May 06 - 3rd Coast G/60 Open at the Renaissance Hotel

There were 32 participants. Results

FM Stamnov, FM Tennant, Brian Luo(2043 #1 Age 9) and Mc Clanahan, (1651 #26 Age 10) tied for first with 3.5/4.

I won the first two games, lost the 3rd to Tennant, and the 4th to Mc Clanahan.

In the following 4th round game, I missed, 29..Nxd6, 30.Qxa2 Kc8 with an equal game.
(5) Mc Clanahan,G (1651) - Wijetunge,I (1830) [B16]RKnights G/60 (4), 06.05.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 [ 4...Nd7 5.Ng5 Ndf6 6.N1f3 h6 7.Nxf7 Kxf7 8.Ne5+ Ke8 9.Qd3 Qd5 10.Qg6+ Kd8 11.Nf7+ Kc7 12.Bf4+ Kb6 13.Qg3 e5 14.Nxe5 Nh5 15.Nd7+ Ka5 16.Bc7+ Kb4] 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be2 Rg8 8.Bf4 e6 9.Qd2 Nd7 10.c3 Nb6 11.Bg3 Nd5 12.h3 Bh5 13.Qc2 Bg6 14.Bd3 Bd6 15.Bxg6 hxg6 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.g3 0-0-0 18.0-0-0 Qc7 19.Nd2 Rh8 20.h4 Rh7 21.Ne4 Qe7 [ 21...f5 22.Ng5] 22.Qb3 Rdh8 23.c4 Nb6 24.Rhe1 Rh5 [ 24...g5 25.hxg5 fxg5] 25.c5 Nd5 26.Nd6+ Kb8 27.Qa4 Nc7 28.Rd3 Ne8 29.Ra3 a6 [ 29...Nxd6 30.Qxa7+ Kc8 31.cxd6 ( 31.Qa8+ Kd7) 31...Qxd6 32.Rb3 Qb8; 29...b5 30.cxb6 Nxd6 31.bxa7+ Ka8 32.Qxc6+ Nb7 33.Kb1] 30.Nxb7 1-0

Hales Corners Challenge V

Emory Tate vs Anthony Parker

International Master Emory Tate and FM Alexander Stamnov tied for first with 4-0 in the 4 round G/60 event. Mr. Tate just returned from the Reykjavik International. He was on his way to a GM norm there but only scored 0-3=1 in the last 4 rounds.
Tournament Results

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I went 1-1=1. I had the following postion against a 1905 player but could not find the move Nf5+ in bad time trouble. I still went into the endgame a piece up, but lost.

(6) Wijetunge,I (1850) - Wagner,R (1905) [D30]Hales Coreners V (2), 22.04.2007 G/55 with 5 sec. delay
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 Nbd7 5.Bd3 Bb4+ 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Qc2 Re8 10.Bd2 Bb7 11.a3 Bf8 12.b4 [ 12.Ng5 g6] 12...c5 13.bxc5 [ 13.Ng5 g6 14.bxc5 bxc5 15.Rfb1 c4 16.Rxb7 cxd3 17.Qxd3] 13...bxc5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Bb5 Re6 16.Nd4 Rb6 17.a4 [ 17.Na4 Nxa4 18.Qxa4] 17...a6 18.a5 Rd6 [ 18...Rxb5 19.Ndxb5 axb5 20.Nxb5 Ba6] 19.Be2 g6 20.Na4 Nxa4 21.Qxa4 Rc8 22.Rab1 Rd7 23.Rb6 Ne4 24.Bb4 Bc5 25.Bxc5 Nxc5 26.Qb4 Rcc7 27.Rb1 Kg7 28.Bg4 Rd6 29.Qb2 Qf6 30.Rxd6 Nd3 31.Rxf6 [ 31.Nf5+] 31...Nxb2 32.Rc6 [ 32.Rb6] 32...Bxc6 33.Rxb2 * 0-1

(*at this stage I am down to a few seconds and stopped keeping score, and ended up making a few horrible moves)

Waukesha Chess Club Tournament

I am the 2nd seed in an 8 person sectional. One game a week on Wednesdays. (G/90)

