WYCC PICTURE :( And VIDEOS!

Wow. Turns out I only have one photo for round 7-11. Sorry guys! Credit goes to my dad for taking the all of them.

Round 8



Videos! I want to upload them, but they take up so much space! I'll upload them on YouTube because it's faster and better than blogspot. The YouTube channel is http://www.youtube.com/user/DZchess Since it takes a long time to upload, I'll probably only be uploading a few per day.

Stay tuned or subscribe to the channel. Andrei Botez's videos of the CYCC can be found on his Facebook page. :)

FM Eric Hansen Canada's Best Blitz Player?

Lol I played this nub in bullet, 1/0 and this is what happened.

White: FM Eric Hansen
Black: GM David Zhang
Time Control: 1 Minute No Increment
Site: Chess.com Live Chess

1.d4 c6
2.c4 d5
3.Nf3 Nf6
4.Nc3 e6
5.cxd5 exd5
6.Bg5 Bd6
7.Qc2 h6
8.Bh4 O-O
9.e3 Bg4
10.Bd3 Nbd7
11.h3 Be6
12.O-O Qc7
13.Rad1 g5
14.Bxg5 hxg5
15.Nxg5 Kg7
16.Bf5 Bxf5
17.Qxf5 Rh8
18.e4 dxe4
19.Ncxe4 Bh2+
20.Kh1 Qf4
21.Qxf4 Bxf4
22.Nxf6 Nxf6
23.Nf3 Bd6
24.Rfe1 Rae8
25.Kg1 Ne4
26.Re3 f5
27.Rb3 b6
28.Kf1 c5
29.dxc5 Bxc5
30.Rd7+ Re7
31.Rxe7+ Bxe7
32.Nd4 Rd8
33.Ne6+ Kf6
34.Nxd8 Bxd8
35.Rd3 Bc7
36.f3 Nc5
37.Rd5 Bf4
38.Rd1 Be5
39.b3 a5
40.h4 Ke6
41.Kf2 Bf4
42.h5 Bh6
43.g4 b5
44.Re1+ Kf6
45.Rd1 fxg4
46.fxg4 Ne4+
47.Kf3 Nc3
48.Rd4 Kg7

0-1 Defeating FM Hansen as black.

Ending result:




Sorry about the WYCC photos, I will get them in tomorrow!

WYCC PICTURES!

Hey everyone! I'm back, and this time I have the internet speed necessary to upload my 10 gigs of photos. Of course I'll only be uploading a few from each round shooting players and the tournament hall. Maybe some scenery.

The day before round 1:

Team meeting:







Round 1






Round 2







Round 3





Round 4




Round 5 and 6







And that'll be pretty much it for the day, I'll be updating with the round 7-11 and closing ceremony photos tomorrow! Stay tuned!

The Finale of the WYCC

Round 11 I was paired white against Slovakia's Lukas Hajek, rated 1762, but he beat two experts with his French defense. Since we start 10:00 AM, I didn't bother to prepare much except look at the main line. Coincidentally he went into the mainline but after Nh6, Nc2, Qb6, o-o, he castled, and let me play g4, forcing him to h6 and letting me double his pawns. I tried to go for an early complication and attack, and pushed my g-pawn threatening to open the file, I completely underestimated the idea of taking my pawn, and then my d4 pawn was hanging! At this time I was very nervous, knowing that it was at least -+ and that I would have to pull a miracle to win. I temporarily sacrificed a piece, and he blundered by taking my knight which actually leads to a forced mate in 13! I obviously didn't see the whole mate in one time, but I worked my moves step by step and eventually found a very nice combo that lead to a forced mate. 1-0, and I finished with 6/11 and tied for 43rd. I'm quite happy with my score because I finished with the highest out of all the Canadian U14 players. Thomas Kaminski was playing great but unfortunately had some blunders in his last rounds, he scored 5.5/11 and placed 61st. David Itkin from Toronto scored 4/11 and tied for 112nd.

