1. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    16 Apr '18 19:531 edit
    Greetings players and fellow patzers 🙂

    So I finally played in a live tournament, after a few years of wanting to do so
    but not being able to due to work commitments and probably me just being chicken.

    I'll show each game in separate posts, with brief analysis, starting with the first game below.
    There are 5 games in total... Each game was graded so hopefully I'll have a grading soon!

    The time controls were 1 hr 30 mins each plus a 30 second move increment.
    In each of these games I played faster than my experienced opponents,
    regularly finishing the game with still 50+ minutes on my clock... this is not a good thing.

    Game 1 - Nigel Morris vs Zak Tomlinson (me!)

    This was a fairly even game with not much happening by way of threats,
    then I saw a tactic in the below position, Black to play:

    See the game below for "What happened next".



    Nigel was graded ECF 123 (roughly 1620 ELO)
  2. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    16 Apr '18 20:47
    I played in the 'Minor' section (Grade ECF135 or less) however for this next game I had a "bye"
    due to the section having an odd number of players (with me being the fortunate odd draw)
    so I played someone from the 'Major' section who also had a bye, due to an opponent no-show.

    We were both awarded a full point in our respective sections, however this game was still graded.

    Game 2 - Zak Tomlinson vs Richard Desmedt

    I was on the back-foot most of this game, my opponent was a solid player who had a strong attack...
    did I manage to survive?

    (Oh, also a shout out to my friend @venda who came to watch on this day 🙂)



    Richard was graded ECF 150 (roughly 1825 ELO)
  3. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    16 Apr '18 21:54
    Game 3 - Zak Tomlinson vs Neil Griffiths

    This one involved some peculiar Knight shuffling, with both players trying to create weaknesses
    and quite frankly turned into a blunderfest, which was eventually decided in dramatic fashion.



    Neil was graded ECF 123 (roughly 1620 ELO)
  4. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    16 Apr '18 23:00
    Game 4 - David Tate vs Zak Tomlinson

    This game features some quiet initial play which somehow turns into an attack,
    leading to an endgame that does not go as expected.

    This position, the endgame has just been reached, with Black to play:

    What is the correct way to approach this?

    See how this unfolded in the game below.



    David was graded ECF 130 (roughly 1675 ELO)
  5. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    17 Apr '18 00:05
    Heading into the last game of the tournament I felt the need to win and finish on a high note.
    Given my poor record with Black so far I was hoping for a White game...

    Game 5 - Zak Tomlinson vs Richard Wilson

    This game is a Najdorf, one of the more popular lines of the Sicilian used even by top GM's.
    Our game isn't exactly GM quality, but it had relatively few mistakes and I feel there is still some instructive level of play.



    Like two previous opponents, Richard also had a grading of ECF 123 (roughly 1620 ELO).

    -------------------

    Well that's that.
    I finished joint 8th in my section, out of 31 players.
    There was a 4-way tie for 1st, each with 4 points out of 5.

    Thank you very much if you took the time to go through these games and I hope you either:
    a) Learned something useful from them, or
    b) Got a laugh from the mistakes made... especially in game 3.

    I'll certainly be entering more tournaments in the near future.
    Looking forward to meeting new players and getting my own ECF grade!

    Cheers,
    ~64
  6. SubscriberRagwortonline
    Senecio Jacobaea
    Yorkshire
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    17 Apr '18 13:36
    Well done on holding Richard Desmedt to a draw. He plays nearly every weekender going (or did when I was last active) and wins prizes regularly in majors. A TPR of 130 is a good start too.
  7. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    19 Apr '18 20:49
    Originally posted by @ragwort
    Well done on holding Richard Desmedt to a draw. He plays nearly every weekender going (or did when I was last active) and wins prizes regularly in majors. A TPR of 130 is a good start too.
    Yes, Richard himself said he was top of the list in terms of games played, he clearly loves his chess.

    TPR, is that tournament performance?
    If so I'll take 130, keeps me in the minor section (for now) 🙂

    I'm looking to enter more tournaments like this, the next one being in Huddersfield at the end of May.

