4 Round G/100 at Hales Corners

I am playing in a 4 round G/100 tournament at the Southwest Chess Club . After 3 rounds there are two plyers with 2.5 and I am the only one with 2. I will probably play James Coons. My record against Coons is 4-3=1

Click here for the Games

1. Sep 20 Loss Me vs FOGEC, THOMAS G (1639)
2. Sep 27 Win CORRADO CIRILLO (1757) vs Me
3. Oct 04 Win MUNOZ, DANIEL A (1805) vs Me
4. Oct 11 Loss Me vs COONS, JAMES J (1922)

My results 2-2=0

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Round 3

I blundered another rook, but still managed to win!
The following is a critical position. exf5 was the correct move, but I played gxf5??

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Round 2 - A Knight fork

Here I played 18...Nd3 which wins the f pawn.

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Round 1 - Chess Blindness

It's been a while since I made a gross blunder. I was hoping not to make any of those especially with a huge time advantage, but that's exactly what I did. In the following fairly equal postion I played Re3??
It's interesting that I explored
Re3 Bxg2
Qxg2 Qxc1
But decided that I could just play Rg3. So I was considering the the c1-h6 diagonal, but somehow missed the e3 equare.

Who is Bobby Polgar?

I was searching for chess books at the library and came across this chess based romance novel. Interesting name for the lead character.

74 Seaside Avenue (Cedar Cove, Book7) (Mass Market Paperback)
by Debbie Macomber

No, I am not going to read it although I read the review at Amazon

Badger Open - Milwaukee

Round 1 Action Wagner vs Betaneli.

All participants were required to wear orange shirts for this round*

The open section had only 14 players.

The top seeds were

1.Betaneli (2277)
2.Stamnov (2217)
3.Santarius (2158)
4.Luo (2071) #2 Age 10 in the nation

Wesley Furguson(1966) wins clear first with 4/5.

Finishing with 3.5/5 were : Betaneli, Stamnov and Santarius.

Click here for USCF results

Betaneli and Santarius who were tied with 3 points going into the last round decided on a quick draw. Luo had a sub par tournament 1-1=3

I tied for 1st-2nd Under 2000 with 3/5 (2-1=1 plus a bye)

Draw LUO, BRIAN J 2071
Win COVIC, MEHMED 1847
Loss PARKER, ANTHONY LEE 1987
Win GROCHOWSKI, ROBIN J 1789

My record against Brian Luo is now 1-0=2. Not too shabby considering that there is at least one master who has a 0-2 record against him.

In my only loss I sacrificed a Bishop that netted me the exchange. I then won a pawn, but got myself into time trouble, and in the last move before time control blundered it all away. Later analysis shows that I could have probably drawn this game.

After I played Bh2

The critical last move before time control. Re6 here and I am fine, but I played the horrible Nb6 allowing Be5 after which with best play I may be able to draw, but ended up losing.

Click here for my Games

Performance rating = 2021
Rating Change = 1839-1859

*Just kidding about the orange shirts

Paul Hoffman's new book: King's Gambit...

Three interesting paragraphs from Paul Hoffman's new book King's Gambit: A Son, a Father, and the World's Most Dangerous Game

When a player gets violent, his wrath is often directed not at spectators or his opponent but at himself. One contemporary Russian grandmaster has been known to pick up the pointiest chess piece, usually the bishop or a knight with a particularly jagged mane, and stab his own head until it bleeds. Then he rushes out of the tournament hall only to return for the next round as if nothing untoward has happened. At one event, this grandmaster was among the tournament leaders who were playing on an elevated stage. When he lost a key game, he bloodied his face and then, in an extreme masochistic flourish, dove off the three-foot-high stage, belly-flopping onto the hard floor.

Such behavior is exceptional, but even stable personalities have trouble accepting defeat. Garry Kasparov, the thirteenth world champion, frequently storms off like a bull, shoving aside spectators who are in his path. Pascal can be withdrawn and sullen for hours. When I lose, I repeatedly remind myself that chess is only a game. Yet even that reminder doesn't stop me from replaying in my head not only the moves of the game where I went astray, but also all the other things in my life that have gone wrong.

Most of the world's top players have strenuous exercise routines to balance their sedentary chess playing. Bobby Fischer worked out regularly long before it was fashionable, and Kasparov pumped iron, swam, and rowed as part of his chess training. "Your body has to be in top condition," Fischer said. "Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can't separate mind from body."