The tournament went nicely, even though I wasn't happy with our hotel. The walls were very thin, and there were four girls opposite of our room who kept on shouting and laughing until 12 AM everyday. I thought the food was pretty good, and service was as well, but most people couldn't speak English and it was hard to communicate.

As I expected, Richard Wang drew his last round and got 3rd! He was 27th seed but obviously performed much higher than his rating. Good job! Canada did very well, I think all of our players scored 3.5+ and a lot of players scored more than 50%!
This was my first WYCC experience and I look forward to more international events!

I'll be posting all of my games with brief annotations after a week, so stay tuned!

See you all until my next tournament! Thanks for viewing. ;)

WYCC Rounds 9 and 10

Round 9 I was paired white against Baglan Esat, another underrated 1762. His actual performance might be 1900. I played Bb5 against the Nc6 sicilian, and he definitely prepared or knew the opening well because he played 11 moves into theory very quickly and confidently. I tried to attack the kingside with h4, but I shifted my focus to the queenside which was an error. He exchanged too many pieces and it was a dead draw in the end. 1/2-1/2

Round 10 I was paired against Arat Ufuk Sezen as white. He was rated 1884 and from Turkey. I suspect since the Turkish team has strong coaches, I was prepared against very easily. I played the Caro-Kann again, where this time he played d4 Nd2 and transposed into a Larsen-Bronstein variation. We both castled queenside and I tried to break in the centre, but left too many dark squared holes which he took advantage of. He 3 way repititioned the position with his dark squared bishop, because if I didn't accept, he would win a pawn and threaten mate. 1/2-1/2

In general, I think I'm having a bad second half. The first half I was definitely playing well, but after the 6th round, I started playing very lazily and carelessly. My last round is important since I want 6/11. So I'm white probably and will play for a win no matter what. If it's dead drawn then it's draw, if it's lost it's lost. I'm not doing that well, but wish me luck!

WYCC Round 8

I played black against Cakiroglu Metin rated 1722 from Turkey. He played the Caro line 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4, instead of exchanging my bishop, I moved it back and soon gave white an unnecessary attack. He thought he could win my bishop by pushing h4, g4, but I pulled a tactic and soon won a pawn, he gave me more pawns, and I gladly accepted. Soon he got his rook to the 7th file and prevented me by castling, he then made a mistake allowing me to shift my king over and exchange rook for knight, bishop. He resigned quickly following. 0-1

Today, I'm playing another Turkish guy named Baglan Esat, 1762 Fide. I should be able to do well as long as I focus and don't underestimate him. See you tomorrow!

Tournament: 3 More rounds and the WYCC is over. Standings are taking shape now, and the medalists are predictable. Eric had a nice start, but faced 3 GMs in a row and is now hard to compete for a medal. Notable players are RICHARD WANG, scoring 6/8, and JIAXIN (DORA) LIU, also with 6/8. They both have good medal chances and might bring the Canadian team home with 2 top 3s!

WYCC Rounds 5-7

I am playing absolutely disastrous right now, I guess I'm becoming more tired and playing worse.
5th Round, I was white against Sahoo Utkal Ranjan from India with a 2216 Fide. I played the Four Knights and soon got a bad position. I tried to play very complicated and tactical because I have strengths in complicated positions, but he played exactly like Fritz and negated every one of my moves. In the end, I was down a pawn in the endgame. 0-1

6th Round, I was black against Karabiyar Mohamud Yilmaz from Turkey with only a 1864 rating. I played a bad exchange opening and was soon worse. I got an isolated pawn on d5 which he blocked and I was totally out. I had almost no plan at all, we exchanged into the endgame which should be an easy draw, and at my 40th move, I could play a simple tactic which would draw the game. But guess what? I flagged. Yup, FLAGGED, RAN OUT OF TIME. I was very mad and it probably affected my game today as well. 1-0. I lost both games in one day.

