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

---

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

---

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.

---

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.

---

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)

---

Round 1 Click to replay Blackbarth vs Wijetunge

Final position

---

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.

---

Round 1
I won against a 1300

I am playing Black above with White to play.

---

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

---

Round 3
I took a bye

---

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.

---

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

---

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+

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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.

---

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 +

---

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.

---

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

---

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

---

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.

---

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.

Western Michigan Open XXIV, Dec 16, (Grand Rapids,MI)

I had great time at this tournament. The playing conditions and organization were excellent, complementary coffee and snacks were nice touches.

Complete Results

Douglas M Forsythe - Organizer and TD

---

I don't like to play with time controls less then G/90 or play more than 2 games a day. This tournament was G/60 and there were 4 games in one day. But there was nothing else I could find for this w-end, and I decided that I would like to get better at shorter time controls too.

All my games went right down to the wire in terms of time. The two games I lost were mad time scrambles by both players.

I finished with 1-2=1, and will probably lose about 19 points. to get back down to 1865

---

I lost both games as White! The final 10-15 moves in these games were not recorded.

Click here to replay the first loss.

Click here to replay the 2nd loss.

Missing Loss

This was a loss I forgot to include in a previous post. White tries an unusual second move. Instead of playing 2...d6 or 2...d5 I tried 2...Qa5. That was not that bad, but after I played 7...c5 I was in a bad way. I had to play 7...d6

Russ Montey (1842) vs Me Loss

Click here to replay the game.

Progress Report etc.

I have been able to devote so much time to playing chess for the last few months because my family has been out of state. They will be returning Jan 1 so after, that I won't have too much time to go to tournaments. Although, I will be able to study, which is what I really need in order to improve. I will be traveling to and from Texas over the Christmas/New Year's break. I will be flying down and driving back.

My goal is to get to 2000 by the February 2007 supplement. There are only three weekends left. (I don't think the Jan 6-7 weekend will make the February supplement)

These are some of the tournaments I am looking at playing in:

---

Dec 16 : Western Michigan Open XXIV
Rounds : 4
Time Control : G/60
Location : Grand Rapids, MI
CON(S) : Distance
Site: Leonard Terrace Apartments 1315 Leonard Street North East Grand Rapids, MI 49505 Directions: Yahoo Map Infospace Map Format: 4-SS Open USCF and MCA Membership required Time Control: G/60 or G/55(t/d 5) Rounds: 10AM - 12:00PM - 3:00PM - 5:00PM Lunch - after round 2 - 2:00PM - 3:00PM Entry Fee: $20 - Western Michigan Open XXIV Free - USCF rated blitz - side event(s) Registration: 9 - 9:45, December 16, 2006 Prizes: Plus-score tournament 4.0 = $40 3.5 = $35 3.0 = $30 2.5 = $25 Entries/Info: Douglas M Forsythe, Local TD 1825 Ball Avenue North East Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 (616) 361 - 8214 forsythe.douglas@comcast.net

---

Dec 23 : 2nd Saturday Touch Move CC Action
Rounds : 5
Time Control : G/30
Location : Chicago, IL
CON(S) : G/30, Tournaments played at this club have not been rated yet.
5639 N. Ashland Chicago IL. Limit 40 players. EF: $30 non-members, $20 TMCC members. ($360 b/24) $120 - $70, U2200- $65, U2000- $55, U1800/Unrated- $50, Reg.: 12:00 pm Rounds: 1pm-2:30-3:45-5-6:20 pm. 2 bye limit, request before rd 3. Info: IM Angelo Young (773) 627-2759, TMchesscenter@hotmail.com

---

Dec 29 :Friday Night Quick Cash
Rounds : 3SS
Time Control : Game/45
Location : Kansas City, MO
CON(S) : G/45
The Chess Club at Vivion West Shopping Mall (North Kansas City), 2314 NW Vivion Rd, Riverside MO 64150. EF: $25 by Dec. 27th, $30 onsite. Memb. Req'd: $5. OSA. $$GTD: $225. $75. U2000 1st $75 U1600 1st $75 100% of entries will be paid out as cash prizes!. Accelerated pairings will be used. Reg: Between 6-7 PM. Rds: 1st Round 7PM. No Byes Available. ENT: Ken Fee 1537 Baker St. Liberty, MO 64068. Club Phone: 816-505-1615 PAYPAL to chessclub@powerpawn.net. INFO: chessclub@powerpawn.net. http://www.powerpawn.net/.

