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July 21, 2011

Summer is always slow at my work. With this in mind I figured it would be the perfect time to ask for some time off and head out to the Pacific Coast Open in Malibu, California. My manager approved it right away looking to cut hours, and so to California I went!

The first major obstacle in my way was deciding in which section I wanted to play. I figured I could play in the Open and get slaughtered by a bunch of masters, or play in the U2100 and get slaughtered by a bunch of experts. Either way I would be the lowest rated player in my section, and would lose accordingly, thus I was leaning towards playing in the Open. Luckily for me I asked my friend what I should do, and he convinced me that I wouldn’t do as bad in the U2100 as I thought, and convinced me to play my own section.

I drove out Thursday morning with the idea of getting to Malibu early and getting a good night's rest before my games on Friday. Sadly fate had other things in mind for me. I met a stranger at a coffee shop that night, one thing led to another, and before I knew it I was driving out to Hollywood with a night filled of partying with my newly acquired friends. Driving back up north on the 405 I got stuck in Car-mageddon (the 405 closure). I didn’t make it back to my hotel until 4 am. This lack of sleep ended up being the norm while I was there, but given the circumstances it would seem that I would have nobody but myself to blame!

On Friday I went 1 of 2 against higher rated opponents. Saturday was again 1 of 2 against higher rated opponents, and Sunday I finished with a perfect 2 of 2, completing the tournament with a very respectable 4 of 6 and picking up 40 rating points. Unforutnately, I finished a half a point away from the money. However, I didn’t go for the money, I went to play some great games of chess against experts (there are no experts for me to play against in St. George) and I definitely got my wish as 5 out of 6 of my opponents were rated higher than me. I also made some great new friends --NM Howard Chen for one, and I also got to see some great old ones, IM Sevianno and FM Bryant to be exact! They are always amazing to see.

It was a fantastic tournament and next year I hope to take some Utah players with me.

The following is my embarrassing last round game that I was only able to win on an oversight. I think it will give you guys a good laugh on my poor play, and perhaps a good lesson on never giving up?

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. Bd3?! cxd4! 7. cxd4 Qb6 8. O-O?! Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 10. Nc3 a6! (after this move it is very difficult for White to find enough compensation for the sacraficed pawn) 11. Qe2 Qa7?! 12. Kh1 Bc5 13. f4 Ne7 14. Bd2 0-0 15. Rf3 f5 16. exf6 Rxf6 17. Rh3 g6 18. Rc1 Bd4! 19. g4!? (risky!) e5! 20. f5 e4? 21. Nxe4? (returning the favor, the idea to sacrafice is correct, but on the wrong square. Nxd5! should lead back to a complicated but equal position) dxe4 22. Bc4+ Kh8 23. Bg5 Bc6! (now white is lost as the best he can do is get only one rook for two pieces) 24. Bb3 e3+ 25. Rxc6!? (desperation!) Rxc6? (why? bxc6 wins easily) 26. Qe1?! (setting up a small cheapo since I noticed my opponent was playing very fast now and getting up from the board regularly) b5?? (Ng8! was still winning for Black)

White to move and win.

27. Rxh7+! and Black resigns.

My opponent was very upset afterwards and informed me that he was crushing me the whole game and that I got lucky. I didn’t want to argue with him because, well… mainly he was right! But alas, luck is part of chess, and that day Caissa was on my side.