SirBenjamin at Cychess XXXVIII - First OTB Tourney!
This Sunday, September 25th, 2009 was Cychess XXXVIII in Ames, Iowa, on the ISU campus. This is a big deal for me since it is my very first OTB tournament (*over-the-board... aka 'in person').
Here are the details from their official flyer:
CYCHESS XXXVIII
WHAT: OPEN 3SS CHESS TOURNAMENT
A USCF RATED CHESS EVENT
WHEN: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2009
SPONSORED BY THE CYCLONE CHESS CLUB
WHERE: MOLECULAR BIOLOGY BLDG
ISU CAMPUS-AMES, IA (ENTER THE NORTH DOOR)
WHO: OPEN TO ANY USCF MEMBER
MEMBERSHIP AVAILABLE AT SITE
DETAILS: TIME CONTROL G/45 (G/40 w/5 sec delay)
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PRE-TOURNEY COMMENTS:
I felt prepared for the tourney and felt comfortable right up until the first game started. One thing that I think is really cool & deserves some recognition... Via Twitter.com, I mentioned to the great 'Chess Queen' Alexandra Kosteniuk that I had my first chess tournament coming up and she replied directly to me with some advice and good luck wishes!
She is an extremely fan-conscious chess celebrity who actually seeked me out, rather than vis versa. You can read about her and stay up to date on the chess world via her website: http://www.kosteniuk.com/
or follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/chessqueen
THE BIG DAY:
With respect to my opponents, I do not feel as if I should comment on these games move by move. However, I would really appreciate any of my chess-blog readers to give me as much or as little constructive criticism as they can muster!
Round 1 - I found out after the game that my opponent has played rated games against 3 GM's including Gary Kasparov. My first OTB tournament game ever:
Round 2 - My next opponent, Mr. Mueller, is a retired principal & took advantage of my ill-fated moves.
POST-TOURNEY REMARKS:
There we have it. My first tournament could be classified as a "disasterous showing," considering how hard I've been working lately, but I am taking the following points into consideration:
• I have little to no OTB experience, even casually, except for a few sparse games between me and my father or youngest brother.
So, I am taking the results of this tournament with a grain of salt and treating it as a motivator and of course a learning experience. I hope to find more tournament play soon.
I want to give a shout out to 3 chess.com acquaintences which I was pleased to meet in person on Sunday: HankAnzis, Vandarringa, & Thunder197. Always nice to be able to put a face & voice with a name.