Towing the Line...

(Re-writing the post since Blogger crashed on me last time)

I decided to participate in the BCC $10 open this past Saturday. I played in the Open section ( because I am "officially" on this side of 1600 and my unofficial rating could not be used). All in all, I finished with 1.5 points after four rounds of G60 events.



For the first round, the pairing sheet indicated that my opponent had a "0" rating. I assumed a very confident un-rated person was tempting fate in the open section. I played a Skotch game as I had white. He was defininetly a solid player and I seemed my unrated may have been rated in some other country. I reached the following popsition and blew a simplification .

So, thinking my "unrated" opponent was going to steal a 1/2 point from me, I decided to tempt fate. I avoided the exchange rather than pair rooks down for a safe game. Going against previous advice from a friend at the club who suggested "slipping a draw" is better than losing a point to unrated or under-rated players. Well, looking at the position now its obvious Black has a better King position and an agressive rook. It almost shouts..."EXCHANGE THE FREAKING ROOKS!"

Oh well, I lost the point. and went on to play in the next round against another "0" rated player. I had black which gave me a chance to play the Caro Kann.

Let me digress momentaroly about the children who played at this event this weekend. Those that showed up to the BCC ten dollah open while all the other kids were at the state qualifiers. I asked, " Why aren't you at teh qualifiers?" " We are already pre-qualified!" was the smug response. So, in short, these kids were already top in the state. GULP!

The following position was reached with less than 3 minutes on each clock:
Again, in the comfort of my arm chair and NO TIME PRESSURE, I can clearly see what Black's plan is suppose to be. I can hop my knight on the back side of teh pawns and try to firk the king and a pawn. Then I can march my pawns. But at this point in the game, I decided to "slip the draw" and hands were shook and a 1/2 point was marked.


Third round, I had white against another prodigy but the rating was known ( just under 1400). I managed to trounce on the poor kid using a smith morra that Takchess would be proud of. The poor kid didn't understand the gambit, tried to defend and played passively. Out of the opening I had managed to pin both his uncastled king, and queen. This allowed me to pick up two minor pieces... for free. Later, the following SWEET position manafested itself:
I just played Nxf7. If he takes with the rook, I take with my rook winning the rook on a8. He decided to ignore the potential in my position and go after my b2 pawn. 4 moves later I had mate.

The last round, I played someone who knew me as my alter-ego on this blog and was hoping I lived up to my name. I also promised him I would go easy on the him on the blog. I had black and realized its been a while since I refreshed my memory on the Slav. He managed to trap my bishop while I was chasing bad plans on teh queen side. Yeah, I blundered in true fashion. Psychologically it was brutal... my game rapidly went south following the loss of the bishop.


All was not lost. This one opponent was rated in the high 1900's. Then I found out what my other two "unrated" opponents were. The first round loss was actually against another upper 1900 player. The kid I drew against was rated in the mid 17's. So I didn't fair as badly as I did in my own head. Afterall, I could have drawn against a 1900+ player and almost beat a 1700+ player in a Knight and Pawn endgame. Not bad for 8 hours of chess.

Rating wise, I believe I pick up about a wapping 7 points. I'll take them considering my latest follies. So I can say I at least towed the line.

HUZZAH!