7th Round. White against Marco San Pedro from Mexico, rated 1830. I tried to prepare, but he only had a few games and his name was very very hard to find. I played a bad Rossolimo and he soon equalized. On move 18 he offered a draw. I thought 30 minutes on a tactic, and he had only one way of refuting it, if he did he won, if he didn't, I won. I tried finding another continuation but couldn't, so I didn't want to risk anything, so I accepted. Fritz actually said it was +- 1.4 because of a sacrificial tactic that was very hard to see. I should have kept going and pushed. Round 6 really affected my playing. I need to recover from that loss and change my state of mind.

For the next 4 rounds, I'm pushing all in. No draws, just win or loss. Of course if I'm losing or completely drawn, I'll draw, but winning is my priority for the next 4 rounds. Wish me luck!

WYCC Round 4

I played a very intense game as black against Modi Jaishil Bhadrashil (RSA). It was around 5 hours, against an underrated 1650(Approximate)! His performance should just be about 1900, but he did play quite well. He had no Caro games in the database, and seemingly he had good results against e5 and c5, so I prepared advance and main line. Starting off with an unexpected Panov attack with 2.c4, I played an unusual line that is not that great for black. 1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. cxd5 Qd5?! Instead I can just play Nf6, capturing, and keeping tempo control. After Qd5, he played Nf3, d4 and soon, with a Bc2, Qd3 battery, he started hitting my king. I had all my development finished with a fianchettoed b7 bishop, knights etc. I did not know the correct defense for his attack, but using calculation/common sense, I found the defense and kept an equal position. He then played Ne4 and trying to gain space, but he made a mistake by letting me exchange f6/e4 knights with h4?!, then I had a discovered attack on his rook that took back on e4. I trapped his rook later and won the exchange, which I should've not tooken so early said by Fritz 11. He pulled some tactics on the queenside, exchanging off the rooks, but gaining me another pawn. I was up a pawn AND the exchange now, evaluation was -2.XX, but he started going for my queenside again with just a Bishop and Queen! I played a horrible blunder which won him 2 pawns and tied down my king. At this time, it was still -/=, maybe even -+, but it was very hard for a human to play as black. I moved my king to the queenside, but he had a 2 on 1 pawn structure that might've lead to an easy draw. With 10 minutes on my clock, I started playing perfect moves with slight planning and intuition. He made a mistake by letting his bishop leave a vulnerable pawn, and I double attack a pawn on h4 and b4 with Qe4, but if I took the pawn on a4, my queen/rook were on the same diagonal, so he'd win back the exchange. I found a nice tactic (GM tactic) and won the game. Very close! I was very nervous! It's good that I won though. 0-1, now I'm 2.5/4, playing white against Sahoo Utkal Ranjan (IND) rated 2219. I need some good results starting from now, if I want to hit 6.5. Wish me good luck!

The highlight of the day was Eric Hansen with the black pieces, playing the Gruenfeld defense, which he had never played before, beat his first GM (2480 Fide). Kevin Me and Victor Kaminski drew a 1900 and 2300 respectively. Thomas Kaminski won, giving him 3/4 and good chances to place high. The Canadian team did excellent this round, congrats to all the players!


Results:

Under 8 (Open)
WAN Kevin 0 CAN 2 0 - 1 2 JABER Koochaki 0 IRI 61
KUCUK Dogukan 0 TUR 2 1 - 0 2 ZHANG Yuanchen 0 CAN 127

Under 8G
LIU Jiaxin 0 CAN 2 1 - 0 2 AYAN Bengu Sena 0 TUR 8

Under 10 (Open)
NIKITENKO Mihail 1740 BLR 1½ 0 - 1 1½ KONG Dezheng 0 CAN 103
VIGNA Leo 0 TUR 1 0 - 1 1 GRAIF William 0 CAN 88

