May Day in Morgantown

I decided somewhat last minute to take a trip to Morgantown on May 2nd for the May Day Tournament. Adonis was going, Kevin was going and Dave was going. I was planning on playing in the reserve section of the tournament (U1800) as I was now officially 1710 (and unofficially 1744). It was going to cost me only $35 (although if I would have decided to play earlier - it would only cost me $25), but for the experience of playing new people, I thought it would be worth it.

Well, of course - I could not sleep the night before - something about gearing up to play tournament strength chess does not sit well with my psyche - and ended up getting up at 6:30 on approximately 3 hours of sleep. Kevin was picking me up at 7:20 and we were meeting with Mike from the club who was going to drive us down. We headed out around 8:05 from Parkway Centre Mall with Kevin, Adonis, Mike and I in one car. I kept reminding everyone just how tired I was.

One funny thing happened as we got close to the site - Mike made a wrong turn, Kevin knew Mike made a wrong turn, but said nothing for about 5 minutes, until Mike pulled over and they both realized that we were heading the wrong way. It reminded me of the time we went to the Liberty Bell and the GPS dropped us off in the woods telling us "[We] had arrived at our destination," when it was clear that we had not.

So we got to the site eventually, and I was ready to enter the Reserve section. But, there were only 6 people registered in the reserve section. And nobody even close to the 1800 limit. And the tournament director was talking about disbanding the Reserve section. So this changed things a little bit. I entered the open section. By the time the tournament started - there were, I believe, 8 people who made the trek from pittsburgh, and exactly 28 people enetered in the tournament (which was the mark to meet for the $500 prize pool). Perfect!

Round one was a quick game of successive blunders, one of mine being the second to last, and I won. Surprisingly, Kevin and Adonis had poor results in round 1, and would be playing down for the next few rounds. (Which will come back to haunt me, of course)

Round 2. Moving round (sort of like Moving Day in golf, but something I just made up). I am playing the #2 ranked player (officially ranked, because Adonis is the #2 unofficially). Man do I misplay the opening. Its a dragon, without Bc4 for White - so, as Kevin instructed me on the carride up, when I play a dragon without Bc4, I should play d5. So, having no clue why I should play d5, I play d5, and instantly lose a pawn. And trade off everything but 2 bishops and a rook. So now I am in an endgame, a pawn down. Against a 2000+ player. But I play on. And on. And he gets into some time pressure. And misses some major ideas. And now I am drawn. I mean drawn. There is no way for him to win.

Round 3. I have 1 1/2 points after 2 rounds. And as a reward? I play Adonis. Well, whatever. I did not come to lose without a fight!!! So I fight. I like my position, but I misplay it, and as a result, I lose a pawn. Not the end of the world, but not where I wanted to be. Plus, I am the one in time trouble. Something to note: prior to the game, Adonis claimed that he would mate me on move 32. He was wrong. The game went much longer and along a much different path than he anticipated. But in the end I lost. With 22 seconds on my clock, I failed to see what was going on and I lost.

Round 4. Now with 1 1/2 points after 3 rounds, I am lost as far as the prize money goes. For some reason, I feel losing round 2 would have given me better chances than drawing, but I wouldn't trade that draw for the world. So I am paired against an 18 year old 1600 who has played every game against a player from Pittsburgh. Another Dragon, but with a totally different piece placement, due to a move order finesse I have been working on. Namely, 3 ... Nf6. Really, this move is of little practical value, but I play it with a smile, because everyone always stops and thinks after I play it. In any event, I play a tactic and double his pawns in front of his castled king, and then I play another tactic, win a pawn, and head for an endgame. My opponent then gives up another pawn to get it to Queen and 6 versus Queen and 4. I then give one back to make it King and 3 versus King and 2. Then I promptly make moves to give him a draw if he wants it, which he fails to find and I win. I finish with 2 1/2.

Quite the tournament on the whole. I am very glad I decided to make the trip and I look forward to playing more tournaments in the sister state. Thanks to Mike for driving our crew, and thanks to everyone who convinced me to go. I hope that some of the players that I met take me up on the offer to come to the Burgh and play a few tourneys here. We shall see. Until next time - keep it real.