My Loss against a 1900 player at the Northeast Open

It was a wild match! I even had a "London" in reverse with a Pillsbury attack... but my move 15 was part of my demise. Advancing the g-pawn when the opponent has the f-pawn advanced is supposed to help open it up. In this game it was the wrong thing to do.

My Highest rating yet...1698!

I played 4 of the 5 rounds at the NE Open and finished with a score of 2. I decided to leave during round 5 rather than playing 10 hours of chess prior to a 3 hour ride home.

My last game was with the older brother of the victim of round 3. Round 3 was with a 1730 player who I trounced on with the london. I had Black against his 1916 rated brother who I ended up with an edge for most of the game until I lost the initiative and allowed him a passed pawn which I had to take care of. I will post this game later.

Northeast Open after round 2

So far I have one loss in round 1 against an 1800 player and a win ( as Black) against a 1712 player in round 2.

In round 1 I had a great attack with minor pieces in the center. I mis-calculated an exchange and ...again ... I didn't calculate my opponent's inbetween move ( 4 moves deep). This happened to me at the World Open and I managed to salvage a draw.
In round 2, I played the Caro-Kann against a Panov-Botvinick attack variation and my move 6 was questionable ( according to book.. which is about as far as I can remember in this line). I played a Nc6 which looks normal from a development standpoint... but foretunately, my opponent didn't see the cramping c5 advance. Instead he played b3 which really allowed me to bring my bishop to b4 ( what I should have done on move 6).

Here is a pgn of teh game in round 2:

[Event "Northeast Open 2006"]

[Date "2006.07.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Judd, Daniel"]
[Black "Duval, George"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B14"]


{192MB, GEORGEHOME B14: Caro-Kann: Panov-Botvinnik Attack with 5...e6 and 5...
g6 } 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. b3 Bb4 8. Bb2 Qa5 9. Qc2 Ne4 10. Rc1 O-O 11. Be2 Qxa2 12. O-O Bxc3 13. Bxc3 Nxc3 14. Qxc3 Qxe2 15. Rfe1 Nxd4 16. Qxd4 Qa2 17. cxd5 Qxb3 18.dxe6 Bxe6 19. Rb1 Qd5 20.Qxd5 Bxd5 21. Red1 Rfd8 22. Nd4 Rd7 b6 24. Rd3 Rad8 25. Rbd1 Kf8 26. f3 Ke8 27. Re1+ Re7 28. Rxe7+ Kxe7 0-1


I didn't have time to fuss with the "simple" applet viewer. Cut and past into your favorite viewer like:

http://www.chessclub.com/chessviewer/pgnform.html

Showing my "Moxie" at the WO

OK... There are LOTS of stories to tell... the cheaters ( one guy had a radio ear piece), the hissy fits ( plenty of those) and the "Stars" ( Like Nakamura being left behind while all the other over 21 GMs went out and grabbed some beers ...then came back and walked around with them in hand... almost taunting Hikaru)...but mine is more of us common place folks... doing the Philly thing when in Rome.

So after my loss in round four I was licking my wounds. My step son REALLY wanted an infamous Philly steak and cheese from the source. My wife, bless her sole, researched the be-jesus out of it and found "THE" place. Pat's King of Steaks, is in south Philly and several blocks from the hotel but all the locals claim that this is THE place...even better than Geno's who's stand was just a few yards from Pat's.

I decided to stay behind to regroup and prepare for round 5. My adventurous wife took flight with all the city maps in search of the stand with a little less than 2 hours before the next round. I started to get concerned about making the first round on time when over an hour had passed before anyone returned. At about 5 minutes before the round my step son and daughter burst into the room to deliver the goods. My step son had wolfed his down in the car ride back, grabbed his set and made round 5 on time.

My daughter and I, decided to take the hit on time and play by "club time" instead ( 40/90) so we could enjoy the Philly delecasy. I washed the cheese and onions off my beard and made it to round 5 with 20 minutes expired on my clock and a diet Moxie in my hand. For those of you not from the northeast, Moxie is a bitter root beer that typically requires an acquired taste. I acquired mine having grown up in Maine adn only 10 miles from the moxie epicienter of the world where they have Moxie festivals complete with Moxie queens and the young guys trying to look tough chugging the soda.

I shook hands made my 1.d4 hit the clock, sat down and opened my Moxie. Made another move and hit the clock. I was still in book by move 12 and only used 3 minutes on my clock against a 1717 rated player from MI. I hit him with a Pillsbury attack that he never saw coming. Move 22 he resigned. I still had over an hour left on the first time control.

9 Rounds of intensity followed by 10 rounds of Insanity

The 4th of July in Philly had Lionel Ritchie warming up at the famous "Rocky" steps while the final round of the World open was well uunderway only a few city blocks away. In rounds 8 and 9 I squeaked out an extra point and a half against a couple of 1700 players ( mostly played 1700 players the whole time since I was in the lower 20%). My Final tally was 5 out of 9.

Then the insanity hit. I decided for one last huzzah, to sign up for the late night blitz tournament. It was a double 5 round swiss G5 boiler maker. At 2:45 AM I managed to scrape up only 4 points in the under 2000 section. WHAT WAS I THINKING? But at least I wasn't the only one lacking any sense of reasoning... there was an 84 year old man who kept saying what I was thinking " I'm too old for this!"

My step son finished with 6 points and my daughter... well... she had fun... let's just say she had a lot of swim time at the pool and made some new friends.

We had a great time.... it was good practice for the next world open.

Carterizing the wound

It seems as though when I play black I am tripping up over move orders and losing in the opening. As white I have yet to lose ( except for a Draw) Entering the last 2 rounds with a 3.5 after 7 rounds.

My Step-son, Tyler, has one point better with 4.5 in the U1400 section while my daughter, Nika only has a 1/2 point from a bye she took earlier to day to go to the zoo with my wife.

In the Open, Nakamura is holding first place.

Great Suckage at the WO so Far

The first Three rounds ( friday night and Saturday) left me with a point and a half. First round I had a won position which was up materially and I managed to squander that away with a bad calculation that over looked an inbetween move. After generously giving up my material advantage, I mananage to snatch a draw out of the jaws of victory.

Second round wasn't much better. I had a good game and played probably the next to the top seed in the section...BUT... time trouble came and I dropped a rook rather than simplify... I would have done better to simplify.

Third round I CRUSHED my oponent. The fourth round had me scrambling and catching up while losing pawns left and right. I went into the endgame down a piece. I did hold my ground and got the material back only to lose to an extra pawn... but a point lost is still a point lost.

Fifth round coming and I am trying to get my game back up. 4 down and 5 to go still only 1.5 points.

Man I suck!
Later.