Under 10G
Giblon Melissa 0 CAN 1 0 - 1 1 Salah Nadya Ahmed 0 YEM 65

Under 12
Wang Richard 2044 CAN 2 1 - 0 2 Naoum Spyridon 1885 GRE 70

135 Qian Jack 0 CAN 0 1 - - Bye

Under 12G
Lagunow Elina 1735 GER 1 1 - 0 1 Giblon Rebecca 0 CAN 77

Under 14 (open)
Kaminski Thomas 2112 CAN 2 1 - 0 2 Garnazhenko Dmytro 1947 UKR
Modi Jaishil Bhadrashil 1646 RSA 1½ 0 - 1 1½ Zhang David 1998 CAN
Karabayir Mustafa Yilmaz 1864 TUR 1 1 - 0 1 Itkin David 0 CAN

Under 14G
WCM Botez Alexandra 0 CAN 1 1 - 0 1 Cemhan Kardelen 1767 TUR

Under 16 (Open)
Szalay Karoly 2128 CAN 2 0 - 1 2 Petenyi Tamas 2273 SVK 36
Huseyn Orkhan Samir Oglu 2121 AZE 1 1 - 0 1 Wang Jesse B J 1976 CAN 88


Under 16G
Kagramanov Dalia 1835 CAN 2 0 - 1 2 WFM Ognerubova Anastasia 2077 RUS 30
Lam Karen 0 CAN 0 ½ - ½ 0 Demartini Maysa Lais 0 BRA 92

Under 18 (Open)
GM Salem A.R.Saleh 2472 UAE 2½ 0 - 1 2½ FM Hansen Eric 2409 CAN 23
Kaminski Victor 2235 CAN 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Stankovic Milos 2379 SRB 33
Me Kevin 2119 CAN ½ ½ - ½ ½ Margarido Ricardo Emanuel Torr 1966 POR 88

Under 18G
WFM Dudas Eszter 2147 HUN 1½ ½ - ½ 1½ Du Jasmine 0 CAN 60

WYCC Round 3

I just played David Adelburg (2201) from USA as white, I only prepared a bit coming into the round, so I chose a line which I didn't need much theory. The Moscow variation (1. e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+). We got into main line, and then instead of playing on the kingside, which is the correct plan, I played on the C-file, and moved my knight to the queenside, since he had a weak pawn on a4, I could target that. Soon, we exchanged all the pieces off and it was a theoretical draw. He played a move that I questioned, and since I only had 1 minute on my clock, I quickly played a move that I though would win the a pawn and the game. But it was actually a blunder, because he could take one of my pawns with check! Worst blunder of my life. =(. 0-1
Eric played some 500 point underrated 1800 but still managed to win in a drawn position using a cheap tactic.
I'm playing an RSA dude rated 1647 tomorrow. I think he's underrated, so I'm still going to prepare and play my best. See you all tomorrow!

Results: (www.2009cyct.blogspot.com)

Under 8 (Open)

WAN Kevin CAN 1-0 JANNESAR Rad IRI
ZHANG Yuanchen CAN 1-0 KARACAN Can Berk TUR

Under 8 (Girls)

WIJESURIYA G. P. Y. SRI 0-1 LIU Jiaxin CAN

Under 10 (Open)

KONG Dezheng CAN 0-1 KAPLUN David 1831 GER
GRAIF William CAN 0-1 SAVENKOV Konstantin 1808 RUS

Under 10 (Girls)

Tokhirjonova Gulruhbegim UZB 1-0 Giblon Melissa CAN

Under 12 (Open)

Vaibhav Suri 2344 IND 1-0 Wang Richard 2044 CAN
Qian Jack CAN 0-1 Dali Mohamed Souhaib TUN

Under 12 (Girls)

Giblon Rebecca CAN 0-1 Bulmaga Elena 1732 MDA

Under 14 (Open)

Zhang David 1998 CAN 0-1 Adelberg David 2201 USA
IM Berbatov Kiprian 2463 BUL .5-.5 Kaminski Thomas 2112 CAN
Melnik Igor 1969 UKR 1-0 Itkin David CAN