1) 3/14 Draw D. Wetzel (1630) vs Me
2) 3/21 Win Me vs J.Hetzel (1639)
3) 3/28 Win H. Lilly(1798) vs Me
4) 4/4 Me vs A. Walker (1824) - Postponed till 5/2
5) 4/11 Me vs R.Jayne (1595) - Postponed till 5/9
6) 4/18 Win J. Coons (1879) vs me
7) 4/25 Loss Me vs A Jensen (1620)

4) 5/2 Loss Me vs A. Walker (1824)
5) 5/9 Draw Me vs R.Jayne (1595)


Round 6 J. Coons (1879) vs me Win (Click here to replay)

I missed a few tactics, but the endgame was easily winning.
Here I missed 9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Qxd4 Here I missed 24...Nd3

(1) Coons,J (1845) - Wijetunge,I (1840)

1.Nf3 c6 2.d4 d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Na6 6.e4 Bg4 7.Bxc4 e6 8.Be2 Nb4 9.h3 Bh5 [ 9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3] 10.0-0 a5 11.Bf4 Be7 12.Rc1 0-0 13.Re1 Rc8 14.Ne5 Bxe2 15.Rxe2 Nh5 16.Be3 Bg5 17.Qd2 h6 18.Nf3 Bxe3 19.Qxe3 Qf6 20.g3 Rce8 21.Ne5 Rd8 22.Nf3 Rfe8 23.e5 Qg6 24.g4 f5 [ 24...Nd3 25.Nh4 Qg5 26.Rd1] 25.Nh4 Qg5 26.Qxg5 hxg5 27.gxh5 gxh4 28.Rd1 Kf7 29.f4 Rh8 30.Rg2 Rxh5 31.Rdd2 Rg8 32.b3 g5 33.Ne2 g4 34.Kh2 Nd5 35.Rd3 Rh7 36.hxg4 fxg4 37.Kg1 Ne7 38.Nc3 h3 39.Rgg3 Nf5 40.Ne4 Nxg3 41.Rxg3 Rh4 42.Nd6+ Kg6 43.Nxb7 Kf5 44.Nxa5 Kxf4 45.Kh2 Rc8 46.b4 Rh7 47.Nc4 Rb8 48.Rb3 Rhb7 49.b5 cxb5 50.Nd6 Rc7 51.Rb2 b4 52.Rf2+ Kg5 0-1

Brought back to earth in Rockford

In my last 14 rated games I had lost only two games, both to masters. I was the top seed and paired against a player more than 400 points below me. I spent my time getting the following position as black with black to play. Around this time my confidence had turned into over-confidence, and that is very dangerous place to be.

I went into a pawn endgame which I thought was a win for me, but with best play it was a draw, but I still had a chance to win with a4 in this position, but by this time I didn't have that much time left:I ended up losing, and was so rattled by this that I lost the next game to a 1700 player.

Well, back to the drawing board...

(2) Romano,R (1430) - Wijetunge,I (1874) [B16]Rockford (1), 14.04.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.gxf3 e6 9.Be3 Nd7 10.f4 f5 11.Bc4 Nb6 12.Bb3 Qh4 13.Qf3 Nd5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 15.0-0-0 Qd8 16.Rd3 Rc8 17.Rb3 Qd7 18.Qe2 Rg8 19.Qb5 Qxb5 20.Rxb5 Rc7 21.Rd1 Kd7 22.Rb3 Be7 23.Rbd3 Rg2 24.Rh1 Rc8 25.Rdd1 Bh4 26.Rdf1 b5 27.Kd2 b4 28.Rhg1 Rcg8 29.Rxg2 Rxg2 30.Ke2 Bf6 31.Rh1 Kc6 32.Kd3 Bh4 33.Ke2 Kb5 34.b3 Rg8 35.Kd3 a5 36.Rc1 Rc8 37.c4+ bxc3 38.Rxc3 Rxc3+ 39.Kxc3 Be7 40.Kc2 Bb4 41.Bd2 Bxd2 42.Kxd2 Kb4 43.Kc2 Ka3 44.Kb1 f6 45.f3 h6 46.h4 h5 47.Ka1 Kb4? [ 47...a4 Wins! for black 48.bxa4 Kxa4 49.Kb2 Kb4 50.Kc2 Kc4 51.Kb2 Kxd4 52.a4 Kc5 53.Kb3 d4 54.a5 d3 55.Kc3 Kb5 56.Kxd3 Kxa5 57.Kd4 Kb4 58.Kd3] 48.Kb2 Kb5 49.a3 a4 50.Kc3 Ka5 51.bxa4 Kxa4 52.Kb2 Kb5 53.Kb3 1-0

This and that...

