Tuesday 17 January 2012

Chess is rubbish

Bad news to report, I'm afraid. Two bad tournaments and my rating is back down again. It started really well in Fremont, with 2.5/3, including a draw against eventual winner GM Sam Shankland. That was where the good times stopped however, as I finished on 4.5/9, including a very poor blunder in the last round against a young FM. Thanks to Ted Castro and Arun Sharma however, for organising a really good event :)

A few days off, catching up in Davis CA with Steve Hamilton and then off to Concord Ca for the Golden State Open. I was completely outplayed in Round 1 by a lower rated player, before scraping a draw. I worked my way back to 4/5 before succumbing in a complicated game to IM (and I presume) eventual winner Justin Sarkar. I withdrew from the tournament after that game, simply being too tired and frustrated with my own play. If there are any of my students reading this, DO NOT WITHDRAW when things aren't going so well(bad etiquette). So I'm back to the UK tomorrow, with my chess playing tail between my legs, realising that if I have any hope of becoming a GM then a massive amount of work is needed. Next up is Gibraltar in a week or so.

Sunday 1 January 2012

Leaving Las Vegas......


It's new years day and sadly we are leaving las vegas today for a flight to Oakland, CA for the Northern Californian International starting tomorrow. Vegas has been a brilliant experience and I would highly recommend it to anyone. We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel from Christmas eve until 30 December, and then the Trump International until today. Both great hotels in their own right with the Hard Rock having a younger crowd and the Trump being more business designed (with no gaming).

The chess event here was the North American Open link here. It went quite well for me, as I managed to reach 5/7, losing to GM's Vallejo and Akobian but beating everyone else, for a rating gain of +7. GM Vallejo won the event outright with 6/7 for the jackpot prize of over $9000. I was told after the event by the organisers that I won $2633, which came as a pleasant surprise but since then they have amended my prize downwards to $625 :(

I will update again when in Fremont, CA.