MY CHESS TOURNAMENT COMEBACK!

Hello, chess friends! This weekend, I participated in a chess tournament. It's pretty significant because it was my first chess tournament in over three months. This does beg the question, why wasn't I in the tournament scene all summer? The default assumption might be "Oh, he got busy...", and while that is true, I had time to play in tournaments. Let me take you back.

Here are my tournament results from this year:

I wrote about Pan Ams, where I dropped a good amount of rating. Two tournaments after Pan Ams, I had a good tournament result where I scored 3.5/4 (including a draw vs a master), and I got back over 1800. However, three tournaments after that, I had a horrible performance. I started off with a win vs 1469 but lost two consecutive to 1530 and 1453, and when things couldn't get any worse, I drew 1313. And naturally, that caused my rating to skyrocket downwards! 📉

I hadn't really revealed this to anyone, I was planning on making an elaborate post about it, but I never got to it. Soon after that disaster, I decided I was done with tournaments. Mentally, emotionally, etc, I quit competitive chess and decided to move on. However, I did know deep down that ONE DAY, I'd want to get back into the swing of things. And as the school year started, and I saw my Baylor chess friends again, I got the bug. My friend and local expert/top player Jason Howell hosts tournaments at his house, 10 players, 4 rounds, G/45;d5. I decided to enter. I wasn't really worried about my "comeback". My online ratings were about the same as they were when I was playing, so I felt like I had what it takes. Anyway, let's get into the actual tournament!

Going into the tournament, I was the 2nd-highest rated player (behind Jason, who's just below 2000), however, the high-mid-level portion of the field was very deep. Seven out of ten players are over 1500.

In round 1, I was paired vs Innocent Enyekwe (1510 USCF). He's also a Baylor student, and involved with the Baylor Chess Club! He's actually from Africa (Nigeria I think, but I could be wrong), I believe he's a PhD student studying engineering. I know that he's very smart and good at chess! 

Honestly, it came down to one blunder. Innocent actually went on to go 2.5/3 after this game, so as a friend, I'm happy for him!

In round 2, I was paired vs Jonathan Tuck (1700 USCF). He's at his floor I believe, he's been as high (recently) as over 1800. Besides at a casual blitz tournament, this was my first career game vs him. 

Honestly, that game also came down to one blunder. Though I feel like to my credit, I staved off the King's Gambit pretty well.

Going into round three, only me, and our highest rated player/host, Jason Howell (1976 USCF) were 2/2, so we were paired. He is higher rated than me, so he should be winning most of our games, but I feel like I struggle harder vs him more than I do with other high-ranked players. We've had some close games. Will this be one?

Aight... so in the final position shown above, Black is completely winning if they play 31... Raa3, forcing Rg1, then dxc5 should be smooth sailing for Black. My opponent played 31... f5+, and for like one minute literally, my rustiness showed in several ways. I played 32. Kg5, and after 32... Rxg3, I resigned (as shown on the thumbnail), because I thought I was losing my Rook! However, as you also see on the thumbnail, the freaking position is ZERO POINT ZERO ZERO!!! I RESIGNED IN A DRAWN POSITION!!!

For starters, I completely forgot that 33. Kh4, attacking the Rook on g3 was possible. However, Black is completely winning after 33... Raa3. However, Kh4 is NOT the drawing move. White draws after 33. Kf6!! with the idea of 33... Rxf4 34. cxd6! Black has to take my pawn and after 35. Rc8+, I can check Black over and over and draw the game. And if Black ever runs to h6, I just go Rc8, threatening mate, forcing the King to move back. 

Embarrassing.

However... I don't beat myself up too much for that. It was my first tournament in a while, and there are going to be these hicups. I think Jason outplayed me most of the game anyway, so I don't feel too bad. 

In round 4, I was paired vs Matthew Raudaskoski (1123 USCF), he was on 2/3, defeating 1600 and 1378, and losing to Innocent. So this was not necessarily an easy pairing. 

WOW, what a game. I easily could have lost, and been down to... 1720-30? Even lower?? Well, we won, so that's what matters. Turns out that Matthew is 1800 on Chess.com, and he lives in Austin TX, where apparently, it's hard to get good pairings in those tournaments. 

Soooo... at the end of the day, I scored 3/4 for clear 2nd, won $50 for my efforts, and gained 15 rating points! Far from where I was, but it's a step! 

Looking back, I did win my first two games due to early blunders. I did have a drawn final position vs Jason, but honestly, he outplayed me for like 95% of the game. And I should have lost to Matthew, but I was able to use good defense to come back and win. So I'm not really sure how to feel about my performance. I did good on paper, but not so much over the board. I guess I kinda feel neutral about my performance.

As for my next tournament, I'm not really sure when it is going to be, and I'm not putting pressure on myself to play anytime soon. Whenever I play, it'll be for my enjoyment, and I'm glad that you guys enjoy the tournament recaps! 

On one last note... I recently started streaming again on twitch! Feel free to follow me, and maybe tune in! You can join my fan club for updates and stuff! Also, subscribe to my Youtube channel, I plan on pumping out more content there.

That's about it, I'm looking forward to interacting with you in the comments, I'll see you for the next post!