I was going to play in the Great Lakes Open in Michgan, but decided against it because of the low prize to entry fee ratio and distance to the event from Milwaukee.

Instead I decided to play in 2 one day events this month:

April 14 Rockford 2nd Saturday Open (Illinois)
EF $20 by April 9, $25 at site.
4SS, G/80,
Our Master’s United Methodist Church, 5973 Darlene Dr., Rockford 61109. Free parking.

Prizes Fund: 70% of EF’s, 30% first. No Smoking.

Schedule: Reg. 8:30-9:30 am. ANY reg. after 9:50 am must take 1/2 point bye in 1st rd.

Rds. 10:00, 1, 3:30, 6:30. Bye: 1/2 pt avail. in rds. 1-3, max. 1 bye. Ent: (Check Payable to) Rockford Chess Association, 2764 Panorama Drive, Rockford, IL 61109. http://www.rockfordchess.com/ Questions: 815-397-9186. Email: mabarkdoll@gmail.com BRING CLOCKS—NONE PROVIDED.

Apr. 21 Hales Corners Challenge V GPP: 10 (Wisconsin)
4SS, G/60. Two Sections: Open & Reserve (under 1600).

Village Hall, 5635 S. New Berlin Rd., Hales Corners, WI (Milwaukee Area).

EF: $35-Open, $25-Reserve, both $5 more after 4/18. Comp EF for USCF 2200+, contact TD for details.

$$Open (b/25)=1st-$325 (guaranteed), 2nd-$175 (guaranteed), A-$100, B and Below-$75;

$$ Reserve (b/25)=1st-$100, 2nd-$75, D-$50, E & Below-$40. Reg: 8:30-9:30, Rds: 10-1-3:30-6. Ent: Payable to Southwest Chess Club, c/o Allen Becker, 6105 Thorncrest Drive, Greendale, WI 53129. (allenbecker@wi.rr.com). Questions to TD Gary Wright 414-315-0043.

According to the TD, International Master Emory Tate will most probably play in this event.

I had a very interesting game against Mr. Tate in a G/90 side event at the US Open last year.

Click here to replay. (I am playing White)

Me (1800) - Tate,E (2447) [A40]
Chicago G/90 (2), 05.08.2006

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 b6 3.Bg5 f6 4.Bh4 Bb7 5.e3 Nh6 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.c3 Ne7 8.Nbd2 Nhf5 9.Bg3 h5 10.e4 h4 11.Bf4 Ng6 12.Be3 Nxe3 13.fxe3 Qe7 14.Qa4 a6 15.Rf1 c5 16.Rc1 b5 17.Qd1 cxd4 18.cxd4 Qb4 19.Qb3 Qa5 20.Ke2 Be7 21.a3 h3 22.g3 0-0 23.Ng1 Rab8 24.Nxh3 b4 25.Rf5 Qd8 26.a4 d5 27.Rf2 Qe8 28.Kf1 Rc8 29.Rc2 [ 29.Rxc8 Qxc8 30.Kg2 Qc1 31.Nf4 Nxf4+ 32.exf4 Rc8] 29...Qd7 30.e5 f5 31.Nf4 Nxf4 32.exf4 Bc6 33.Qa2 [ 33.Bxa6 Bxa4 ( 33...Ra8 34.Bb5 Bxb5+ 35.axb5 Qxb5+) 34.Bxc8 Bxb3] 33...Bxa4 34.b3 Bb5 35.Rf3 [ 35.Bxb5 Qxb5+ 36.Kg2 g5] 35...Rc3 [ 35...Bxd3+ 36.Rxd3 Qb5 37.Ke2] 36.Bxb5 [ 36.Rxc3 bxc3 37.Nb1 Rc8 38.Qc2 Bxd3+ 39.Rxd3 Qb5 40.Nxc3 Bb4] 36...Qxb5+ 37.Kg2 Rfc8 38.Rb2 [ 38.Rcxc3 bxc3 39.Qc2 Qe2+ 40.Rf2 Qe3 41.Nf3 Qe4] 38...g5 39.Rf2 gxf4 40.Rxf4 Bg5 41.Rf1 Be3 42.Nf3 Qd3 0-1

