Things might be looking up for chess, but on the other hand they might not. I still don't know how I'm going to get to play in tournaments, but the Rutgers chess team is starting to make headway. We should have funding in the near future, and some upcoming events will hopefully bring in new recruits. More players means more competition; more competition means better competition; better competition means I get to play good chess again! We'll see if my efforts bear fruit. I'll upload my games from Amateurs over spring break.

I just got back to school from Amateurs, but I'm not finished putting the games into my computer. So here's the 2nd Annual Princeton Collegiate Open, which my team took fourth and tied for the U2000 section in! Impressive, considering how Rutgers has almost no chess activity to speak of.

Chess tests my faith whenever I am going through a time of change as a player and person. Here is a recent online game, which I blundered away just like all of my Eastern Team Championship games. I find this game particularly interesting, stupid blunders aside.

I went to the Eastern Team Championship and didn't win a single game. All games but one were completely winning for me from the beginning.

It's much more difficult to find good chess here than I'd thought. Maybe I won't be able to become a professional chess player after all...

Haha, happy hundred games :-)

Oh, and happy hundred games!

Now, to track down my games from nationals and supernationals... Then I'll be finished with every significant game I've ever played in person! Where will I go next? There's chess where I'm going in the fall, so we'll see.

And here's one of the worst tournaments I've ever played in: Rentschler 2011. I arrived and was instantly violently ill with all symptoms from shivering to fever to blind spots to projectile vomiting. This lasted for three days, and so it came to pass that I failed horribly in attaining my goal of doing well in the Rentschler Chess Foundation tournament in my second, and last, year.

Board  21

Board 19

Board 14

Board 19, against a familiar foe.

Alright, finally a definite date! This tournament took place on March 6th--states for the NJ scholastic leagues. We didn't have much of a team to go on that time, so we played in the booster section. This was a terrible tournament for me, all I had to eat all day was a muffin because of my sensitivity to preservatives. It was embarassing; nevertheless, it must be posted! I started on board 22.

I generally dislike scholastic tournaments. I end up playing tons of under-rated players, and some not very good ones, no in-between, and the conditions of the tournament usually suck too. Last time I went to states there were kindergarteners everywhere. I can still hear the screaming... This next game is on board 17.

The one thing about this states tournament I was really glad about... was the fact that I never have to do it again. The next game is on board 21, against a sort of familiar opponent who I'd scoped out earlier.

This next game is one of those games that every chess player has eventually. I blame the muffin. At least, during my last game, I found one of my priceless biggest upset pens from Amateurs that had run away, just sitting in my chess bag (which I had scoured for hours in desperate search). This game is on board 18.

The last game was a win, but not enough to matter.

Here's the Pitman quads, not too long after the last tournament I posted.

I won 50 dollars from this--the entry fee was 20, and it took gas to get there, so basically I broke a bit over even. Satisfying.

This is from some random Cherry Hill tournament I went to with Eugene (like the last one I posted). This is the tournament I won $12.50 from, not the other one I mentioned. I started on board 9, in the U1600 section.

The first player was rather friendly and I gave him what meager advice I had to offer at that point in time. I played on board 2 in the second round.

In the third round on board 6 I faced a kid whom I have faced a few times now. I saw him playing in the U1500 or something at the Philadelphia Open last it ran.

In the final round I ended up on board 2.

I thought I'd forgotten something. Here's round 7 of the Rentschler in 2010.

Here's the Rentschler Tournament from 2010... probably did just as badly as how I did this year... round 1, board 7.

Round 2, against THIS guy. I'm always tired and malnourished by the time I play him--last time I went to this tournament I got really sick--and I lost to him twice despite his obvious lack of skill. If it's any consolation, I heard he got a lot better from 2010 to 2011, but then again, so did I.

Round 3, board 16.

Round 4, board 15.

Round 5, board 8. These are all 55/5 by the way.

Round 6, not sure what board, against a familiar foe.

I ended up half a point away from winning a thousand dollars.

I think I won $12.50 in the last tournament I posted...

These games are from almost exactly a year ago, at the South Jersey Open.

Board 22, game-60, U1600 section, round 1. Song in my head: "Feuer Frei".

Round 2, board 28. Song in my head: "Separate Ways".

Round 3, board 26. Song in my head: "Hey Bulldog".

Round 4, board 22. Song in my head: "Sweet Child O' Mine".

So it came to pass that I did poorly in another tournament. It is clear to me now that I failed to improve in particular ways (i.e. openings) over great periods of time, which indicates that I could really use a trainer, however I did generally improve with every tournament.

Moar games!! This is from the quads after the Kosteniuk simul, in which I was very conscious of my luck.

I wish blogs wouldn't count me visiting the blog to add games as 'reads' =/ Anyway, here's a neat game, not a good game since it was a while ago but against an interesting opponent--Alexandra Kosteniuk.

Alright, moving right along. Let's take a look at Scholastic State Championships 2010...