---

Dec. 30 : McLean County Historical Museum Open
Rounds : 4SS
Time Control : G/70
Location : Bloomington, IL
McLean County Historical Museum, 200 N. Main, Bloomington, IL. EF: $20 if received by 12/28 ($16 under 20), $25 at site. $540 b/35. 1st $200, 2nd $100 (1st and 2nd prizes are guaranteed) U2000 $100, U1600 $80, U1200 $60. Reg: 8:30-9:30 AM, Rds: 10, 1, 3:45, 6:30. Ent: Dennis Bourgerie, Box 157, Normal, IL 61761. 309-454-3842. Cell: 309-531-1723. Schoolstreeter@msn.com, NS, NC.

---

Observations etc.

• I attribute my imrovement mainly to my mental attitude. I used to be "scared" of my opponents. Not any more. Swiching(from the Qd6 Scandinavian) back to Caro Kann helped too.
• Most of my recent losses/draws were due to mistakes during time trouble, I have to improve in that department.
• I see a lot more tactics now, but I still miss a lot.

5 more points and a painful draw in Round 3

My result was 1-1=1. The new rating will be around 1889

---

Round 3 Me vs Raymond Hayes(2100) draw

I fell for 3 fold repetition in time trouble in a completely winning position against floored out 2100 player Raymond Hayes. I stopped taking notation after move 49.

Click here to replay the game.

---

Round 2Russ Montney (1842) vs. me Loss

White tries an unusual second move. Instead of playing 2...d6 or 2...d5 I tried 2...Qa5. That was not that bad, but after I played 7...c5 I was in a bad way. I had to play 7...d6

Click here to replay the game.

---

Round 1 Me vs James Coons (1883) win

Click here to replay the game.

My opponent usually gets in time trouble and is known for memorizing openings. I knew that I could get a good time advantage if I varied from the main lines. I played 7. h3 and after that had a good advantage on the clock. Towards the end of the game I had about 20 min. and he had less than 2. Some of the moves I made toward the end (eg. 24 Qh5) were made not because I thought they were the best moves, but because I though they would give him the most discomfort with the clock ticking away towards zero.

Caption time

Wisconsin Memorial : Dec 9-10 (Madison, WI)

I finished 3-0=1, and gained 19 points to end up at 1885. I split the $100 class A prize with David Cardenas.

Complete Results

---

Round 4 - Me vs Richard Wagner(1900) - Win

I could have won a pawn with 13. Bxf6. but I decided to go into a closed position with active pieces, my king's bishop had a lot of scope, and I could expand on the queen side.

15...f5 creates a backward pawn on an open file, and a hole on e5 which the king's knight now is itching to occupy.

17. Bxc6 the bishop gives his life so that the king's knight can occupy e5. (The knight is humbled by the bishop's selfless act).

18. Ne5 This knight is an octopus!

18...Qh5 Looks dangerous for White, but there is nothing here. Time to defend!

20...f4?? Black blunders

23. f3 although this was not necessary I wanted to stop all counter play by black

25. Rc4 The rooks are planning to double themselves on the b file

27. h3 more prophylaxis

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 5 - Jeremy Kane(2065) vs Me - Draw

I have choked in the last round many times in the past few weeks, and was determined not to let that happen this time. Theory in this variation of the Caro Kann goes from the opening all the way to the ending, where Black is suposed to have excellent drawing chances. Kane missed the book move 12.Qc6+. I offered a draw right after this, but it was declined. He then offred a draw after his final move and I accepted. Although I thought I was better, I figured that that chances of me making a mistake were higher.

Click here to replay game.

Apology - 3rd Coast Chess Festival

I would like to apologize to the organizers of the 3rd Coast Chess Festival for the comments made in this blog entry.

Instead this is what I would like to say:

I would like to thank the organizers for having the event, and also for the community service projects they undertake.

The tournament was well directed and the playing conditions were excellent, although basing the prizes on 180 participants was overly optimistic. (Based on adult participation in Illinois events)

Illinois Class Champ. : Dec 2-3 (Joliet, IL)

Results

Tournament format: 4 round Swiss G/120

I finished with 1-2=1. I missed lots of tactics but still lost only 10 rating points to end up at 1865.

Game 3 where I was able to sacrifice my queen for mate made the whole tournament worthwhile for me. (I missed 13..Bxa3 & 17...Qf1+, but If I had seen them, I would not have been able to sac the queen in the end!)