Under 14 (Girls)

WCM Botez Alexandra CAN 1-0 Liao Jo-Yu TPE

Under 16 (Open)

Wang Jesse B J 1976 CAN 0-1 Kozganbayev Erken 2213 KAZ
Tello Chavez Hermes A MEX 0-1 Szalay Karoly 2128 CAN

Under 16 (Girls)

Karabayeva Zhanna 1994 KAZ 0-1 Kagramanov Dalia 1835 CAN
Diril Isil 1585 TUR 1-0 Lam Karen CAN

Under 18 (Open)

FM Hansen Eric 2409 CAN 1-0 Eiti Bashir 1813 SYR
Margarido Ricardo Emanuel Torr 1966 POR 0-1 Kaminski Victor 2235 CAN
Celis Joel Chang 1698 MAC .5-.5 Me Kevin 2119 CAN

Under 18 (Girls)

Du Jasmine 0 CAN .5-.5 Hannes Diana 2125 GER

WYCC Round 2

I played against Sebastian Kaphle (2152 Fide) as black. I had a hard time preparing since he plays random lines and only had 4 games as white vs the Caro Kann. We started off with an unusual line, that I was ready for. 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 cxd5. He checked me on b5 with the bishop and exchanged his knight for my bishop. Fritz says I equalized right away. It was =/+ by the time I had my development finished. I got a break with e5 and many supporting pieces, unfortunately I underestimated his threat of attacking my isolated d5 pawn. After a series of moves he got a nice tactic, that if I reacted any other way, I lose. After 50 minutes of thinking on ONE move, I found a combination that could lead to a draw. (I was inferior at that point). He took off my defenders and won my pawn on d5, but after exchanging the d-file rooks, I got my e-file rook to the second rank and pinned his pieces together in a bind. I offered a draw at that point and he declined. Down a pawn with opposite bishops was an easy draw I could accomplish. After an hour, he finally traded off king-side pawns and we had a 3 way repetition draw. It feels like I'm playing decently, hopefully I continue to play well and maybe hit my new goal of 6.5/11. ;)
Sometimes the internet is down, and since I update usually after dinner, if it's down I have to wait 'til morning. If this ever happens, I will wake up a bit earlier and post which will be around 8-9:00 PM Mountain Time Zone. Hopefully it is up and I'll be trying to post as frequently and soon as possible.
I get disconnected every few sessions so it is hard for me to post videos/photos. I will though, be uploading some media maybe on the free day which is Sunday. See you all tomorrow!
For the first round, the Canadian team only got 6/21! But round 2 was completely different. Check out the results below.

Results: (Got from www.2009cyct.blogspot.com)

Under 8 (Open)

ERENBERG Ariel ISR 0-1 WAN Kevin CAN
ZHANG Yuanchen 0 CAN 0 Bye

Under 8 (Girls)
LIU Jiaxin CAN 1-0 BULBUL Doga Su TUR

Under 10 (Open)

AZIMI Khashayar 1796 IRI 0-1 KONG Dezheng CAN
GRAIF William CAN 1-0 SIROKOV Jevgenijs LAT

Under 10 (Girls)

Giblon Melissa CAN 1-0 Romo Herrera Ibarrola Maria Fe MEX

Under 12 (Open)

FM Wagdy Andro 1895 EGY 0-1 Wang Richard 2044 CAN
Samardzic Nikola 1713 CRO 1-0 Qian Jack CAN

Under 12 (Girls)

Baghirova Khatin Mahammad Qizi 1809 AZE .5- .5 Giblon Rebecca CAN

Under 14 (Open)

Kaphle Sebastian 2152 GER .5-.5 Zhang David 1998 CAN
Vicente Joao Vasco Reis 1736 POR 0-1 Kaminski Thomas 2112 CAN
Itkin David CAN 1-0 Boztuna Mehmet 1785 TUR