Washington D.C.

National Air and Space Museum

Road Trip

I will be taking a break from tounament chess Aug 15 - Sep 8th.

I will be embarking on a ~3000 mile road trip:

Milwaukee->Toronto->Ottawa->Montreal->Quebeq->N.Y.->D.C.->Chicago->Milwaukee

Although I won't be playing any tournament chess I plan to visit a few chess cafes etc. (Washington Square)

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Toronto - Street food (Tandoori Chicken) at the South Asian festival in Little India, Gerrad Street

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Ottawa - Parliament Building

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Montreal - 1976 Olympic Stadium

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Quebec City

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Washington Square

I sat down at one of the tables. The guy started with small talk about Anand, since he thought I was from India. He then wanted to play a game with no conditions to see where I stood. I didn't play that well and resigned when I lost a piece. I was ready for a money game now, but he refused to play me. He probably thought that I threw the game!

Waukesha G/90 Double Quads

I started this tournament with two losses but finished off with 3 wins in a row, including a nine move win against James Coons (1921) in round 4. I have a bye in the last round, due to my road trip.

I think that using my performance rating in the last 10 rated games is a pretty good indication of current form. I am currently at 1973. This is a link to my performance in the last 10 rated games. Once this tournament is rated I should be around 1840.

Click here for my games

Round 5 WALKER, ARLEN P (1849) ws me WIN

Black to play

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Round 4 Me vs COONS, JAMES J(1921) WIN

Black to play

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Round 3 Me vs WALKER, ARLEN P (1849) WIN

Check out the e-file!

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Round 2 COONS, JAMES J(1921) vs Me LOSS

Got a great position but then blundered a vital pawn 24...Bc8??. Even a pawn down I was not in bad shape, but had to play 26...Qf6 (after 25. Nxd5 Nxd5 26. Bxd5)

Black to move

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Round 1 Me vs VELIKANOV, ALEXANDER (1830) LOSS

I was out played in the opening and middle game

Midstate Open Tournament, Peoria

I normally don't like to play in tournaments with a time controls faster than G/60, but decided to play in this G/45(with 5 sec delay), 4 round event. I finished 3-1=0. With wins against a 2000 and a 1861. But I lost to a 1659 after getting a great position.

NM Pete Karagianis won the tournament with 4-0 score. 4 tied for 2nd with 3-1.

Click here for USCF results

Click here for my games

In the first round I was paired against an unrated player. In the next three games I didn't manage my time well, but this was expected since I don't play G/45 that often.

In the 2nd round I was paired against a 2000 rated player. As a d4 player I don't have to deal with the Sicilian Defense, but when black plays 1...c5 after 1.d4, I don't like to play d5. I was talking about this to my expert friend Jose Gatica, and he suggested that I should go in for a Maróczy Bind. So far I am 1-0=1 against an average rating of 1990 with the Maróczy. According to theory White has no business castling queen side in the Maróczy, but I didn't know that! In the end I was very short on time but managed to mate my opponent with 45 seconds left.

Black should have played f6 at some point to prevent the dangers associated with h5 by White. It's interesting that h5 is so strong that I can even give up a rook for it. In other words I could have played 22.h5

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This a position from the 3rd round loss. I am Black with the move. I spent a lot of time trying to get the Bf2->Bxg3 idea to work and got myself into bad time trouble. Bad time trouble makes you do weird things. I decided that since I had invested so much time on the above variation I was going to play it anyway although I didn't see how Black could get an advantage. Bf2 was not bad, but taking on g3 was.

After this 3rd round loss I had to get my self in mental shape before facing the 29 ranked 13 year old in the nation Jason Chien (1861). I planned on getting to an end game in an equal but solid position and then trying to outplay my opponent. As White I played passive but solid moves and I am sure Black was better, especially after he got in e5. But once he played c4, I was confident that I could outplay him. The game went into a rook and pawn ending where I was up 2 pawns. I managed to win his rook with less than a min. left on my clock.

Southwest Chess Club Championship

The 2007 Southwest Chess Club Championship ended today.

Final Results

My last round game against Coons was very interesting.

I tried a new opening and got into all kinds of trouble with my king in the middle of the board, but my king almost made it back to safety. Although I lost this game the following possible variation made the game worth while.

