Rasberry's NM Grind - Ep. 2
They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and if my first chess tournament back in two years was the tree and this identical tournament three weeks later is the apple, then the maxim rings true. I finished with 2.5 points, two wins against lower-rated players, a loss versus a higher-rated player, and a DODGY draw with a higher-rated player, exactly as with the last event.
That being said I do think I took a (very, extremely, microscopically) small step in the right direction in a few ways. Or maybe I just took some shrooms and am hallucinating (don’t do the shroo) I don’t know. ROLL EP. 2!!
4 Tournament Games | Tournament Takeaways | Adjusting the Grind
Game 1:
One of Alabama’s fastest-improving players is tiny Tim Taylor. Tiny Tim isn’t as tiny as he used to be seeing how he’s in college and his over 1800 now, but he’ll always be known as Tiny Tim to me since he got his start in scholastic tournaments and camps I ran. Tiny Tim’s game is very solid, so I knew I’d have to be at my best to not give him a belated Christmas present this year…
After a rocky opening sequence, I was quite lucky to come out with a good position. Timmy invaded me and could have really done some damage. Luckily Tiny Tim isn’t quite there yet, but I’m afraid with continued hard work this little man might become a fearsome foe quite soon!
Game 2:
From a player I’ve watched literally grow up before my eyes to a man I’ve literally never laid eyes on before (and still haven’t..he moves too quickly for eyes to behold him…) meet Vispy McQuickThink. Mr. McQuickThink (MQT to his confidants) is a very odd chess player in that he always moves EXTREMELY quickly all the time and never seems to be trying very hard while playing the game. He somehow manages to find the best move so fast that his speed puts people like me and other even stronger Alabama players in both tough game situations and tough clock situations. It was no different for me.
McQuickThink, after beating me and adding to the lore, went on to beat a kid whose (self-given) nickname is “lightning” by playing so fast (and well) that he ran “lightning” out of time with over twenty minutes to spare on MQT’s clock. After securing a last round cruise-control draw, Vispy McQuickThink took home clear first by a full point. GGs MQT.
Game 3:
Okay, let’s slow down. Geez enough quick thinking it’s time to play one of my best friends, Stephen “Rock Solid” Graveling. Not only did we grow up as friends, but as constant competitors Gravel and I have played more games against each other than either of us has played against anybody else. All our games are exciting, tactical battles but for some reason, they’ve ended up in draws nearly half the time. While I knew his game well, I hadn’t played him in over five years and didn’t know if he’d changed or not. They don’t call him Rock Solid Graveling for nothing. He hasn’t changed a bit! Nobody but I call him that **yet**.
ANOTHER exciting game…that ends in a draw…He’s an unmovable force, Gravel is, and with the full weight of his being pressuring me, I was lucky to escape that one with a draw. Rock Solid finished with three draws on the day(!) and wasn’t defeated once.
Game 4:
So up to this point, I’m at 50%. This next game will be a big one for the final results! And who do I play…yep…the same guy from the last tournament, Sam I Am Baskaraaj, henceforth Sammy. Sammy is actually physically tinnier than Tiny Tim, weighing 100 lbs. soaking wet, but Sammy has a more sophisticated game and more craftiness than Tiny Tim, so we’re going to stick with Sammy. Sammy displayed some of that by coming into this matchup well-prepared from lessons I taught him in our last encounter.
Whew! I nearly threw that tournament so hard. Had he found a couple more moves I could have easily lost to him given how lackluster my play was at times and how resourceful Sammy was. I’m going to have to up my game to keep my edge on him, but I’m very happy with the moves I found to take him down.
With that, I scored 2.5/4.0, finished T-2nd while seeded 4th, and my rating bounded up from 2073 → 2077 while winning $30 ([very] gross).
Tournament Takeaways:
Another solid performance; nothing too spectacularly good (or bad!). Here's what I learned:
1. See More Candidate Moves:
How many times did I say, "I missed that," or, "I didn't even consider that?" Well, the answer is ten trillion (close enough) and that's too many times. I need to be open to more candidate options and give more consideration to candidate moves before rejecting them (see below for how I'll respond to this point).
2. The Force is not with Me:
Quite literally true, but I mean this in the sense that too many times over the past two tournaments I tried to "force" something, whether to prove my advantage was real or to get to an easier-to-evaluate position. Top GMs talk about how they are "comfortable in tension." I am not and this will be a new focus for me.
Adjusting the Grind:
Based on the above, I will adjust two aspects of my preparation (and have been since the tournament):
1. Be Less Judgemental
So how do you "see more candidates?" You cannot just say I'll look harder for them because that will take too much time. I want to look at each candidate move a bit more positively, ready to see something that might be there. Too often my bigoted brain decides that a moves is definitely trash after scanning the pre-candidates (some moves are obviously bad, some are who knows, and some are instant candidates - I want to look more positively on the "who knows"), but that cannot continue. I need to keep my mind open! This will be accomplished by training through tactics. As I play through tactics, I'll attempt to train myself to consider more candidates, more thoroughly and accurately, before beginning true calculations).
2. Open my Heart to the Grind:
And finally, I need to relish not only the grind of chess study but that in each game. Each game doesn't need to be won quickly, not each position needs a definite evaluation immediately. I need to take it slowly, enjoy the muck, and fight through each game for the love of the game. This will be accomplished through mindset changes only, so as I prepare to go to my next tournament (literally right now I gtg apologies if the edits suck), I'm preparing my mind to enjoy long fights and hard work. Sounds terrible...NO! My heart...no no no...it will be glorious.
Hold my feet to the fire, Chess.com peeps!! With your help, I'll make NM in no time! My next tournament is scheduled for early February, so I'll see you then!
If you liked this blog leave a comment saying how awesome this is (maybe plzzz???)