Under 14 (Girls)

Bea Boglarka 2042 HUN 1-0 WCM Botez Alexandra CAN

Under 16 (Open)

Raznikov Danny 2290 ISR 1-0 Wang Jesse B J 1976 CAN
Szalay Karoly 2128 CAN 1-0 Litvinov Konstantin 1841 RUS


Under 16 (Girls)

Kagramanov Dalia 1835 CAN 1-0 Kane Marta LAT
Lam Karen CAN 0-1 WFM Gameel Amal 1825 YEM

Under 18 (Open)

FM Karayev Assylkhan 2275 KAZ .5-.5 FM Hansen Eric 2409 CAN
Kaminski Victor 2235 CAN .5-.5 Kristinsson Bjarni J 2023 ISL
Me Kevin 2119 CAN 0-1 Wais Abdul Khalid AFG

Under 18 (Girls)

WGM Vojinovic Jovana 2319 MNE .5-.5 Du Jasmine CAN

WYCC Round 1

L-O-L. First round is very funny. For me, I'm pretty happy that my opponent didn't show up, so I got a default win. Everyone is still playing, the highlight is that Kevin Me and Eric Hansen (Both good friends), are playing eachother! Eric has played his fellow team members 2 years in a row. Last year, he played Alexander Martchenko 4th round.
Tomorrow, I'm probably going to be playing black, so I'm going to prepare my lines right now! Peace y'all.

5 Hours Before WYCC Round 1

Hey guys, just updating again.
Today at 15:00 is the first round of the WYCC. Eric is going to help me prepare because the 1st round is very important. Yesterday, we had a 1 and a half hour opening ceremony, it was very much like the Olympics, carrying flags in and having performances. My dad somehow got a converter, which is awesome!
My section is actually not very high rated compared to some other sections. The highest rated is a 2463 IM, and obviously I'm going to beat him. (Obviously I'm going to try to draw if I play him) But all's going well, we hung out with the team yesterday, and IM Samsonkin is helping some team members prepare. Kevin says 3/11 is enough for him, but I'm aiming for 5.5/11 or more. First international tournament, I'm pretty excited!
I'll post the results after the round. 'Til then, check out our team blog, or the WYCC main page!
http://wycc2009.tsf.org.tr/ and http://2009cyct.blogspot.com/

I'll upload some photos and videos later, the internet here is very slow so it takes a long time.

Pre-WYCC

Hey everyone, we just arrived in Turkey around 14 hours ago.
It's currently 5:24 AM right now, and because I'm still suffering from jet lag, I woke up an hour ago.
Unfortunately, we forgot to bring a converter for the electricity plug-in, so we're borrowing Kevin Me's converter to charge our laptop.
Anyways, the plane ride was insufferably horrible, around 20 hours in total, with no sleep at all. Fail. But the resort is amazing! Me, Richard Wang, Eric Hansen are all staying at the Limra resort, and it's awesome! The rooms are very comfortable, quiet and peaceful. You can eat all you want, when you want! There's a buffet downstairs open 24/7 and it's free of charge to all WYCC participants. I think each round starts at 3:00 PM, so we're free to prepare before hand etc. Awesome eh?
I hope the Canadian team all does well, and I bet we're all gonna' have a great time. See you tomorrow!