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I am pretty excited about the Chicago Open. It's not often that I get to be one of the top seeds.(1874 in the Under-1900 Section) I am playing in the 4 day event with a bye in round 1, that way I get 2 games a day and one less night to spend in Chicago.

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I am almost done with the very entertaining book Kings of New York. It will be interesting to see how the team does this w-end at the National High School (K12) Championship . It will be the last time their 2 stars Bercys, Salvijus (2491) and Lenderman, Alex (2471) compete.

There are 1436 players from 37 states registered so far!

Interesting game against a master

I played this game against Tim Mc Entee (2200) in the last round of the Hawkeye Mind Chellenge last Sunday(March 25th)

Click here to replay

[Event "Hawkeye Mind Challenge"]
[Site "Iowa City"]
[Date "2007.02.25"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Mc Entee, Tim"]
[Black "Wijetunge, Ivan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2200"]
[BlackElo "1866"]
1. d4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. Nf3 dxc4 4. e3 b5 5. a4 Bb7 6. axb5 cxb5 7. b3 e6 (7... a5
8. bxc4 b4) 8. bxc4 b4 9. c5 a5 10. Ne5 Be7 11. Bb5+ Kf8 12. O-O Qd5 13. Qf3
Qxf3 14. gxf3 f6 (14... Bd8 15. e4 Ne7 16. Rd1 Bc7) 15. c6 Bc8 (15... fxe5 16.
cxb7 Ra7 17. dxe5 Bd8 (17... Rxb7 18. Bc4 Bd8 19. f4 Ke7) 18. Bc4 Ke7 19. Rd1)
16. Nc4 Bd8 17. e4 Ne7 18. d5 g6 (18... exd5 19. exd5 Ba6 20. Bxa6 Rxa6) 19.
Bh6+ Kg8 20. Rd1 Ba6 21. Bxa6 Rxa6 22. c7 Bxc7 23. d6 Bxd6 24. Rxd6 Rxd6 25.
Nxd6 1-0

I tried a side line 4....b5 and although it looked to me and others watching that Black was in a bad way most of the game, infact black was only slightly worse until the bad move 18...g6. (The idea was to find a home for the king at g7 so thet I could get the king's rook out, but I completely missed the obvious reply Bh6)

If I had played 14...Bd8 or 15...fxe5, I was still in the game.

Hawkeye Mind Challenge XIV Mar. 24-25 Iowa City, IA

Betaneli scores 4.5/5, wins clear first and $500

Tournament Results

Beteneli (left). On the right is Siem Tesfaslase from Iowa City, who tied for 2nd and gained 101 rating points. He has brought he rating from 1573 to 1760 in the last two tournaments (10 games) !

Siem is also the current Iowa Quick Chess Champion finishing ahead of an expert and several A-players.

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I scored 2-2=0 with a bye in round 2.

I won with black against Brian Blackbarth (1450) in the first round. My 10 game unbeaten streak ended when I lost to Betanel in round 3. I won with white against Thomas Gaul (1792) in round 4. I then lost the last round to Iowa master Tim Mc Entee.

