2009 PA State Chess Championship

On March 6th,  my family and I left the house right after school to go to Carlisle.  My sister and I would play in the 2009 PA State Scholastic Chess Championship.  I was top seeded in K6 Open section, but that only meant I had a good chance of winning first place.  I ended up getting third place. But I still think this was a good tournament for me.
In the first three rounds, I won without much trouble.  For example, in the third round, the result was basically decided within twenty moves.  As the tournament proceeded, my opponents got tougher and tougher.  So on the fourth game, I found myself facing one of my old rivals.  Last year, if I beat him in the last round, I would get second place.  But I lost that game and I got seventh place.  So this year I was determined to beat him.  My opponent changed his opening, which turned to be one of my own openings too. So we both played pretty well in the opening and early middle game.  The game was pretty even until he made a mistake.  After that, it is not difficult for me to defeat him.  On the last game, I could have at least tied to be co-champion but I lost due to making a quick move without carefully analyzing his threat.  It results in a two pawns loss and forcing queen exchange.  Then I lost the game quickly after that. 

Even though I am a little bit disappointed that I did not won the Championship.  But I still think that I made some improvements.  In 2007, I got 10th and in 2008, I got 7th and in 2009, I got 3rd.  I will try again next year to win the first place.  My next big tournament is Super Nationals at Nashville. I am looking forward to this big event.