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May Recap Part II: Chicago Open U2100 2018

May Recap Part II: Chicago Open U2100 2018

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RyanMurphy5
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Hello all,

    This is my second post about tournaments I played in May. Here, I'll cover some of the more interesting moments from games I played in the U2100 section of the 2018 Chicago Open. I performed much better than my last outing in this section, finishing with 5.0/7 and getting some prize money in the process. 

Round 3 on Saturday night was uneventful as I agreed to a draw just out of the opening with the white pieces. This added pressure for Sunday, as I would have to win both rounds to stay in contention for a prize. 

Round 4 on Sunday morning was a nice surprise, as my younger opponent gave me an exchange absolutely unprovoked in a sharp, opposite-side castling position. My opponent resigned on the 26th move, facing imminent mate. 


Despite the disappointing result in the penultimate round, I finished with a decent score of 5.0/7, which put me in a tie for 4th place. My play was definitely not at its sharpest, but I felt better going into the event this year than I had in 2017.  In the next installment, I'll do a post on the weekly swiss tournament I played at my local chess club. As always, thank you for reading and please feel free to leave comments below. 

Until next time,

RM

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Road to 2200

RyanMurphy5
RyanMurphy5
Ryan Murphy
Milwaukee, WI
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Originally, this was labeled 'Road to 2000,' but that's already been achieved. In this blog, I will do write-ups on my tournaments, including games I felt were instructive. I will also cover some of my training methods and track my progress over time as I try to become a USCF National Master. You will also find some of my analytical work here (on endgames, important historical or modern games, etc).  Ideally I would like to hit my goal before the end of 2019 (which is not so much time given the amount of work to do). I hope you enjoy following along.