Greetings players and fellow patzers 🙂
Well I've stepped up and finally played my first real 'Major' tier section, held in Huddersfield this past weekend.
The rating cap was ECF Under 166, much higher than the 115, 135 and 145 caps I've played up until now.
The time controls were all moves in 90 mins + 10 secs gained per move.
The event had 6 rounds, but I took a half-point bye in round 1 so played just 5 games.
Would I continue my run of successes, or would the step-up prove too tough to overcome?
---------------------------
Game 1 - Steve Westmoreland (149) vs Zak Tomlinson (130)
Prep is important... the tougher your opponent, the more opening prep helps keep you safe from embarassment.
Heading into this game, I knew my opponent plays the English (I checked online).
So I looked at lines for Black and settled on the Four Knights system, which looks like this:
This decision was largely influenced by the following article, which is based on study by GM Boris Avrukh:
https://www.modern-chess.com/en/chess-databases/database=27
In this game, Steve played 4.e3, which the article states 4...Bb4 is "of course" the best response for Black.
So "of course" I completely muddled two different lines up in my head and played something else.
The result was not nice...
For a bit of fun, I'm also going to share computer 'accuracy' scores which I get from another site.
Steve Westmoreland
Inaccuracies: 0
Mistakes: 1
Blunders: 0
Average centipawn loss: 21
Zak Tomlinson
Inaccuracies: 3
Mistakes: 2
Blunders: 1
Average centipawn loss: 77
Game 2 - Zak Tomlinson (130) vs Tarini Jayawarna (117)
Next I played the lowest rated player in the section.
In fact, Tarini was the only player who could have entered the Minor if she wanted to, but took the bold option.
Tarini was also a junior player so I was a little worried, thinking the rating of 117 could be misleading.
After my 1.e4 she played 1..e6, the French, which I had done some prep for...
...but that doesn't mean anything, as I'm known for not sticking to scripts!
Zak Tomlinson
Inaccuracies: 3
Mistakes: 3
Blunders: 0
Average centipawn loss: 22
Tarini Jayawarna
Inaccuracies: 6
Mistakes: 5
Blunders: 1
Average centipawn loss: 46
Game 3 - Robert Letton (139) vs Zak Tomlinson (130)
This game started life as a modest Bishop's opening, but soon took a funny turn after 5.f4
Tactics fly all over the place with both sides looking for checkmate!
An exciting game with a sudden, unexpected result...
Robert Letton
Inaccuracies: 1
Mistakes: 3
Blunders: 1
Average centipawn loss: 54
Zak Tomlinson
Inaccuracies: 2
Mistakes: 2
Blunders: 0*
Average centipawn loss: 31
* Lichess suggests no blunders for me, but my failure to see Qg7 was clearly worthy of such an honour
Game 4 - Zak Tomlinson (130) vs Graham Ashcroft (158)
Facing a seasoned veteran on the major circuit, I was determined to stick to prepared lines to give me a chance.
Prior to the game, I knew that Graham plays the French so I played through a bunch of Exchange variations
and Monte Carlo style games to help guide me on what structure and piece layout I should be aiming for.
The result was actually quite pleasing, allowing me to play a type of game that I can enjoy.
Did it prove to be fruitful in the end?
Zak Tomlinson
Inaccuracies: 5
Mistakes: 0
Blunders: 1
Average centipawn loss: 34
Graham Ashcroft
Inaccuracies: 1
Mistakes: 0
Blunders: 0
Average centipawn loss: 10
Game 5 - Robert Clegg (160) vs Zak Tomlinson (130)
For the final round, I needed to win if I was to achieve my minimum goal of 50% (3 out of 6).
Robert is yet another seasoned veteran who plays many tournaments per year.
He won the Under 1825 British Championships section last year, so he's certainly a tough competitor.
With low expectations and no prep whatsoever, I just wanted to play a game and hopefully enjoy it.
What happened was very surprising.
Robert Clegg
Inaccuracies: 2
Mistakes: 0
Blunders: 1
Average centipawn loss: 68
Zak Tomlinson
Inaccuracies: 3
Mistakes: 0
Blunders: 0
Average centipawn loss: 18
----------------------------------
So I somehow ended up on 3/6, which even more surprisingly meant that I shared a grading prize... I got £15!
My tournament performance ECF rating was 145... it would have been 155 if I won game 3.
I would have also won the grading prize outright (£45) if I saw Qg7... lessons learned!
This was my first Major section, so I'll take it.
Final crosstable is here for those interested:
http://chess-results.com/tnr442978.aspx?lan=1&art=4
My next tournament is in just 2 weekend's time in South Lakes, Kendal.
Slightly easier that one, I'll be in the Intermediate (145 and below).
Congresses are great fun so if anyone reading this lives in the North of England and fancies playing in one,
why not give it a go?
Entry form:- http://www.barrowchessclub.co.uk/SLC%202019/SLC2019%20Entry%20Form.pdf
(You can enter by email and pay on the day, it's easiest)
See you there!
Regards,
Zak
Hi 64 Squares,
Excellent and the note after this position:
...where you play 20...Ng3+
" Moves like this are why I play tactics training puzzles regularly."
Is proof time spent doing these puzzles is worth it. See the jerikko - piacero
game in the latest blog where the same idea was missed. Blog Post 422
@venda
Don't sell yourself short Dave, the most important thing is that you enjoy playing!
For some people, analysis and preparation almost takes the fun out of it all, they'd rather just play the game.
I just played a rapid tournament last night, only won 1 game out of 5, with 2 losses, somehow two draws.
My average opponent rating was even stronger than this tournament in Huddersfield,
so I had a hard time with tough positions... but that's what I enjoy, a good battle.
If you enjoy the game, just keep playing and be happy regardless!
@64squaresofpain
Gotta feel for the person who joins those events and makes other people winners. Walking out with all losses must be embarrassing.