2009 40th National Chess Congress

This is the fifth year that I play in National Chess Congress during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. I still remember that I lost all 4 games in the U600 in my first National Chess Congress in 2005. I was so upset and my dad took me out of the tournament after 4 rounds. Four years later, I am playing in U2000. I am very proud of my progress. I played two day schedule this time because we had a party to go on Friday. The first three games are G50. I played three rated 1950 above rated players. I did relatively well. I tied two and lost one. Since those were relatively fast games, there were some chances for both sides. I could do better if I grasped these opportunities. The fourth game on Saturday is G 40/2, SD/1. I won that game against a 1600 rated player. My opponent played well until he dropped two pawns later in the game. So I got 2.5 out of 4 games in the first day. Consider my rating was just over 1800 recently, this was not bad result. After a good night sleep, I came back to the Sheraton Hotel Sunday morning and found out that I was paired to play one of my chess club member Nigel. I played him three times in the club. I won two games even though he is high rated than me. Maybe because of this, I was a little bit too relax in the game. I quickly got into trouble in the opening. Then I lost the game badly. This is probably the only regret that I had for this tournament. Since I lost this game quickly, there were almost 5 hours before the next game started. So we decided to walk to Chinatown to have lunch. The weather was beautiful. It was unseasonal warm. We went to a Sichuan style restaurant. The food was great. In the last round of the tournament, I played against 1800 player. I wanted to play an exciting game in the last round. So I decided to attack. I scarified a rook, which was the best move. Then I continuously attacked my opponent’s king. Because I need calculate more, I spent more time than my opponent. After 31 moves, I was not sure that I could win the game. So I decided to perpetual check him. After the game, I analyzed the game and found out that I was in a much better position. Even though I was down the exchange, but I could be up three pawns. In the end of the tournament, I only got 2.5 of 6 games. It was not the best result that I hoped for. But I am not disappointed either. I gained a lot of confidence from this tournament. I am also happy with the last game that I can attack with a sacrifice.