I nearly won a tournament!

I came second in the Major section of a FIDE-rated weekend tournament, achieving a performance rating of 1850+. I hadn’t gone into the tournament expecting to place as I’m really just here to get a few extra games under my belt. Of course, I’m well aware it wasn’t a prestigious tournament of any kind, but with nearly 100 players across the Open, Major and Minor sections, I am proud of my achievement.

I ended the previous season on a significant losing streak, dropping over 100 points, so securing wins in games 1 and 2 was a nice confidence boost: the dramatic drop had at least stopped for now.

Game 4 was by far my favourite – every stage had a lot of ideas and dynamic play taking place.

I entered game 5 with 3.5 points, if I had drawn or won, I would have won the overall tournament. I played badly, partially due to tiredness, but also from repeating classic bad habits: defending poorly and making a rash decision. My opponent won the tournament, deservedly so!

I gained about 20 something points too, which I may have already lost in some OTB games this week.

Game 1 – barely surviving scrap with lower-rated kid

Game one was my first time playing against a pretty young kid. They played all their moves almost instantly, coughed without covering their mouth, offered me draws multiple times, and walked around the hall when there wasn’t an immediate tactic on the board. It might sound like I’m complaining, but it was honestly very funny.

Their tactics were strong but failed to consider my plans, and clearly didn’t know what to do when I defended. Their advantage in the opening fizzled out and they overlooked my serious mate threat.

When they’re one day a titled player, I can look back with a little pride.

I was particularly confused by kf6. The idea is obviously to not block the rook and allow quicker development, but it is the beginning of the end.

I don’t think I would have won if they took a moment out from the attack to play a simple defending move f6: showing the original kf6 was a lot less risky than it initially seemed.

Game 2 – Getting away with a bad plan

We enter a Caro Kann and I take a fairly sloppy, aggressive approach early on. I get away with it because my opponent fails to recognise how weak e6 becomes and how that should be the focus on their play.

A lot of my play is about exploiting the open g-file, although I don’t have a realistic chance of mate here. But by keeping White distracted with defending, I slowly work towards taking space and a central push.

A fun tactic at the end – I can drop the rook because mate is coming...

Game 4 – time pressure and practical skills

Note: I took a bye for round 3 as I played a league game on Thursday, the day before the tournament kicked off.

This is by far my favourite game of the tournament. Every phase of the game is tough and packed full of ideas.

Black gets a nice attack in the opening, but loses faith and gets passive; White seizes space with an ambitious pawn push in the middle game, but overlooks threats and fails to continue; the endgame is a messy rook endgame with lots of back and forth, played on significant time pressure from move 30 by Black.

Black should be winning this endgame, but I push various attempts and make some progress. Eventually things get messy and Black drops a lot of material, missing some crucial chances to win.

White has made a lot of progress.

Without e6, Black could have won this.

Game 5 – falling back into bad habits

Final game of the tournament. I'm on 3.5 points; if I draw or win, I'll win the tournament. I lose, and it's the worst game of the tournament. I am tired – but I don't want to make much of an excuse about it. My classic problem returns: I overestimate my opponent's attack, a bad habit I fall into especially when they get initiative in the opening.

I am less clear on how Black's pawn push can progress, so I deprioritise it. Eventually making a fatally rash pawn push when in danger.

I continue making poor moves, feeling that my opponent has an unstoppable attack. I miscalculate and think a lot of piece sacs work for White when they don’t.

In our post-game conversation, my opponent suggested that f5 was the worst move of the game. My expectation was that it would result in a number of trades, removing the pressure of White’s attack. In a way it does, but I fatally misevaluate the position which leads to checkmate.