Here I played the losing 12....Ke6, since White can play d5+ then Bf4+ and d6. What's amazing is that the best move here is 12...g6! 13.Qd5+ Kg7 14.Qxa8 Bb4+ 15.Bd2 Qe7+ 16.Kd1 and Black is ok. But since White did not play the best moves, the game ended up in the following postion where I could have consolidated with Qb6 and then Ke7, Kf8, but I thought I could force an exchange of queens by going Qe8, but I ended up exposing my king to a deadly attack

After ....Qe8, Qh4 Qe4, Qf2 White is winning! The Queen check on c5 through my rook is a big threat.

2007 Catfish Days etc.

I think I have addressed my confidence issues, these are the last ten results. (That last loss could have easily been a win, details below)

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2007 Catfish Days Results

Organizer : James Kanne

Unique locally handcrafted trophies

I talked about previous Catfish Tournaments here.

Going into the last round, a win would have guaranteed a tie for second place, and my 1987 rated opponent handed me the game on a platter:(Looks like a position from Chess Tactics Server)

here Bb5 wins , but I just missed it (possible reasons; time trouble, didn't think my opponent would make such a mistake(I did see the move right after I took my hand off the Bishop on b3))

A few moves later I didn't see a move that lost the game (It's hard to believe that White has no defence here).

Game replay

GBO 2007

My Games

Final results

It's nice to see a fellow adult A player have a great tournement. Mike Neitman went 5-0 to tie for first with Erik Santarius. In the 2nd round Mike beat the top seed Alex Betaneli.

Mike Neitman's rating jump : 1827 -->1940!

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I finished 2-1=1

For a description of playing conditions etc click here. (Greg's Chess Progress)

This and that..............

It was confirmed today by the organizer that there will NOT be a 2007 Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls SD. That's a shame since it was a one of my favorite events from last year.

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Dennis Monokroussos had some comments for me on his blog (scroll down to Getting to 2000?)

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When I started my plan to get to 2000 was to play many rated games, then get a coach and work on my weaknesses, and also study tactics/end games. That's what I did(I only got about 5 lessons). I did start making progress (measured by rating going upto 1885) . But about 4 months ago things started going wrong when I kept losing lots of games and my rating went back down to my floor of 1800.

I plan to do the same thing again. Most of the stronger players say I play far too much. I plan to spend Aug and Sep working with a coach.

Western Open, Milwaukee WI, July 7-8

Tournament Results

Although my result (0-3=2) was horrible, I learned a lot and had a good time. In the first round I was paired against expert RENE GLEN ANCHETA who tied for first last year.

In this game I had the following position.

All I have to do is take the knight(37 Nxd6) and then Play 38.Q f5 or 38.Q e2.

I decided to play 37 Qe2 first, I am still better but not after the horrible blunder 38.Ne2?? (after 37...Nde4) Black now wins with 38...Qb2 ouch!

Your mental state playes a big part in your results. I was feeling pretty bad after this loss. In the next round I was paird against a 1900 player and had the following position. I am up a piece AND threatening mate but with 15 seconds left (vs about 2min) settled for a draw. I didn't see that f7 was a safe square. Earlier I made a mental note not to go to g3 as it allowes a queen check on e8. For some reason I though that f7 was a bad square too.

After these two set backs I couldn't get back in mental shape for the next round and lost pretty routinely. In the fourth round after being a pawn down for a long while, manageed to draw against a 1844 player. I remembered most of what I had learned about defending a rook end game a pawn down. At this stage I probably should have withdrawn , but I did play the last round against a 1888 player and hung a piece very early in the game.

I know that if I had beaten the expert in the first round, it would have boosted my confidence for the rest of the rounds. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

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I heard that there might not be a Governor's Cup in South Dakota this your, due to hotel issues.

This and that..............

Here is a tournament I highly recommend: CATFISH DAYS CHESS TOURNAMENT in Franklin, MN

I have played there twice and had a great time. Unfortunately I don't think I will be able to go this year. (I am playing in two other w-end tournaments this month and it's a 6.5 hr. drive)

Here is a link to an article by Pete Karagianis on the 2004 version

Here is a page I put together for the 2005 version

2005 cross table

2006 cross table

CATFISH DAYS CHESS TOURNAMENT
2007July 27 & 28, Friday and Saturday. Franklin MN.

Stay at the Casino and have fun.The much praised, longest running out-state tournament.