I gained a few rating points to end with 1874. (which will be my highest published rating for the May 2007 supplement)

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Round 1 Click to replay Blackbarth vs Wijetunge

Final position

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Round 3 Click to replay Wijetunge vs Betaneli

I had an interesting game againts Betaneli, I sacrificed a Bishop for 2 pawns in an equal position, but lost my way. Later analysis shows that the postion is unclear.
[Event "Hawkeye Mind Challanege"]
[Date "2007.03.24"][Round "3"]
[White "Wijetunge, Ivan"]
[Black "Betaneli, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"][ECO "D47"]
[WhiteElo "1866"]
[BlackElo "2274"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c6 3. e3 Nf6 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Be2Bb7 9. O-O a6 10. a3 c5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. b4 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 Ncd7 14. Bb2 Be7 15.Nxb5 (15. e4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxg7) 15... axb5 16. Bxb5 Bxf3 17. gxf3O-O-O 18. Rdc1+ (18. Rac1+ Kb8 19. Bc6) 18... Kb8 19. Bc6 Bd6 20. b5 (20. f4 e5) 20... Be5 21. Rc2 Bxb2 22. Rxb2 Ne5 23. Rc2 Rc8 24. Rac1 Nxc6 25. Rxc6 Rxc626. Rxc6 Kb7 27. a4 Ra8 28. Rc4 Nd5 29. Rg4 g6 30. Rh4 h5 31. e4 Rxa4 0-1

Black (Betaneli) to move

26th Annual Waukesha Memorial

A great turn out: 47 players

Considering the fact that there are no monetary prizes this is remarkable.

Tournament results

I finished with 2-0=1 with a draw agianst the top seed Jon Breider 2152 in the last round.

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Round 1
I won against a 1300

I am playing Black above with White to play.

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Round 2
I won against a 1700
I am playing White above with Black to play, Black lost on time in a bad position.

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Round 3
I took a bye

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Round 4

Jon Breider 2152 vs me. Jon won the 2005 Chicago Open Under 2200 section by going 7-0! 1.5 points above second place. He re-entered the tournament after having overslept and missed the first round!

I managed to get my self into a completley lost position, but wriggled out with a draw in the end.

Click here to replay the game.

Etc.

There is a great tactics website at:

http://chess.emrald.net/

Over 23,000 tactics for your solving pleasure.

I attempted over 1000 in two days.

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I just finished the following book. GM Chris Ward is 1996 British Champion. This book is very instructive and his writing style is entertaining.

and started on:

U.W. Winter Open Feb 24-25 Madison, WI

This tournament has averaged 55 player the last 3 years. Past results are as follows:

2006 Winner Ashish Vaja
2005 Winner Alexander Betaneli
2004 Winner IM Stansilav Smetankin

2007 Results (Betaneli wins)

I scored 3-0=1 to finish with 4/5 (1 bye)

I tied for 3rd which was good enough for $120

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In round 4 I was paired against Brian Luo(2057). The #1 nine year old in the nation (by almost 200 points!). This is what none other than Gary Kasparov had to say about him:

"I am impressed to see kids like Ray Robson, Daniel Naroditsky and Brian Lou. All of them have the potential to become not only strong, but leading American grandmasters....."

-Gary Kasparov (page 39 September 2006 Chess Life)

I made a speculative exchange sac, but Brian missed zwischenzug (16...Bxh2+) which would have left him clearly better. After that the game got very complex. I got myself in really bad time trouble and went into survival mode and missed many obvious moves that would have won instantly. I agreed to a draw later, although analysis shows that white was better.

Click here to replay the game.

I was surprised that Brian was blitzing out moves when I was in time time trouble. While doing so he made many gross errors that I just missed since I was only trying to get to time control without worsening my position.

I have a 1-0=1 record against Brian. I won the first time we played around 2 years ago when he was rated 1675.

Below are some postions where I missed winning moves.

28.Bxf7

30.Bd5

44.f4+

45.Ne2+

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This was another tournament with adjournments, and I had 2! I took a bye in the 3rd round but had to come back after that round to play the two adjournments. Normally that would have meant a start time as late as 2 am. But because of the bad weather the last round was shortened into a G/60, so I had to come back at 9:30.

I was clearly winning in both adjourned games, and made very good sealed moves.