Alberta Junior Chess Championships 2009

Unexpectedly, I decided to play in the Alberta Junior, and got a spot because Tony Cai dropped out. I was basically playing for the title, and also a warm-up for the WYCC, which I am leaving for today.
The first day, I arrived to play Diwen Shi as black in round 1. He's rated around 1500, and due to a tactical error, I won. Second round, I played Yuekai Wang as white, I had a good Rossolimo going, then I created pressure on the queenside and was soon +-. Unfortunately, I overplayed my rook, and missed a break which he saw and equalized. It was very hard to push for a win, so after an hour, we drew. Third round, I played David Miller (1670) as black, I was very tired and wasn't paying that much attention, and he definitely took control on the queenside. It was still equal, according to Fritz, but after I made a huge mistake letting his rooks flow in and he won an extra pawn. Seeing that I was almost completely lost, I offered a draw, and because of my rating, he accepted.
Nicka Kalaydina (Second seed) had just drawn Yuekai, and was leading the section by 0.5, the only way I could get the title is if I beat her, and thus I'd win on tiebreak (Head to head, cumulative etc.)
Third day, I started off white playing Nicka Kalaydina, it was pretty much just a standard Shevenigen without a6. It was very equal the whole game, although I had a bit of a space advantage. Then I broke through and she made the mistake of exchanging her good piece, thus after a series of mistakes, I won. Fifth round, I played Naveed Virji, lowest seed coming into the tourny, I quickly won the exchange in a Panov-Botvinnik attack and soon he resigned.
I played badly and my rating will go down 12 points from 2101, but let this be a good warm-up for the WYCC. At least I got the title and funding to go to the 2010 CJCC. :)

Sidenote: The AJCC was the best tournament, in all aspects, in my opinion. I've been to 4 national tournaments, and this tournament, directed by Simon Ong, was very professional, with closing and opening ceremonies, refreshments, an appeal committee etc. I would like to thank him for making this tournament a great success.

See you all in Turkey!

World Youth Chess Championship

It's been a while since I last blogged, but I'll be updating very frequently in November because I'm going to Ankara, Turkey for the World Youth Chess Championships!

It's an International Youth tournament, hosted by Fide. You can check out the details at http://wycc2009.tsf.org.tr/, a couple of juniors in Calgary are going, such as FM Eric Hansen, Thomas Kaminski, and Victor Kaminski. We have a team blog going on at http://2009cyct.blogspot.com/ so you can check that out as well. I'll be posting results, some games, and the stuff waiting for us at Turkey.

I'm going to be playing in the U14 section, and if you want to check out live games, you can go on www.monroi.com and see for yourself.

Stay tuned for updates on the WYCC!

Over/Under 1800

Hey guys, it's a bit late, but I'm just going to post about one of the tournaments I recently participated in, the Over 1800 sectional.
I prepared some of my opening lines and freshened with some tactics puzzles, but I didn't perform as high as I wanted to during the tournament.
I was very eager to do well in round 1, because the first round usually is my most important game because it effects all my other rounds. To my surprise, I was playing black against my friend, Roy Yearwood. We've almost played each other every tournament for the last 5 tournaments. I know he played the modern and I didn't have a good line for it, but he went in for an English with 1. c4. I was going to play the line I played against Nic Haynes (1... c6), but I didn't think Roy knew too much theory and I played a normal 1... e5. He continued fianchettoing his bishop on g2, and a good pawn structure with d4/c4. I was immediately in an inferior position, with central pressure and a space disadvantage. Roy had a3 and c4, so he could've pushed b4 and tried to breakthrough with c5 or b5 to create a passed pawn or create more pressure. It was hard for me to find a plan, so I decided to maneuver my queen to c8 (protecting the b7 pawn), and to switch my knights around to possibly get some counter play on the e4 outpost. Roy didn't look at b4, so he just pushed d5, locked the position and offered me a draw, of course I accepted. 1/2-1/2

My second round was with white against Aaron Sequillion, since I knew he didn't like the Bb5 sicilian, I decided to go into it even though I didn't prepare anything. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ (Moscow variation). I didn't understand the strategical concept of the position and pushed an early d4?! without any c3 preparation. We continued into a dragon-like position without the white squared bishops, which was devastating for me. He missed a tactic while breaking through with d5, and it let me lock up the position when he had much play on the center and diagonals. I offered a draw, and since my CFC was 100 points above him, he accepted the draw in a =/+ position. 1/2-1/2

Third round, black against my buddy Martin Robichaud. I've played a lot of blitz with Martin, and some active games too, but this was my first time challenging him in a regular game. He opened the game with a Panov attack against my Caro-Kann. (1.e4 c6 2.c4!?) I knew he played this, and prepared 5 minutes before hand so I wouldn't screw up. I was pretty comfortable with the position, but he soon got a kingside attack. I underestimated it and missed a big tactic on e6, which led to material loss and a horrible position. I decided to play on for a bit but resigned after a few moves. 1-0
A very confusing position, which I thought I could defend and win a pawn, but it was indeed a good game!