5-SS RDS: 1-5:30-9;1-5 TL: Game/90 + 15 sec. PZ: 1st $300, 2nd $180, 3rd $110 and Class prizes. 5 Trophies: Open, u2100, u1850, u1600 & u1350. EF: early registration A and above $23; B and below $20; at the door $30. The famous Potluck supper is at 5:00 Friday. Send registrations to James Kanne, 66104 Co. Road 5, Franklin MN 55333. ( #507.557.8334)

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I was following the USCF forums and saw a thread about an organizer who organizes chess tournaments with names that resemble actual events(e.g. 2007 ACA 150th Anniversary US Open) in order to fool players. He has managed to post his tournament on the Wisconsin Chess Website. I have been trying to contact the webmaster, but have had no luck.

Check out the prizes for this event: $6000-3000-2000-1000-600-400-300-200 in Round Table Pizza $20 gift certificates

UPDATE : Link has been removed from Wisconsin Chess Website

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I made a $2o wager with Tony from Tony's Chess and Softball Blog.
Who ever has the higher rating in the Dec 2008 rating supplement wins.

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Every Thursday at 8:00 pm central time there is a free lecture by NM Dennis Monokroussos.

Dennis Monokroussos' Radio ChessBase lectures begin on Thursdays at 9 p.m. EDT, which translates to 01:00h GMT, 02:00 Paris/Berlin, 11:00h Sydney (on Friday). Other time zones can be found at the bottom of this page. You can use Fritz or any Fritz-compatible program (Shredder, Junior, Tiger, Hiarcs) to follow the lectures, or download a free trial client.

This is the Dennis Monokroussos site.

The Centrifuge II etc.

4SS, G/90 Green Bay, WI 54304.

Tournament Result

I scored 1-1=2. With a performance rating of 1900. I think that my main problem is lack of confidence when I have bad results.

My confidence took a big hit on 2007-04-14 when I played in this Rockford tournament and it took me a while to get it back.

I think I have turned it a round in the last two tournaments. In the last 7 rated games I have played, I have lost three games to players rated 2100, 1967 and 1918 (2-3=2).

This is the story behind the loss to the 1967 (Me vs Ferguson,W - Hales Corners G/100 21.06.2007).

I have been reading the very interesting book, "The Art of Learning" by J. Waitzkin. In it he talks about how he used to confused opponents by going into complex positions confident that he would be able to come out on top. In the following position, I guess you could say I was inspired by J.W. to play the move 17 e4. (But when a floored out A player tries to do what J.W. was able to, the results are unpredictable to say the least!)


17.... Nfxe4 18.Bxg7 Nxd2 19.Bd5
I saw the moves up to this:
But here Black has the winning move Qe2.

Hales Coners G/100. 3 Rnd Swiss.

Games Replay
Round 3 June 21
Loss to Ferguson,W (1967)

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Round 2 June 14
Won against Alex Jensen 1579

After a dismal run of 14 games(2-5=7) where I had just 2 wins (against a 1200 and an unrated), I finally won against a 1579 player today. Might not seem like much, but I was 0-1=1 against this opponent until today and I was starting to believe that I could not beat anyone over 1200!