In round 1 my sealed move was N d3-c1

In round 2 my sealed move was N b3-c5

Click here for games (opens new window)

Arpad Elo Open, Jan 10-11, Wisconcin Dells, WI

Click here for games (opens new window)

Although adjournments are unheard of these days, they are alive and kicking here in Wisconsin. In this tournament the time control was 40/2, 20/1, G/1. A game could have lasted up to 8 hours! (And with 3 games on Saturday that could mean up to 24 hours of chess in a row!). With round times of 10:00, 3:30 and 7:30 adjournments were necessary. Last year I know of a case where a person had the first two games adjourned and had to play them after the conclusion of round 3, another case where a person had taken a bye in the third round but still had to come back after the conclusion of round 3 (after 1 am) to conclude a round from earlier.

I had my third round game go on till about 2 in the morning. I then had my forth round (the time control for the 4th round is 40/2, G/1) game last more than five hours and then had to start the 5th round 20 minutes later. I played horribly in the last round and dropped a piece very early in the game.

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Round 2 - Draw against ROGER D ALLISON (1731)

In this position I missed b5, if either the knight or the bishop takes back I have the intermediate move Nb6.

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Round 4 - Draw against MIKE NIETMAN (1861)

In the following position I missed the winning 31...h3, although with my move I still should have won.

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Click here for games

Tournament results

February 1, 2007

I played in the Northeastern Open, in Neenah Jan 20. The tournament has still not been rated! I was only able to play the first round against a lower rated player.

The tournament was rated today Feb 7th: Link

The b-pawn's journey made the game memorable.

Click here to replay the game.

This and That

I was looking at the tournament listing for the Chicago Open this year. There are some interesting changes:

The class cut-offs are different :

Under 2300,
Under 2100,
Under 1900,
Under 1700:
each $5000-3000-2000-1000-700-500-400-400-300-300.

There are new rules to deter computer cheating:

1) Players may not use headphones, earphones, cellphones or hearing aids or leave tournament floor without permission (rule may be waived for minus scores or those who cannot score more than 5 points).

2) Players must submit to a search for electronic devices if requested by Director; refusal to be searched is grounds for expulsion from the tournament, with no refund.

Complete info at: http://www.uschess.org/tla/yState.php?st=IL

The USCF will be pulishing monthly rating supplements (electronic) starting Feb. 2007, instead of even months only. The Chicago Open will use the May supplement.

Because of this I will be among the top seeds in the U1900 section as long as I don't go over 1900 before the May supplement comes out. The cut-off for the May supplement will be all tourmanents rated by 11pm Friday April 6th.

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I was planning on not playing much, but decided to play at the Northeastern Open. After this tournament I plan to join ICC and play in a couple of other OTB tournaments and prepare for a good performance at the Chicago Open.

Michigan Class

I great turn out, over 160.

Complete results

I took a bye in the first round and lost the 2nd round. I won the next two games and a win in the last round would have won some money but this is what happened: I was looking at some Morphy games the other day and was inspired by that to play the move 20. Ng6 (but in my case it's just a gross blunder!) Instead of that 20. Bd3 and I should have the advantage

Click here to replay the game.

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This is my round 4 win against MI Jounior ATULYA ARYA SHETTY (1872)

Click here to replay the game.

Etc.

I am playing in a four round G/90 tournament. One game a week on Wednesdays. I took a first round bye. Yesterday I played a great game but unfortunately lost on time.

Click here to replay the game.

I missed many chances that would have led to a decisive advantage:
20. Bd4
22. cxd5
24. Qc2
and the beautiful 31. Bd3 +

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I was looking forward to playing in the Northeastern Open in Neenah, but will not be able to do so due to scheduling conflicts. I decided to play in the Michigan Classs Tournament in Lansing Jan 13-14 instead.

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I created another blog for my younger son.

Game Replay

I was using Chess Publisher for displaying the games, but noticed that it was really slow, so I put all the games in one place and created a link to them called "Games Replay".