Game 4 was a big disappointment. After playing a great game, (where I missed at least 2 opportunities to put the game away 17. Qh3 and 22.Bb4) I got myself into terrible time trouble and lost. There was $100.00 riding on this game too!

Observations etc.

Bad time management in Game 4. I spent about 20 min. deciding between 9.0-0 and (9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.Qg4.) I was about an hour behind my opponent on time after about 17 moves.

I used to not be able to recover after a loss, but after losing Game 2 I came back strongly in Game 3 and almost had Game 4.

I had lost only 2 games out of 12 for the month of November. If I want to keep that up in December I can't lose any more games!

"A" players miss lots of tactics!

Rnd 1 - HECTOR R HERNANDEZ (1900) vs Me - Draw

Rnd 2 - Me vs TREVOR S MAGNESS (1897) - Loss

This was a bad loss. I completly missed the danger at f2. Instead of 16.Bd3, 16.h5 would have left me with a slight pull. Even after 17.Nxe5 I could have still played h5 and the game is about equal.

Click here to replay game.

Rnd 3 - DANIEL SAJKOWSKI(1862) vs Me - Win

Click here to replay game.

Rnd 4 - Me vs ERIC S ROSEN (1909) - Loss

Click here to replay game.

Some progress...

I have made some progress, but getting to 2000, by the February supplement may be a tall order, but the way I see it, I need just one really good result!

I will not be playing Nov 25-26. I plan to stop by at the Scott Kittsley Quick Chess Festival . I decided not to play because I don't think I could learn much from G/29, and even if I did well, it won't change my regular rating. I am going to try and finish the book on rook endings instead.

My next tournament is the 2006 Illinois Class Championship in Joliet, IL. Dec. 2-3.

I am also thinking about playing in the Wisconsin Memorial in Madison,WI, Dec 9-10

3rd Coast Chess Fest.: Nov 18-19 (Northbrook, IL)

The turn out was very dissapointing, only about 60 players showed up. The prizes were based on a ridiculously high number of 180!

Complete Results

My goals for this tournament were, to get my rating to 1900 (from 1872) and to be one of the prize winners.

I managed to tie for 3rd-4th which was worth $62.50 (the entry fee was $65). I went 3-1 (plus one bye), and gained 3 points to end up at 1875

---

There are many things that keep me from getting to 2000. One that I have worked on is not to get discouraged when I am not doing so well, instead I try extra hard to put as many obstacles as possible in front of my opponent. Another is to get over confident when I am doing well, I still need to work on that.

Round 1 Bye

---

Round 2 Mehmed Covic (1800) vs Me Loss
It was the first time that I played 5...h5, 6...h4 in this variation of the Caro-Kann. I was in bad shape after playing 9...Nbd7 (e6 was correct) , and White could have won with 19.c4 but I managed to hang in there and win the exchange and get to a winning position, I then got my rook "trapped" (after 54 Bd4) and had to sac a pawn to get it out. The funny thing was the rook was not trapped as with 55...c5 and 56...b4 I was winning easily, but after the White king guards the bishop the situation is less in my favor. I then managed to get in to severe time trouble and lost what was a drawn endgame.

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 3 Me vs Jan Suplat (1676) Win

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 4 Me vs Nicola Dos Santos (1668) Win

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 5 Boris Deriy (1607) vs Me Win

This game was about tactics, imaginary and real.

Imaginary Tactics - played
When I played 15...Bxg3 I thought I would be picking up the bishop on b2 next move, but right after I played it I saw that White has 16.Rf2. But I played the 2 moves 15..Bxg3 and 16...Qb6 + with such authority that it fooled my oponent and he just played 16. kh2

Real Tactics - unplayed
I had 14...Bxg3 and if White plays 15.fxg I pick up the rook with 16...Qd4+, but White has the surprising 15.Bb2 when Black is only slightly better after he playes 16...Bh4 and then 17...Bf6 (after White plays 16.Bxg7 17. Bxh8) . I don't think a human player would find 15. Bb2, it is pretty rare to just attack a pawn when your opponent just took your knight.

Click here to replay game.

Kings Island Open : Nov 11-12 (Mason, OH)

I only played one good game (round 4), but still lost only 2 rating points to finish with 1-1=2 with a rating of 1872.

Complete Results

Round 1
Bye

Round 2 - Me vs MICHAEL A MORRIS (1944) Loss
In this game I could have forced the following position (on move 16) with Black to play:

I thought that the isolated pawn would be a liability, but I think that my active pieces compensate for this and White should be fine. I lost this game because of the move 17. Nh7, for a moment I forgot that rooks can move horizontally too!