Me (1800) - Jensen,A (1579) [A40]Hales Corners G/100 (2), 21.06.2007

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Bb4+ 3.Nd2 b6 4.a3 Be7 5.e4 Bb7 6.Bd3 d5 7.cxd5 exd5 8.e5 Bg5 9.Ngf3 Bh6 10.0-0 [ 10.Qc2 Nd7 11.Nb3 Bxc1 12.Rxc1 ] 10...Ba6? 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Qe2? [ 12.Qa4++- ] 12...Qc8 13.Qb5+ [ 13.Nb3 Bxc1 14.Raxc1 Ne7 ] 13...c6 14.Qe2 Nc7 15.Re1 Ne6 16.b4 Ne7 [ 16...Nf4 17.Qf1 Ne7 18.Nb3 0-0 19.Bxf4 Bxf4 20.g3 ] 17.Nb3 Bxc1 18.Rexc1 Qb7 [ 18...Nf4 19.Qd2 Qg4 20.Ne1 Ne2+ ] 19.Rc3 Rc8 20.Rac1 0-0 21.h4 Rc7 22.Ng5 Qc8 23.Qc2 Nxg5 24.hxg5 a6 25.f4 Qg4 26.Qf2 Rfc8 27.Rg3 Qe6 28.Rh3 Rf8 29.Rcc3 Qg4 30.Rc1 Nf5 31.Qf3 [ 31.Qc2= ] 31...Qxf3 32.Rxf3 g6 33.g4 Ne7 34.Kg2 Kg7 35.Rh1 [ 35.f5 gxf5 36.gxf5 Nc8 37.Rh3 Na7 38.Rch1 Rh8 39.a4 ] 35...Rh8 36.f5 gxf5 37.gxf5 Ng8 38.Rg3 Kf8 39.Rgh3 Kg7 40.Kf3 Rc8 41.Kf4 [ 41.f6+ Kg6 42.Kf4 h6 43.gxh6 Rxh6 44.Rg1+ Kh7 45.Rg7+ Kh8 46.Rxh6+ Nxh6 47.Kg5 Ng8 48.Rxf7 a5 49.Kg6 Nxf6 50.exf6 Rg8+ 51.Kh6 Rg1 52.Rf8+ Rg8 ] 41...h6 42.Rg1 [ 42.f6+ Kg6 43.gxh6 Rxh6 44.Rg1+ Kh7 45.Rg7+ ] 42...Kf8 43.g6 fxg6 44.Rxg6 Rc7 45.f6 [ 45.e6 h5 46.f6 Rch7 47.Rc3 Rh6 48.Rxc6 Nxf6 49.Rxh6 Rxh6 50.Kg5 Ng8 51.Rxb6 h4 52.Rb8+ Kg7 53.Rb7+ Kh8 54.Rb6 h3 55.e7 Rh5+ 56.Kg4 Rh4+ 57.Kg3 Re4 ] 45...Rf7 46.Ke3 [ 46.a4 Ne7 47.Rgxh6 ] 46...Ke8 47.Rf3 Kd7 48.Rfg3 Rf8 49.Nc1 [ 49.Rg7+ Ke6 50.Rc7 Nxf6 51.exf6 Rxf6 52.Rxc6+ Kf7 53.Rc7+ Ke6 54.Rb7 Kf5 ] 49...h5 50.Nd3 Nh6 51.Rg7+ Kc8 52.Kf4 Ng4 53.Kf5 Rh6 54.Ke6 Kd8 [ 54...Nxf6 55.exf6 Rfxf6+ 56.Ke5 Re6+ 57.Kf5 Rhf6+ 58.Kg5 Rh6 ] 55.Rf3 Re8+ 56.Kd6 Rf8 57.Kxc6 [ 57.Ra7 ] 57...Nxf6 58.Rxf6 Rfxf6+ 59.exf6 Rxf6+ 60.Kxd5 Rf3 61.Ke4 Rf1 62.Rh7 Rh1 63.Kd5 1-0

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Round 1 June 7
Loss to Jon Breider 2100

(1) Breider,J (2100) - Me (1800) [B12]Hales Corners G/100 (1), 21.06.2007

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 e6 4.Bd3 Nd7 [ 4...c5 5.exd5 exd5 6.Bb5+ Nc6; 4...dxe4 5.Bxe4 f5 6.Bd3 Qxd4] 5.Qe2 Qb6 6.c3 Ne7 7.b4 Ng6 8.h4 h5 [ 8...Bd6 9.e5 Bxb4 10.cxb4 Qxb4+ 11.Bd2 ( 11.Kf1 Qxd4 12.Bb2 Qf4 13.Qd2 Qxd2 14.Nxd2 Ngxe5) 11...Qxd4 12.Bc3 Qf4 13.Bxg6 hxg6; 8...Qc7 9.e5 a5 10.b5 cxb5 11.Bxb5 Ne7 12.Be3 b6; 8...Bxb4 9.cxb4 Qxb4+ 10.Qd2 Qxd4 11.Bb2] 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Bxg6 fxg6 11.Nh3 Be7 12.Bg5 a5 [ 12...Bxg5 13.Nxg5 0-0 14.Qxe6+ ( 14.Nxe6 Re8-+; 14.Qd3 e5 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Qxd5+ Nf7 17.Qd4 Nxg5 18.hxg5 Qxd4 19.cxd4 Rf5) 14...Qxe6+ 15.Nxe6 Re8-+; 12...Bf6 13.Bxf6 ( 13.Nf4 Kf7 14.0-0 Qd6 15.Nh3 e5 16.dxe5 Nxe5 17.Bf4) 13...gxf6 14.Nf4 Kf7] 13.b5 a4 14.Nd2 [ 14.Bxe7 Kxe7 15.Ng5 Nf6 16.Qd3 Rh6] 14...Ra5 15.Rb1 Qc7 16.Qxe6 Nf6 [ 16...Qg3+ 17.Kf1] 17.Qe5 Qxc3 [ 17...Qxe5+ 18.dxe5 Bf5 19.exf6 ( 19.Rd1 Nd7 20.Bxe7 Kxe7 21.Nf4) 19...gxf6 20.Be3 Bxb1 21.Nxb1 Rxb5] 18.0-0 Kf7 [ 18...Bxh3 19.gxh3 0-0 20.Qxe7 Qxd4+ 21.Kh1] 19.Rfc1 Qa3 20.Nf4 Bd6 21.Rc7+ Bxc7 [ 21...Bd7 22.Qe6+ Kf8 23.Nxg6#] 22.Qxc7+ Qe7 23.Qxa5 Qe3+ 24.Kh1 Re8 25.Nxd5 Qxd4 26.Nxf6 gxf6 27.Qc7+ Kf8 28.Bh6+ Kg8 29.Qg7# 1-0

