By Alex Gustafsson
Salt Lake City

June 16, 2010

In preparation for the National Open, I received head massages every day for three weeks to prep myself mentally. I then went on to exercise my forearms and fingers so I would be able to move those triple weighted chess pieces. Then the moment of truth: to do my official training I would go to the board and feel the pieces; as I felt the pieces the moves just came to me, enlightening me and showing me the deep concaves of the art of chess. I also did lots of normal exercise and socializing with multiple hot girls which included partying and grinding, making me more…. enlightened in chess. Also, by attending Stephanie and Katie’s Wednesday dinner parties my true rating has gone up by 50 just by their immense knowledge of the game. Hot tubbing has relaxed me a lot, making me more loose and improving my concentration. Also, hanging around Jason Mielke has made me tougher from all of the insults flying from his mouth.

I suppose playing many blitz games with Jason has to be a good reason as to why I did so well in the Blitz Championship at the National Open in Las Vegas, placing 18th overall with at least eight Grandmasters present. In the National Open, I received 3 out of 6 points -- one of my worst performances ever. However, in the U.S. Game/10 Championship I received 3 out of 6 points, tying for the Under 1800 prize and winning 43 dollars. As I mentioned before, I competed in the blitz and was playing until 3:30 A.M., which was very exhausting. I lost the first four games but won the next six in a row, taking clear first in the Under 1900 section (and winning 150 dollars). The only people who did better than me were experts and masters.

I plan on never attending the same tournament ever again after experiencing some rude tournament directors and chess players of a violent type. But overall I had a great time in Vegas at the National Open and credit my intense preparation for my acceptable performances in the G/10 and blitz tournaments.