    Anyone else fancy it?
  8. Subscribervenda
    Dave
    S.Yorks.England
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    20 Apr '18 14:20
    Originally posted by @64squaresofpain
    Yes, Richard himself said he was top of the list in terms of games played, he clearly loves his chess.

    TPR, is that tournament performance?
    If so I'll take 130, keeps me in the minor section (for now) 🙂

    I'm looking to enter more tournaments like this, the next one being in Huddersfield at the end of May.

    Anyone else fancy it?
    As I said last week Zak, I don't think I'm good enough to play an OTB tournament
    I remember you saying you're 26 and this was your first so you are probably too late starting to make any serious impact in the chess world, although overall you put in a great performance
    I'm 66!!.
    I enjoyed watching you and some of the masters on the other tables though.
  9. Subscribersonhouse
    Fast and Curious
    slatington, pa, usa
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    20 Apr '18 22:002 edits
    Originally posted by @venda
    As I said last week Zak, I don't think I'm good enough to play an OTB tournament
    I remember you saying you're 26 and this was your first so you are probably too late starting to make any serious impact in the chess world, although overall you put in a great performance
    I'm 66!!.
    I enjoyed watching you and some of the masters on the other tables though.
    You young punks can still play🙂 I am 10 years older and I still play😉

    Zak, nice games, I played them through. How much time do you spend on games played here? I have trouble putting in more than a few seconds on a game🙂 Just my lack of discipline I suppose. Shown by my poor rating, over a hundred and sixty points behind you. Did you feel pressed for time since you only have about 3 minutes per move? Or was it a blitz tournie?
  10. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
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    21 Apr '18 11:19
    Originally posted by @sonhouse
    You young punks can still play🙂 I am 10 years older and I still play😉

    Zak, nice games, I played them through. How much time do you spend on games played here? I have trouble putting in more than a few seconds on a game🙂 Just my lack of discipline I suppose. Shown by my poor rating, over a hundred and sixty points behind you. Did you feel pressed for time since you only have about 3 minutes per move? Or was it a blitz tournie?
    We had more than enough time to play, starting with 1hr 30 mins + a 30 second per move increment.

    On average I probably spent between 1 and 2 minutes per move.
    I should have used more of my time than I did, as I often found myself in positions I didn't like too much.

    On here that doesn't happen so often, partially down to having so many days to make a move (no pressure)
    but also the obvious but relevant fact that we are permitted to use analysis boards and games databases on this site.

    OTB classical (longer time controls) is the pure format of chess in my opinion.
    I'm not a fan of blitz, but don't mind rapid (10 mins each or more).

    Cheers,
    ~64

    p.s. ECF only update gradings every 6 months, so I won't have a grade until August 🙁
  11. Subscribersonhouse
    Fast and Curious
    slatington, pa, usa
    Joined
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    21 Apr '18 14:071 edit
    Originally posted by @64squaresofpain
    We had more than enough time to play, starting with 1hr 30 mins + a 30 second per move increment.

    On average I probably spent between 1 and 2 minutes per move.
    I should have used more of my time than I did, as I often found myself in positions I didn't like too much.

    On here that doesn't happen so often, partially down to having so many days ...[text shortened]... s,
    ~64

    p.s. ECF only update gradings every 6 months, so I won't have a grade until August 🙁
    Will your rating be provisional till you get some minimum number played?

    Back in century 19 they didn't have chess clocks so a dude could sit on his hands for 10 hours and there was no recourse till they got the idea of making chess clocks with X amount of time on each clock and that introduced the idea of time loss.
  12. Subscriber64squaresofpain
    The drunk knight
    Stuck on g1
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    22 Apr '18 18:48
    Originally posted by @sonhouse
    Will your rating be provisional till you get some minimum number played?

    Back in century 19 they didn't have chess clocks so a dude could sit on his hands for 10 hours and there was no recourse till they got the idea of making chess clocks with X amount of time on each clock and that introduced the idea of time loss.
    I've been told that for ECF you get a letter after your rating.
    The letter represents how many games you have played, the lowest being F (very few games) to A (bloody lots).

    I've been told that 5 games is the minimum for an ECF rating, although this will of course be F.

    I don't know what the letter milestones are.
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