I lost 1.5 points simply because I didn’t leave myself enough time. If anyone has tips on how to better manage time, it would be greatly appreciated. #chesspunks

I’m not entirely proud of that win after reviewing it, but I finished the tournament 2.5/4, giving me a slight boost in my rating. I learned 2 lessons from my performance, 1. I need to boost my pattern recognition, and 2. I NEED to manage my time better, especially in delay TC’s.

16. Nb5 Nxb5 17. cxb5 Qh6 18. Qd2 f5 19. c7 fxe5?? and now I win. 20. Qd8+ Kf7 21. Ne5#

12… c6 13. d5 Bc5 14. Re1?? (Terrible move here, caused by laziness, and a deep desire to not calculate. 14… f5 looks to me like it saves blacks game, but instead we see) 14… Na6?? 15. dxc6 Nc7

9. Nc3 Nc4 10. h3 Nxe3 11. fxe b6?? 12. Be4… black is already starting to crumble here.

My first non-Sicilian of the day ( thank god )
2. exd Qxd5 3. d4 Qe4+ 4. Be3 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 Qd5 7. 0-0 Bd6 8. c4 Qh5… clearly black wants to go 3/4 today.

Alright, gonna finish my RICC recap quick. Not covering my game 3, since it was a disgusting swindle. It was quite literally the single worst game I’ve played in over a year. But, I’m entering rd. 4 with 1.5/3, I’m white against an unrated with a decent tourney performance. #chesspunks

1. e4 d5

The great (tiny) state of Rhode Island!

25… Nec6 26. Kf1 Kf8 and now time trouble ruins me once again… 27. Rd2?? Rxc3, played instantly by my opponent. The game went on for another 15 moves or so, but the game was decided here. I was a shameful 0.5/2.

I had the good reply of 23. Nxe5 winning a pawn and trading queens! 23… Qxd3 24. Nxd3 Rb3 25. Rd1

19… Rb4 20. Qd3 Qa8 21. Rfc1 Rfb8 22. Nc4 Qa6… my heart dropped after this move. I thought it was game over. Luckily for me, it practically handed me the game.

16… Bxb3 17. cxb3 bxa4 18. bxa4 Rb8 19. Rb1. And just like that, the initiative belongs to black.

13… b5 14. Bb3 Nd4 15. Ne3 a5 16. a4… and textbook overreaction by me. Now, after exchanges, I’ll be left with a backward pawn. 16. Bxe6 seems better, but I was worried about 16… fxe6 where black has a menacing center after the d5 break.

okay, back now… where was I?
11… Nge2 12. Bc4 0-0 13. 0-0…
I felt okay here, especially considering I made 7 knight moves in the first 10. I would guess the eval at approx +/=

Maybe I wasted some time with 9. Ne3. Nd4 seems much more ambitious. Anyways, I’ve gotta go, I’ll finish this thread later!

After the 1st round draw, I was ready to fight. I was white against a 1559 #chesspunks
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nb5 d6 6. N1c3 a6 7. Na3 Be7 8. Nc4 Be6 9. Ne3 Bg5 10. Ned5 Bxc1 11. Rxc1…
I felt like I missed my opportunity here, but I’m certainly not worse!

My notation ends after 25… Ne8 26. Qb5 Rxf5 27. exf Nf6 28. Qd3. The game ended in a draw after pieces and pawns were exchanged and I was left with an h pawn and knight vs 3 connected k-side pawns. I felt like I could have converted if I wasn’t playing on my 5 second increment.

19… Ne7 20. f5 exf 21. Nxf5 Nxf5 22. Rxf5 Rd7 23. Raf1 Rf8 24. Qb5 Rdf7 25. Qb4

15… gxh3 16. Bxe6 fxe6 17. Qg3+ Qg7 18. Qd3 Kh7 19. f4… white knew I was down on time, and was hellbent on complicating.

10… Bg4 11. Qd3 Qe7 12. h3 Be6 13. Bb3 Rfd8 14. Nh4? h3 15. Bxh3?? a mistake followed by a blunder by white. Now all I needed was to not let my time get the better of me. I had 15 minutes on my clock here.

and development continued. 5… Nf6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bc4 0-0 (I was tempted by the complications after 7… Nxe4, but I didn’t want greed to ruin my chances) 8. Bg5 d6 9. 0-0 Bxc3 10. bxc3… and I was happy with my opening position.

#chesspunks Round 1 of the RI State Championship. I was black against a 1493 and it was a cruel lesson in time management.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nf3… my opponent wasn’t feeling too bold.

Been a longtime #chesspunks lurker, thought it was finally time to post. Just played in the RI State Championship, will be recapping my games soon!