Fourth round, white against Chris Kuczaj. He usually plays Shevenigen, but this time he played a Caro-Kann! I was glad since I knew the theory for it, I can play most of the lines, so I just chose the advanced. He got his bishop out and the c5 push, but I got play with a3 and tried to breakthrough with b4. He played a5 and Qb6, so I shifted my queen to a4 so I could advance b4 because of the queen-rook pin. Right then, he made a very interesting move, Qa6!?, protecting the b4 threat and threatening a b5 advance! I had to move my queen back and I planned to develop, but he didn't lock the queenside so I got a big advantage with a b3/a4 type of queenside attack. I got my knights in a binding position and won the exchange. 1-0

Fifth round, black against Rick Pedersen. I remember Rick being a King's Indian player, and I definitely don't have a good record against him. He played e4, and I being a Caro player, stuck with my plan. The position was pretty equal, but I let him get his b1 knight to d4 (Na3, Nc2). He had a good idea with an a4 push, but was afraid to further push it down, he should've played a5! to capture the b6 square for my knights. He let my knights get onto c5 and b6 (planning to go to c4 and e5). I was possibly a little better, but I offered my 3rd draw, and he accepted right away. 1/2-1/2

Too many draws I suppose, but I did gain some knowledge about underestimating attacks or positions. My CFC dropped to 2101, but my Fide probably increased a few points. Overall, it wasn't a BAD tournament, but I performed at a 2050 level. I hope I'll do better next tournament. =D

'Till then, I'ma out!

Active Grand Prix #2

Hey guys,

Just came back from a Tuesday active sectional tournament, our 2nd Calgary "Grand Prix" tourny. There were around 20 people that participated, making it one of the biggest active tournaments we've had on Tuesdays.
I played 3 games in total, playing against three 2000-2150 strength players.
1st round: White against Walter Watson - Starting off in an exchange French, he closed up the position quickly with a premature c5 to c4. I had 2 knights on e5 and f3 and a supporting pawn on d4. I had a space advantage that forced him to move his knights into a bad position. Soon he missed a tactic on f7, which hung a knight on e6. 1-0
2nd round: White against Martin Robichaud - Martin decided to play e5 against my king's pawn, so I went for a Four Knights. It transposed into a Philidor's kinda' position, but Martin was a bit unfamiliar with it. I soon exchanged off the bishops and got a nice pawn push that threatened to isolate his pawns (d-file) in a rook endgame, he didn't go for it but got an inferior piece coordination. I generated a protected pass pawn on e6 and f5, and soon launched a kingside attack (successfully) with pawns, a knight, and a queen. 1-0
3rd round: Black against Hafiz Karmali - I wanted to win the tournament, so I offered him an early draw in the Caro-Kann which he declined. He got to my kingside early, with f4 and a rook lift, so I decided to castle queenside. He moved his queen out missed a pin and win on the back rank for me, and I got an easy pawn, and proceeded with mating threats. I made a mistake of moving my king to b8, which I should've moved to d7-e7 because he had no attack. He opened up some files and suddenly I was the person in trouble! He had many mating chances but he missed them and in the end I out blitzed him but offered a draw again. 1/2-1/2

I had won my first CCC active tournament! I feel proud with a 1550 rating. ;)

Just started blogging!

Hey guys!

Just created my blog, 'ts all good. I'm going to post Chess news, tournaments, links, etc. Stay tuned. =)