Games Replay

Chicago Open - After

I had a great time meeting old friends from all over the US.

My performance was well below par. I had 5 draws! and a loss.

I have lost the confidence I had a few weeks ago. I have to work on getting it back.

Click here for games (opens new window)

Interesting positions from the games:

Game 1 - I am White with the move

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Game 2 - I am Black with the move

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Game 3 - I am Black with the move

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Game 4 - I am White with the move

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Game 5 - I am Black with the move

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Game 6 - I am White with the move

Click here for games (opens new window)

Chicago Open - Before

I will try to concentrate on the following issues during this tournament:

Not worry about rating points - actually since I am back on my floor there are no points to lose!

Overconfidence I - Although I try, I have a problem with not taking the game seriously if my opponent is low rated (more than 200 points less than me). It won't be an issue here since there won't be any low rated players.

Overconfidence II - Do not relax till the game is over. I have a pattern of getting good positions and then relaxing, usually drawing or losing winning positions.

Don't Panic - Chess is infinitely complex and there often are defensive resources available, when none seem to exist. I have lost many games when an unexpected move by me opponent sent me into panic mode. If I had searched a little bit more I would have found the correct defensive move.

Take a "time out" when necessary to completely re-evaluate a position. An example is when you are attacking, and the opponent plays a move (usually a sacrifice) that forces you to go on the defensive.

Impatience - Realize that there is plenty of time, double and triple check everything if time permits. Especially watch for offensive possibilities of defensive looking moves. For instance there is a line in the advance variation of the Caro-Kann where White plays c3, which looks like a defense move with the goal of strengthening the d4 square, but in fact c3 opens the path for the queen to get to a4 which attacks an unprotected bishop on g4 and double attacks the pinned knight on c6.

4 Round Quick event in Waukesha

Took part in a 4 round G/15 (13, with 5 sec. delay) event.
Managed to go 4-0

Results

74 points dropped in less than 30 days!

I was in a confident mood 30 days ago, I had a decent run of 14 games with no losses except to two masters and was 26 points away from reaching 1900.

That's when I decided to play in a G/80 event.

Since then I have gone 10-9=4

Which included losses to : 1400, three 1600s,two 1700s

Click here for losses.

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Loss 1
Time Control : G/80
Opponent : Romano, Robert
Rating : 1430
Event : Rockford, IL
Date : 4/14/2007

This loss was described here.

Comments : Over-confidence, miscalculating a K&P ending, time-trouble

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Loss 2
Time Control : G/80
Opponent : Johnson, Alex
Rating : 1703
Event : Rockford, IL
Date : 4/14/2007