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 3 - KEVIN MALLOY (1914) vs me Draw
I could have played Kh7 and there are no more checks and Black shold be able to win with the extra piece.

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 4 Me vs - MICHAEL CHIANG (1856 ) Win

Click here to replay game.

---

Round 5 GEORGE J ELGIN (1771) vs Me Draw

This was a very interesting but frustrating draw. I was clearly winning for most of the game, and then I got into a winning pawn endgame (43...e5). I then blundered with 51...Kg2 and should have lost, but my opponent captured the wrong pawn and the game was drawn. 60. K x b5 wins while K x b4 draws. So instead of gaining about 12 rating points I lost a couple.

Click here to replay game.

Wisconsin Veterans : Nov 4-5 (Oshkosh, WI)

I finished with 4/5 and tied for 2nd-5th, worth $52.50 and a new rating of 1874.

James Coons with 3.5/5 took home the trophy for the highest finishing person over 50.

Results

First place winner Daniel Lindquist 4.5/5, $170

Top 2 seeds on the left. Kelly Borman, Souvick Roychoudhury.

---

My Results
Rnd 1 - Win Timothy Hiddemen (1130) vs Me

Click here to replay game.

---

Rnd 2 - bye

---

Rnd 3 - Win Me vs R. Hollenhorst (1500 )

Click here to replay game.

---

Rnd 4 - Draw Kelly Borman (2003) vs Me .

This was an exciting game. With 19...Be7 I would have had the advantage. The sac on e6 does not work for White, and that was what he was going to do. After 20 Bxe6 fxe6. 21 Rxe6 Qf7 Black wins

Click here to replay game.

---

Rnd 5 - Win Me vs John Phythyon (1900)

Click here to replay game.

Etc.

I went to the Waukesha Chess Club today. They were concluding a g/29 tournament and needed a house player for the last round, I decided to play since it was only quick rated.

Click here to replay game.

This w-end I plan to play in the Wiconsin Veterans Tournamet.

The w-end of the 11th is the King's Island Open. I have not decided if I will play there. If I can get at least one more person to go with me I will.

Caption Time

Governor's Cup : Oct 27-29 (Sioux Falls,SD)

I played in the U2000 section and tied for 2nd-3rd.That was worth $400. I also got my rating up to 1856.

Here are the results.

This was a great, well directed tournament and I recommend it highly. One of the highlights was the “chess social” that was held at the Knudson residence. Where else would mere patzers like us get to hang out with GMs and IMs while partaking in a sumptuous spread?

I got into time trouble in all my games, but managed 3.5/4. (I took a bye in the first round to finish 4/5). The main reason I am getting into time trouble is that I am trying to be careful in order to minimize errors, but this is counter productive since the lack of time introduces errors later in the game.

CAMILLA BAGINSKAITE (Left)

ALEX YERMOLINSKY (Right)

ALEXANDER IVANOV SERGEY KUDRIN (Left)

chess social

A good result

I finally had a good result. I went 4-0 with a performance rating of 2000 in the Waukesha Chess Club 4 round swiss, which should bring my rating upto 1841, but that loss from the other tournament that I taked about in my last post will cost me about 25 points, so I will be around 1816 when that gets rated. Still, 3 tournaments in a row where I stay above my floor is good for me.

My next tournament is the Governor's Cup in South Dakota. Driving a total of about 16 hours might seem like a crazy idea, but I am making an exception since I have always wanted to play in the tornament.

Game replay

This is the win from yesterday. I missed Rxf7, but other than that I was happy with my play. I got into time trouble again and had to play the last 10 moves with less than 8 min.

A frustrating loss

A little background:

I know it’s silly to be concerned so much about ratings, but I can't help it. I finally managed to get my rating above the floor albeit by just 6 points. But I had the possibility of getting it even higher because I am currently playing in two local events:

Event 1 – Event ends Oct/17th

Game 1 Win 1250
Game 2 Win 1550
Game 3 Win 1900
Game 4 Win 1600

Event 2 Event ends Oct/18th

Game 1 loss 1900
Game 2 Draw 1800
Game 3 Loss 1733 - The game I am taking about.

When you are close to your floor the order in which the events get rated is important. For instance If I have 1 bad and 1 good performance. If the bad one gets rated first, I get to keep the points form the good one, but if the good one gets rated first I don’t. In this situation I have the latter case. (Event 2 has an official end date of 10/18 although I played the game yesterday)

Mistakes and other observations I made in this game:

1) I got over-confident after getting a great position. Mentally, I had already marked a 1 in the win column pretty early in the game.

