Prize during my first tournament!

Yesterday I played my first ever chess tournament. It was not for rating, but a rather large one with rating ones hovering from 900 (chess.com, my rating) to more than 2000 (KNSB, comparable with FIDE). There were a total of 8 groups of 8 players. They put me in the 8th group and against all my expectations I won 6 out of 7 games. Also another played had won 6 out of 7 games, but because he had beaten me, he got the first price. I have to admit that most other players were home chess players as well, but here was one club player in my group with a rating of 1400 (who I beat) and one primary school chess teacher (who beat me). Alltogether it was a lot of fun and a nice start. During my next tournament, I expect my opponents to be somewhat stronger as you can attend it to gain a rating. I am however glad that my hard work (solving puzzles, reading books, watching video's paid off) and I got a very nice price: a box full of fruit and vegetables + a flower bulb.

The tour was held in De Lier, Netherlands, a town in a region that's known for their vegetables, fruit and flowers growing in the greenhouses. It's called the SIO Rapidtoernooi and held annualy (rapid, 20 minutes, no increment). There was some international participants as well.

Incidentally the tour took place on the first day Sinterklaas came to the Netherlands (somewhat similar to Santa Claus) and we saw the children welcoming him in front of the tournament building.

This in combination with all the friendly chess players, made sure for a very nice atmosphere and I hope to go next year again!

If you are interested in visiting this tournament as well, here's their website: www.westlandschaakt.nl