions as well as more complicated ones and thus create chances at any point in the game. I don't think making few mistakes and playing very accurately for a long time should be a negative

USAT-N Rnd 5

USAT-N

Standings here

USCF Results here

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King's Indian: Bhagyadhar, Karthekiyan, Ivan, Abhyudhaya

I had a great time. The tournament conditions were first rate. 

Our team finished with 2.5/5.0

I went 3-2=0

1. Loss 2171 DAVID TIANJIAN PENG
2. Win 1121 ERIC DOTSON HENRY HOBSON JR
3. Loss 2046 ARSHAQ SALEEM
4. Win 1867 KYLE J MILES
5. Win 1900 AKHIL KALGHATGI

This is my round 1 loss

I am doing good here. The endgame was probably drawn. (At least that's what GM Gurevich told me) but we were both down to about 2 min each, when I made the horrible 40...f6??

Round 1 Game here

Round 5 Game here

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Karthikeyan's position against GM Gurevich in round  1 (0-1)

Round 1

Karthikeyan had what looked like good attacking chances against Pete Karagianis in round 3, but could not hold the ending. (0-1)

Round 2  

Karthikeyan's exchange sac in round 4 vs AYDIN TURGUT (0-1)

Let's see I got me some single pawns, double pawns and even triple pawns! (ROBERT LONCAREVIC vs GEORGE KRASNOPOLSKIY 1-0 Round 4)

Expert + Open, Under 2000 & Unrated : Marshall Town, IS Feb.8 2014

You can see the write-up by Hank here.

I was the house player for the Expert + section.  Since there were an even number in the first 2 rounds, I played in the unrated Chess.com meet up event. Results here

In the last round of the Expert + Open I played Mark Kende. After playing horribly and losing a piece on move 22. I almost pulled a Carlesn (See this great video by GM  Daniel King).  but drew in the end.

My game is here.

USCF results here

Pictures from the event by Cliff Yates here

Carlsen Interview

About an hour, very interesting.

Hear what he thinks about blitz chess among other things..........

Click here

2013

2013 was an interesting year.

Start	1888
End	1871
Peak	1962

I started with a nice rating gain in January that got me to 1962.  2000 seemed tantalizingly close.

But things turned out otherwise!

I was around 1950 by the US Open in August.  Since then, despite the fact that I have lost only one game to a player rated below me, my rating has plummeted to 1878!

Paying too much attention to rating is a fruitless endeavor.

One's emphasis should be on being a better player. But that is easier said than done.  Improving a rating class as an adult is not a easy task at all.

2014 Iowa Closed Qualifying (To determine the 2014 Iowa Champion)

Top 20 (Top 6 qualify for the 2014 Iowa Closed. They play a round robin event to determine the champion)

Some observations with just one event to go

• Only the top 2 spots are guaranteed. 

• Not all that qualify may play. 

• Mathematically even the person in the 15th spot can qualify.(Provided at least one of the top 6 don't play)

Winter Open (IASCA Mini-Qualifier) Jan 11, Iowa City, IA

Results here

Koenig vs Mc Entee (Rnd. two  0-1)

Spacious playing hall (Only negative : No skittles area)