2) When confronted with an unexpected move (20 ..Qe5) I panicked and did not look hard enough for a refutation. I should have done what Jose Gatica recommends in these situations - Walk away from the board so you can mentally adjust. With 21. Qd3 I am still winning. But this 2 move sequence Qd3, Qd4 is very hard to find in time trouble.

3) Did not look hard enough for tactics 15. B x c6 wins.

4) I was taking to Jose Gaticca about me getting into time trouble often. The obseravation he made is that becuase I am not tactically up to par, I take too long thinking about tactcal posibilties (even then I miss things). To really improve I have to train myself tactically so the ideas come to me without having to spend too much time. To address this issue, I am currently reading a book that Tim Crouse recomended. The is book called Understanding Chess Tactics . This book does a great job in breaking down tactical ideas.


5) What I was thinking just before/after the blunder.
"Can the Queen get out of the pin and cover all the knight escape routes" I didn't look hard enough and did not find 20 ..Qe5. So when he played it I panicked. What's ironic is that although there is such a square it still does not work becaouse of 21. Qd3, so my initial assessment was correct after all!

"There was such a square, now I am lost"
"I should have not played Nxb5"
"I should have just put pressure on the c pawn"

What I should have been thinking:

"Okay I didn't expect 20 ..Qe5, don't panic, calm down, look for a refutation" If I had done that I would probably have found 21. Qd3

---

The number of actual points I lose for this loss depends on the result of my round four game in the other event. According to my calculations:

Win 1854 1828 26
Draw 1831 1800 25
Loss 1818 1800 18

Column 2 Rating after good event
Column 3 Rating after bad event
Column 4 number of points this game cost.

Caption Time

Midwest Class Championships Oct -13-15

Results
Ehlvest wins clear first with 4.5/5 beats Shulman in the last round

The top contenders were:
2679 GM Yuri Shulman
2666 GM Jaan Ehlvest
2573 GM Dmitry Gurevich
2500 IM Stanislav Smetankin
2456 IM Angelo Young
2445 FM Mehmed Pasalic
2435 FM Ruslan Ahundov
Smetankin, Gurevich, Ahundov - Playing in the 2 day event (Smetankin, Gurvich win, Ahundov loses to Ehlvest )
Shulman vs Nienart - 3 day event round 2 - Shulman wins

Ehlvest

Magdalena Matyszewska 1984 (highest rated female player)

---

The father and son Karklins

Andrew Karklins 2311

Erik Karklins 2026 He is over 90 years old and maintains an expert rating!

---

4th round clash of the Eriks. Age difference around 70! years. Erik Santarius wins this and draws the last round to finish clear first in the U2200 and wins $1000.

I finished 3/5 (first round bye, 3rd round forfeit win) U2000

Rnd 2.Me (1800) - Bartlett,R (1733) [D30]Midwest Class, 14.10.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 h6 8.Bh4 0-0 9.Nc3 c6 [9...c5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.0-0] 10.0-0 b5 11.Bd3 Bb7 12.Rc1 a5 13.Bg3 Nh5 14.Be5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 [15.Nxe5 Nf6 16.Qf3] 15...g6 16.Ne4 [16.Qc2 Qe8 17.Nd4±] 16...Qb6 17.Nd4 Rad8 18.Qe2 Nf4 19.exf4 Rxd4 20.Qe3 Rfd8 21.Bb1 c5 22.Nf6+ Kg7 23.a3 Qc7 24.Ne4?? [24.Qxd4 Wins] 24...Bxe4 25.Bxe4 a4 26.g3 Qa5 27.Bc2 b4 28.axb4 cxb4 29.Ra1 b3 30.Bxb3 Qd2?? [30...Rd3 Wins for Black] 31.Qxd2 [31.Bxa4 Qxe3 32.fxe3 Rd2 33.b3] 31...Rxd2 32.Bxa4 Rxb2 33.Rab1 Rdd2 34.Rxb2 Rxb2 ½-½

I think I had a decent opening, I should have played 16.Qc2 and would have had a good game. We both got into time trouble and made many gross blunders. I could have won with 24.Qxd4 and he could have won with 30...Rd3