(21) Wijetunge,I (1874) - Johnson ,A (1703) [A85]Rockford (2), 14.04.2007
1.d4 e6 2.c4 [ 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nbd2 Be7] 2...f5 3.Nf3 [ 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 ( 6...d5 7.b3) 7.Nc3 Qe8 ( 7...Ne4 8.Qd3 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 Bd7) ; 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.e3] 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 b6 5.g3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qb3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 [ 9.Qxc3 Ne4 10.Qd3 Nc6 11.a3 Qf6 12.b4 a5 13.b5 Ne7 14.a4 Ng6 15.Ba3 d6] 9...Nc6 10.a4 Ne4 11.Bb2 [ 11.a5 Nxa5 ( 11...Ba6 12.axb6 axb6 13.Ba3 Na5 14.Qc2 c5 15.dxc5 bxc5 16.Nd2 Nxd2 17.Qxd2 Nb3) 12.Rxa5 bxa5 13.Qxb7 Rb8 14.Qxa7 Nxc3 15.Re1 Ra8] 11...Na5 12.Qa2 Ba6 13.Ba3 Bxc4 14.Qb2 Re8 15.Ne5 Bd5 16.Qc1 Nb3 17.Qc2 Nxa1 18.Rxa1 d6 19.Nd3 Nf6 20.f3 Rc8 21.c4 Ba8 22.Rd1 Qe7 23.Bh3 g6 24.Qc3 Kf7 25.Qd2 c5 26.dxc5 dxc5 27.Ne5+ Kg7 28.Bc1 Rcd8 29.Qh6+ Kg8 30.Rxd8 Rxd8 31.Bg5 Qg7 32.Qh4 Rd4 33.g4 Nd7 34.Bh6 Qf6 35.Qxf6 Nxf6 36.Kf2 Nd7 37.Nxd7 Rxd7 38.Be3 0-1

Comments : Thinking about Loss 1, misplaying the opening

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Loss 3
Time Control : G/60
Opponent : Wagner, Richard
Rating : 18
Event : Hales Corners, WI
Date : Date : 4/22/2007

Comments : Threw away a completely winning game in time-trouble . Game was described here.

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Loss 4
Time Control : G/30
Opponent :Ireland, Jonathan
Rating : 1791
Event : Hales Corners, WI
Date : 4/26/2007

(16) Wijetunge,I (1829) - Ireland,J (1791)
1.d4 f5 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 Nd7 4.Bd3 Ndf6 5.h3 Bd7 6.Nf3 c6 7.c4 Qa5+ 8.Nbd2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Ne4 10.Bf4 [ 10.Qb3+-] 10...e6 11.0-0 Ngf6 12.Nb3 Qd8 13.Ne5 g6 14.f3 [ 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.f3 Nd6 16.Nc5] 14...Nd6 15.Be2 Bg7 16.Rc1 Nd5 17.Nc5 Bc8 18.Bd3 Nxf4 19.exf4 0-0 20.Qb3 Qb6 21.Qc2 Qd8 22.Rfe1 Nb5 23.Bxb5 Qxd4+ 24.Kh1 cxb5 25.g3 b6 26.Red1 [ 26.Nb3 Qb4 27.Qc6 Rb8 28.Qc7 Bb7] 26...Qxc5 *

Comments : Got a great position in the opening(missed 10.Qb3 above), then dropped a piece in an equal position.

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Loss 5
Time Control : G/60
Opponent : Mc Clanahan, Gavin
Rating : 1651
Event : RCC, Northbrook, IL
Date : 5/6/2007

Comments : Equal middle game, blundered in endgame, time-trouble . Game described here.

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Loss 6
Time Control : G/60
Opponent : Tennant, Steve
Rating : 2200
Event : RCC, Northbrook, IL
Date : 5/6/2007

Comments : I thought I had a equal opening, but miscalculated the power of the 2 knights on the queen side.

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Loss 7
Time Control : G/90
Opponent : Jensen, Alex
Rating : 1554
Event : Waukesha CC, WI
Date : 5/9/2007

