I am bad at chess (part two)

Welcome to my blog! First of all, let me acknowledge that MIRACLES HAPPEN!!! I AM ALL CAUGHT UP ON MY TOURNAMENT REPORTS!!! 🥳🥳🥳 That means the next time I write about a tournament on my blog, it will be about my most recent tournament! 

So where did we leave off? Oh yeah, I finished a tough tournament in Dallas, where I scored 2 draws, 2 losses, all against 1700+ opposition. My rating dipped to 1741. However, a few days before the tournament I'm reporting, I played in a local quad, and as the kids say, I "farmed" 10 rating points. I don't write about those games, because it's G/30, relatively low quality, and not as interesting in my opinion... but here's the proof!  

So a few days after that quad, I traveled to Houston for the Houston Chess Festival. I was signed up for the open section. For my level, that's a tough task, because I could have played in U2000, or even U1800. I thought it'd be beneficial to try and play the strongest players possible. Yet, that section was FILLED with 2000+ players, masters, and yes... even GMs. 

I last played this event two years ago. I blogged even back then! I was able to start with 1 win 1 draw vs players over 1900, then lost my remaining three games (I think all my opponents were over 1900), and only gained like 5 rating points for my efforts. Goes to show how brutal this competition is. 

Just like Dallas, Houston has a 3-day schedule, and a 2-day schedule. I played the three-day schedule, which meant my first round was Friday night, and my first opponent was over 2000. 

It wasn't a terrible loss, but a little saddening that I played a solid game, got into time pressure, and initially, it was hard to tell what I did wrong. It just felt like I opened my eyes, and I was passive. 

So after the game, and my friend's game, we went to my friend's house, where I spent the night, and didn't have to play round two until like 2 PM (maybe it was 1... I don't remember) on Saturday. 

So my round 2 pairing was interesting. I was paired vs a player by the name of Ademola Sorungbe. Rated about 1800. No big deal, right? Well, I did my research before the game, and I was frightened. First of all, he was provisional. I think his 1818 rating was based on 7 or 8 games. But furthermore, I found what I suspect to be his FIDE profile, and it turns out that I'm likely playing a FIDE Candidate Master... with a FIDE rating of over 2200! Talk about a difficult open section. I don't factually know this, as his USChess and FIDE profiles aren't linked yet... but nonetheless, I went to the board. He's a friendly guy, so shoutout to you if you are reading this!  

That was a bummer! The premature trading, the "comeback", then botching the draw. Honestly, I was frustrated throughout the game, so I was never in full focus. My opponent played a great game. His opening was flawed in my opinion, but his positional understanding and calculation were superb from what I understood. And hey, I'll just say I lost to a 2200 FIDE Candidate Master until proven/told otherwise! (I really should have asked him... I didn't though). Also, Ademola went on to beat two 1900s, and lost the final round to a near-master, so I don't feel as bad. His provisional rating went from 1800 to 1900. 

So my thought process was... Okay... round 3 is Saturday night. I just lost two tough games. Surely, I'll get a very winnable game in round 3, and be able to bounce back with 2 games to go? Then, the pairings went out...

Roman Nicholas Navarro - 1916 USCF

Ohhh boy... the Houston Chess Festival ain't easy. I start 0-2, and get a 1900! 

So Roman and I have a little bit of history. I played him twice when he was in the 1400s. 1 win, 1 draw. However, he's 1900 now, so he improved fast. 

It was a little bit sad to be finished this quickly, but to his credit, I made a mistake (g6), and he didn't let me have it. Oh, and around round 1, before we played, he asked if he could be on my blog. I told him definitely, if we were paired. So... shoutout to you Roman!

So now, I'm 0-3 going into the Sunday games. My round 4 pairing was vs a floored 1400. That basically means my opponent peaked at over 1600 sometime in the past, and received a floor of 1400. So he can't go below 1400 (there are ways to lower your floor... but I'm not worried about that... yet ). So I should win this one, but it's important to give this game the same amount of focus as I would these 1900s and Candidate Masters!

A win is a win. I'll take it!! 

So going into the final round, I'm facing a girl rated over 1800... 1870 to be exact. This is an ideal scenario. A higher rated opponent, but not beyond human comprehension that I could win. If I win, I salvage my tournament, and I think I gain rating? But I don't know. If I lose, then it's a tough tournament where I lost to all higher rated players, but I shed some rating. Okay, one game at a time!

42... Kh6?? That was heartbreaking. Not only did I lose, but hanging mate in a winning position is rather embarrassing. But credit my opponent! Even though she was losing, she made the game complicated, and made me have to calculate! 

So I shed 31 rating points

And this tournament made me think... is playing up worth it? If I'm going to lose every game, and learn little from them, then why am I doing it? I ranted about it, and got some great feedback! 

Okay, I'm dying to get this posted! However, let me update you real quick on my tournament future. 

I have Austin Chess Championships coming up in like 12 hours. I pondered playing in the Championship or U1800, and I decided to play in the Championship, mainly because I'm taking a round 1 bye, and taking a 1/2-pt bye would decrease my chances at winning the U1800 section. And I'm hoping that some of those 1700-1800 opponents can be winnable games! 

After that, I'm not sure. It'll probably be more smaller local tournaments, rather than big opens. I'll be pretty busy this fall, but I still want to play whenever I can.

Thanks for reading, and see you for my Austin recap very soon!