Rnd 4 Me (1800) - Magness,T (1857) [B11]Midwest Class (4), 15.10.2006
1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bh5 [ 4...Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bd2 Nbd7 8.g4 Qb6 9.0-0-0 d4 10.Ne2 Bb4 11.g5 Bxd2+ 12.Rxd2 Ng8] 5.exd5 cxd5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Bb5+ Nc6 8.Ne5 Rc8 9.d4 e6 10.h4 f6 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Qd3 Nge7 13.Be3 a6 14.Ba4 Qa5 15.0-0-0 b5 16.Bb3 Nb4 17.Qd2 Ng8 18.a3 Nc6 19.Qd3 Kd7 20.Qxg6 Nge7 21.Qd3 b4 22.Na4 Ng8 [ 22...bxa3 23.Nc5+ Ke8 24.bxa3 Qxa3+ 25.Kd2 Nb4] 23.Bd2 Bd6 24.Rde1 Rb8 25.g5 Qd8 26.Qe3 Qe7 27.Bxd5 exd5 [ 27...bxa3 28.Bxe6+ Kd8 29.Qe4 axb2+ 30.Kb1] 28.Qh3+ Kd8 29.Rxe7 Ngxe7 30.Qe6 Kc7 31.axb4 Nxb4 32.Nc5 Rhd8 33.Bxb4 Rxb4 34.Nxa6+ Kb7 35.Nxb4 Bxb4 36.gxf6 gxf6 1-0

I was not familiar with this variation of the Caro Kann. I didn't wan't to give up the 2 bishops on move 4, but looks like that was the best move.

Surprisingly Black is okay after 12...f5

Rnd 5 Me (1800) - Blackman,W (1893) [D21]Midwest Class (5), 15.10.2006
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c4 dxc4 4.a4 [ 4.e3 b5 5.a4 c6] 4...c6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.e3 Be6 7.Ne5 Nbd7 8.Nxc4 Bxc4 9.Bxc4 Nb6 10.Bd3 e6 11.0-0 Be7 12.Bd2 a5 [ 12...e5 13.a5 exd4 14.exd4 Nbd5 15.Nxd5 Nxd5 16.Qg4] 13.Qe2 0-0 14.Ne4 Nbd5 15.Nxf6+ Nxf6 16.Bc3 Qc7 17.Rac1 Rfd8 18.f4 Bd6 19.Be1 Nd5 20.Rf3 g6 21.g4 Nxf4 [ 21...f5 22.g5 ( 22.gxf5 exf5 23.Qg2 Qe7 24.Bf2) ] 22.exf4 Bxf4 23.Rc4 Rd5 24.Qf2 Bd6 25.Bd2 [ 25.Be4 Rg5 26.Qh4 Be7 27.Bg3 Qd8 28.Qh6] 25...Bf8 26.Qh4 Rad8 27.Rh3 f5 28.gxf5 exf5 29.Bf4 [ 29.Rc1 Rxd4 30.Bc4+ Kh8 31.Bc3; 29.Bg5 R8d7; 29.Rc3 Rxd4 ( 29...Kh8 30.Bg5 R8d6 31.Bc4 Rxd4 32.Bf6+ Rxf6 33.Qxf6+ Bg7 34.Rxh7+ Kxh7 35.Rh3+ Bh6 36.Be6) 30.Bc4+ Kh8 31.Qf6+ Bg7 32.Rxh7+ Kxh7 33.Rh3+ Rh4 34.Rxh4+ Bh6 35.Rxh6#] 29...Qf7 [ 29...Qg7 30.Be5 Be7 31.Bxg7 ( 31.Qf4 Bf6) 31...Bxh4 32.Be5] 30.Be5 [ 30.Bg5 R8d7 31.Rc2 Rxd4 32.Bc4 Rxh4 33.Bxf7+ Kxf7 ( 33...Rxf7 34.Rxh4) 34.Rxh4] 30...Bd6 31.Qxd8+ 1-0

Black had a = game before he gave up the knight

Corpus Christi - Texas

Took part in a fun-event in Corpus Christi, Texas, The Susan Polgar Giant Chess Set Tournament. (For teams of three)

The UT Brownsville team showed up, and they decided to have two teams one with their coach GM Gilberto Hernandez and the other with IM Daniel Fernandez.

The competition was lopsided to say the least with basically 400 rated players competing against GM/IM for the same prizes.

UT Brownsville finished 1st-2nd(Surprise! Surprise!)
We finished tied for 3rd-4th (4th on tie breaks), but the organizers decided not to split the prize money, but give it to the 3rd place team(based on tie breaks)

The 3rd place team lead by Bill Wheeler was very generous and decided to split the prize money with us.