(10) Wijetunge,I (1822) - Jensen,A (1544) [B13]Waukesha Championship (5), 09.05.2007[Wijetunge,I]
I normally play d4, but wanted to play against the Caro Kann, which happens to be my favorite defense to 1.e4 ( I knew my opponent plays the Caro) 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.c5 I didn't expect this, I thought 6..Bg4 would be the reply 6...e5 7.dxe5 Nxe5 8.Qd4 I should have played Bb5+ 8...Nc6 9.Bb5 Qe7+ 10.Be3 Be6 11.h3 I wanted to play Nf3, but didn't want Ng5 [ 11.Nf3 Ng4 12.b4 Nxe3 13.fxe3+/=] 11...a6 12.Ba4 g6 13.Nf3 Bg7 14.Ne5 Rc8 15.0-0 0-0 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Qh4 Qb7 18.Bd4 Ne8 19.Bb3 Qb4 20.Rad1 Bxd4 21.Qxd4 Qxd4 22.Rxd4 Nc7 23.Ra4 Ra8 24.Ne2 Nb5 25.Nd4 Nxd4 26.Rxd4 Rfb8 27.Rc1 Ra7 28.Rc2 Bf5 29.Rc3 Bd7 30.Ra4 a5 31.Rd4 Kg7 32.f3 Be8 33.Kf2 a4 34.Rxa4 Rxa4 35.Bxa4 Rxb2+ 36.Rc2 Rb4 37.Bb3 Bd7 38.g4 f5 39.Re2 Kf7 40.Kg3 f4+ 41.Kf2 Bc8 42.Re4 Rxe4 43.fxe4 Ke6 44.exd5+ cxd5 45.h4 h6 46.Kf3 g5 47.hxg5 hxg5 48.a4 Ba6 49.a5 Kd7 50.Ba4+ [ 50.Bxd5 The score sheet may be wrong, since I can't believe I missed this move] 50...Kc7 51.Kf2 With 4 sec to go on my clock and 29 min on my opponents, I realized that time-delay was not on. I requested a delay clock, and it was given with my time reduced by half. So now I have 2 sec + the 5 sec delay, but I lost on time. With best play this end game might be drawable? 51...Bc4 52.Kf3 Kb7 53.Be8 d4 54.Kf2 d3 55.Ke1 White lost on time 0-1

Comments : Over confidence, time trouble

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Loss 8
Time Control : G/90
Opponent : Walker, Arlen
Rating : 1827
Event : Waukesha CC, WI
Date : 5/9/2007

Missed the easy 12.f4 to put the game away

(5) Wijetunge,I (1822) - Walker,A (1827) 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 Ne4 5.Bd3 f5 6.0-0 c6 7.Ne5 Nd7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Nxg6 Ndf6 10.Qh4 Rg8 11.Nxf8 Ng5 12.Qh6 [ 12.f4+-] 12...Ng4 13.Nxe6?? [ 13.Qh5++-] 13...Bxe6 14.Qxe6+ Nxe6 15.Bxf5 Qf6 16.Bxe6 Qxe6 17.c5 0-0-0 18.Nd2 Qg6 19.g3 Rdf8 20.b4 h5 21.h4 Nxf2 0-1

Comments : Over confidence

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Loss 9
Time Control : G/45
Opponent : May, J
Rating : 1650
Event : Parents/Friends event K-6 Nationals, Nashville, TN
Date : May 13,2007

(2) Wijetunge,I (1810) - May,J [D02]K-6 Parents/Friends (3), 12.05.2007[Wijetunge,I]
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.e3 [ 3.c4] 3...Bf5 4.c4 e6 5.Nc3 Nd7 6.Qb3 Qc7 7.Bd2 Ngf6 8.Rc1 Qb6 9.Be2 Bd6 10.c5 Qxb3 11.axb3 Bc7 12.b4 0-0 13.b5 e5 14.0-0 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Ra1 exd4 17.exd4 Rfe8 18.Be3 [ 18.Rfe1] 18...Nf6 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.Ra6 Re7 21.Nd2 Bf5 22.Rxc6 Rb8 23.b3 Ba5 24.Bd1? [ 24.Rd1 Bxd2 25.Bxd2 Rxb3 26.Bf3+/-] 24...Bd3 25.Rd6 [ 25.Re1-/+] 25...Bxf1 26.Kxf1 Rxe3 27.fxe3 Bxd2 28.Ke2 Bc1 29.b4 h6 30.c6 Rc8 31.b5 Ne4 32.Rd7 Nc3+ 33.Ke1 Nxb5 34.Ba4 0-1

Reason(s) : Over confidence, too passive.

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I won't be having any over-confidence or time-trouble issues at the Chicago Open. Although results like the above would have normally left me feeling pretty down, for some reason I have a good feeling about the Chicago Open.

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This is what I plan to do for rest of the year:
Play
Play in tournaments with time control slower than G/60
Play at most one w-end tournament a month.
Play about 19 G/100 games (one game a week tournaments) for the rest of the year.
Study
Tactics
Endgames
Openings
Study middle games/plans based on my openings
Annotate my own games
Other
Regular (5-6 times a week) exercise
Healthier eating
Drink more water