Eastern Chess Congress 2023 Recap and Take Aways

This past weekend I competed in the Eastern Chess Congress 2023, in Princeton, New Jersey. I played up into the U1500 section, scoring 1.5/5 (1 W, 1D, 5L) - which was better than I expected! I had prepared myself to take 5 straight losses, as I was playing "up" into a higher section. Instead, I was able to go toe-to-toe with opponents rated 150 - 300 points higher.

Some key takeaways:

• Never, ever play Bxh7 unless you have calculated every variation. Which means: just don't play Bxh7 unless it is a forced mate. Period, not allowed anymore, done.
• When you have move than 20 minutes on the clock and it's late in the game, always ALWAYS take at least 1 minute per move. Set a time budget, if you think you have a move, check the time and if you have 20+ minutes, calculate for 1 more full minute. (Again, only do this late in the game when you are close to winning).
• Just play through your preparation before the round. In fact, I'm going to switch from rehearsing move orders to just setting up a study with "key positions" from openings I play, so I remember to play the correct ones. Often times I can get to a position from my preparation - and then I make the wrong move!
• I realized that I need to apply my sports psychology experience from fencing to chess. I learned how to do autogenic training with Dr. Aladar Kogler at Columbia - and now I'll have to use that same technique to mentally rehearse chess game scenarios. Not strategy or tactics, but rather self-control and awareness at the end of a 50+ move, 3+ hour game!
• Finally, I confirmed that I really do belong in the U1500 section. I can hold on with 1300 - 1500 range players, and if just eliminate a few problems from my game, those losses could turn to draws and wins.

The games:

Round 1 vs. Chang

Amazingly, I was paired with the exact same person I had played in the first round at last year's Eastern Chess Congress. This time the quality of our game was much, much better, although Chang certainly improved more (or at least benefited from a slow, deliberate playing style vs my less-moderated aggression).

Round 2 vs Gallo

This was my only victory - my opponent played the Pirc, which I was ready for as it is a more and more common opening (I think people are trying to play the King's Indian, but against e4 this is a Pirc). Later in the game, black wasted a tempo, allowing me to play a decisive tactic and win a full piece.

I have to remember that most of my opponents will not allow tactics like this, and not to be frustrated when they don't occur in every game.

Round 3 vs. Curry

After my Round 1 loss, I decided that if I ever faced a weird 1. d4 opening that I would play the "Hedgehog" setup. One small problem: I've never played the Hedgehog! However, I managed to improvise something in this game when my opponent opened with 1. Nf3 and 2. d4, and then held on.

This was probably one of the easiest games of chess I ever played - in that the moves "played themselves" and my plans were very clear. For the first time, I even recognized the moment when my king was safe and I was ready to start a kingside pawn storm! For me, this is a huge breakthrough as before this moment the timing and circumstances for such an operation seems mysterious. But in this game, suddenly all made sense:

1. The center was blocked.
2. White's bishop was bad and his other pieces unable to help defend.
3. I had pieces on the kingside and an extra pawn to contribute to the attack.

We had been playing for 50 moves just over 3 hours. I had a solid position 30 minutes in 1st time control (40/80, SD30, d30). Black was down to just ~15 minutes of sudden death - tremendous time pressure.

Then, I moved too fast and hung mate-in-1. Utter heartbreak and a tough lesson learned.

One more takeaway from this game specifically:

• When your opponent has a Queen-and-Bishop battery threat - put your plans on hold and figure out how stop it!

Round 4 vs. Hu

I thought I was past the point in my life where I played Bxh7 without calculating properly and ended up down a full piece. Really embarrassing regression - 100 ELO stuff actually.

As such, I'm swearing a solemn oath never to play Bxh7 again unless I've calculated a forced mate.

On the plus side, my opponent traded down to a (winning) King-and-Pawn endgame, so I got some real OTB experience calculating that, which doesn't happen too often.

Round 5 vs. Woodruff

My final game was a blowout, 72-move, 3+ hour game that ended in an opposite-colored bishop draw. I was extremely lucky, as my opponent had several missed wins in the endgame.

This started as a completely wild Bird's Opening, not a "normal game of chess" by any means. Usually, you see games like this in blitz and rapid - but I have a friend who plays it regularly in slow chess over-the-board, so From's Gambit was in my repertoire! As mentioned in my "take-aways" summary above, I forgot my preparation and decided to switch to normal development and castling. Probably the right choice, as my opponent clearly was aware of From's Gambit and wasn't about to allow any checkmates.

Puzzle: Black to move and Draw

Before the losing endgame, I had an opportunity to force a draw. See if you can find it. I couldn't - I didn't even consider the move and only found this when I checked the Engine after analyzing the game:

Bonus Content: Meeting a World Champion

While at the Congress, I met Jon R. Edwards, International Correspondence Chess Federation World Champion. I struck up a conversation with him by the bookseller, not known who he was, and ended up in 30 minutes of discussion of the current state of chess engines, tips on how to improve ("Just buy Chessbase") and more.

His top advice: play through at least 3,000 grandmaster games. You don't have to do deep annotations - just spend ~5 minutes per game and soak it in.

Quote: "I cried a tear when I realized that I had finally played through the last of every known Capablanca game"

Perpetual Chess Podcast interview with 32nd ICCF World Champion Jon Edwards:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa0Uau-jO2Y