Three games

These are 3 games from the last two tournaments

A loss to Ronald Luther(2243) Kansas City Dec 29th

[Event "Kansas City G/45"]
[Date "2006.12.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wijetunge, Ivan"]
[Black "Luther, Ronald"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "1856"]
[BlackElo "2243"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 e6 4. Nd2 Bd6 5. Bxd6 Nxd6 6. e4 b6 7. c3 Bb7 8.
Qc2 f5 9. Bd3 Qg5 10. Ne2 O-O 11. f4 Qh4+ 12. g3 Qh5 13. O-O-O c5 14. dxc5 bxc5
15. h3 c4 16. g4 cxd3 17. Qxd3 fxe4 18. Qxd6 Qa5 19. Nb3 Qxa2 20. Kc2 e3 21.
Rhe1 Be4+ 0-1

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A loss to Frank Smith (1585) Kansas City Dec 29th

[Event "Kansas City G/45"]
[Date "2006.12.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Smith, Frank"]
[Black "Wijetunge, Ivan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "1856"]
[BlackElo "1558"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Ng3 h5 6. Nf3 h4 7. Ne2 h3 8. Bf4
Qb6 9. b3 hxg2 10. Bxg2 Bg4 11. O-O e6 12. Ng3 Nd5 13. Be3 Qc7 14. Qd2 Bd6 15.
c4 Nxe3 16. Qxe3 Bf4 17. Qe4 Nd7 18. d5 Nf6 19. Qd4 O-O-O 20. Qxa7 exd5 21.
cxd5 Nxd5 22. a4 Qb8 23. Qxb8+ Kxb8 24. Rfd1 Nb4 25. Rxd8+ Rxd8 26. h3 Be6 27.
Ne2 Bc7 28. Nfd4 Bc8 29. Rc1 Bb6 30. Rc4 Nd5 31. b4 Rh8 32. b5 cxb5 33. Nxb5
Be6 34. Rc1 Rh6 35. Nbd4 Rf6 36. Rf1 Nc7 37. Nxe6 Nxe6 38. Nc3 Nf4 39. Ne4 Rg6
40. Kh1 Nxg2 {Black manages to lose this! (in bad time trouble)} 1-0

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A win against Yuri Kolesnikov (1560) Bloomington Dec 30th

[Event "Bloomington G/70"]
[Date "2006.12.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Wijetunge, Ivan"]
[Black "Kolesnikov, Yuri"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "1856"]
[BlackElo "1560"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. e3 c6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. O-O Bxc3 8.
bxc3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nb6 10. Bd3 Nbd5 11. Qc2 Ne7 12. e4 Ng6 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bc1
Nh5 15. g3 Qf6 16. Qe2 e5 17. Nd2 Nhf4 18. gxf4 Nxf4 19. Qf3 Bh3 20. Bc4 Qg5+
21. Qg3 Qxg3+ 22. fxg3 Bxf1 23. Bxf1 Ng6 24. Nc4 exd4 25. cxd4 Rd8 26. Be3 b6
27. Bd3 O-O 28. e5 Ne7 29. Nd6 Nd5 30. Bf2 Nb4 31. Bc4 Rd7 32. Rc1 Rc7 33. Be1
c5 34. Be2 Nc6 35. Bf2 Nb8 36. dxc5 Nd7 37. Nb5 Rcc8 38. Nxa7 Ra8 39. cxb6 1-0

End of Phase

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.

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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.

Caption time

This and that…

While getting better will certainly improve your rating, getting your rating higher does not mean you are getting better.

My goal was to get better and get my rating up to 2000, by the Feb 2007 supplement. With the 20 point loss last w-end, the chances of that happening are not so good. I only have 6 more games scheduled before the February cut-off. (Which I think will be around Jan 2-3)

I will probably be paired down in 4 of these 6 games.

The games I have scheduled are:

Dec 29:
Three G/45 at FRIDAY NIGHT QUICK CASH - Kansas City, MO
Dec 30:
Three(1st round bye) G/70 at McLean County Historical Museum Open - Bloomington, IL

Probably the prudent thing to do is not risk rating points by playing mostly lower rated players in these quick events. But, I enjoy playing too much and I am also trying to improve my time management skills.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, starting Jan 1, I will only have time to play in about 1 tournament a month. I plan to study more and play up when I get a chance. I will also concentrate on getting better and not worry about the rating.

Things I need to concentrate on:
- Lots of tactics (I think that tactics alone can get you to well over 2000)
- Endgames
- Openings
- Study the type of middle games that come out of these openings

Some one was asking how I got an 1800 floor. I have that covered that here.