My original goal was to get my USCF rating upto 2000, by the Feb 2007 rating supplement from a floored out 1800(June 2006). I didn't make it, although I did get my rating upto 1885 at one point. My new goals are: learn more about the game (tactics/end game), play 5-10 rated games a month and to eventually get to 2000.
An adult player's quest to get to 2000.
After starting the year on a high note (highest published rating), I am back on my floor after a dismal 0-7 performance in my last event. I took two weeks completely off of any chess acivity.
I will not be able to go to the Chicago Open this year.
On a personal note, my daughter was born on May 16th
I managed to lose seven games in a row. Lack of chess skill had a lot to do with it, but there was a big phsychological barrier that I was not able to navigate around once I lost a few early games.
In todays game I got a great game after my oponent misplayed the opening. I am Black in the following position. 
There is absolutely no reason not to play ...e5 here. In fact playing ...e5 was my plan all along, but for some reason I decided to delay it. Then lost to a simple tactic.
Starting tomorrow I am going to take a 2 week break completely away from chess. I am going to concentrate on physical fitness and practicing my violin.
There are a record 42 players in 5 sections.
Bill & Sasha are joint champions. Congratulations!
Section 1
2200 WILLIAMS, W
2100 HAYES, R
2027 VELIKANOV, A
1961 ROYCHOUDHURY, S
1882 VELIKANOV, P
1858 COONS, J
1839 WIJETUNGE, I
1784 GARVIN, S
6.0 WILLIAMS ,VELIKANOV,A
5.0 ROYCHOUDHURY
4.0 VELIKANOV,P
3.5 COONS
2.0 HAYES
1.5 GARVIN
0.0 WIJETUNGE
Week 1 (March 19)
1-0 ROYCHOUDHURY vs VELIKANOV,P
0-1 COONS vs VELIKANOV,A
1/2 GARVIN vs HAYES
0-1 WIJETUNGE vs WILLIAMS
Week 2 (March 26)
PPD VELIKANOV,P vs WIJETUNGE
1-0 WILLIAMS vs GARVIN
1/2 HAYES vs COONS
PPD VELIKANOV,A vs ROYCHOUDHURY
Week 3 (April 2)
1-0 VELIKANOV,A vs VELIKANOV,P
1-0 ROYCHOUDHURY vs HAYES
1-0 COONS vs WILLIAMS
1-0 GARVIN vs WIJETUNGE
Week 4 (April 9)
1-0 VELIKANOV,P vs GARVIN
0-1 WIJETUNGE vs COONS
1-0 WILLIAMS vs ROYCHOUDHURY
0-1 HAYES vs VELIKANOV,A
Week 5 (April 16)
0-1 HAYES vs VELIKANOV,P
0-1 VELIKANOV,A vs WILLIAMS
1-0 ROYCHOUDHURY vs WIJETUNGE
1-0 COONS vs GARVIN
Week 6 (April 23)
1-0 VELIKANOV,P vs COONS
0-1 GARVIN vs ROYCHOUDHURY
0-1 WIJETUNGE vs VELIKANOV,A
1-0 WILLIAMS vs HAYES
Week 7 (April 30)
1-0 WILLIAMS vs VELIKANOV,P
1-0 HAYES vs WIJETUNGE
1-0 VELIKANOV,A vs GARVIN
1-0 ROYCHOUDHURY,S s COONS
Make up games - May 7
1-0 VELIKANOV,P vs WIJETUNGE
1-0 VELIKANOV,A vs ROYCHOUDHURY
Here Black has a good game after ...d4, but I played Rc8
Clich here to replayI lost my 5th game in a row to 10 year old expert Alexander Velikanov, who should be the #1 rated 10 year old after this tournament is rated. It was an even opening and middle game, I then went astray and was worse, but later got the following chance to even things up. Here I should have played Bc4, but played Ke3 and was not able to hold.
Click here to replay
Several WI players are participating in the K-12 Nationals. Alexander Velikanov is the 44th seed out of 341.
Parings/Results
Monroi link
I am now 0-4. But as they say, "What does not kill you will make you stronger". I am also increasing my probability of winning in the future :)
The opening was good for me. Inaccurate play in the middle game cost me a pawn, but I was sure that I could hold the resulting Bishop endgame. My opponent then sacrificed a pawn, so the material was equal.
We reached the following position. My last move was Kd5-d6. This move is a blunder because it allows White to play Bf6! It is interesting to note that Bf6 only draws if I had played Kd5-c6!
I lost this game because I failed to look at winning plans for White, was too confident of my drawing chances in my opponents time trouble.
I have seen Bishop endings where the theme was to sacrifice a bishop to queen a pawn, but in this game I forgot all about it. There is so much to remember!
I spent a lot of time going over this game and learnt a lot about Bishops of same color endings.
Looks like there won't be a "Cedric Thompson Memorial Tournament" this year. (formally known as Milwaukee City Championship) . Thie event was scheduled for 5/3 - 5/4 and was a Wisconsin Tour Event.
Event History (Players / Winner)
2007 31 / BETANELI
2006 22 / VAJA
Burgess, Tennant and Parker tie for 1st.
USCF Results
Event History (players/winner(s))
HCC VII 52(22+30)/ BURGESS,TENNANT,PARKER
HCC -VI 62(30+32)/ TENNANT,BREIDER,SANTARIUS
HCC --V 62(40+22)/ TATE,STAMNOV
HCC -IV 47(23+24)/ STAMNOV
HCC III 45(28+17)/ TENNANT
HCC -II 38(20+18)/ BURGESS,BECKER
HCC --I 70(34+36)/ BETANELI
There are several ways to win here. I chose Ng6 (not the best if Black finds Qf6), but he played Qd6, I then played the obvious Bxf7+, Black replied Kh7, I should have just played BxB QxB, Rb1 and then picked up the rook on e8. I played dxe Qc5,Bxb4 Qxb4, Rb1 Qxe4, Bxe8 Bc4, Qb2 Bd5. 
Velikanov vs Nietman, Round 5 (The secret must be to drink lots of water!)
Event History (players/winner(s))
2008 59 (13+46) , ALEXANDER VELIKANOV
2007 56 (21+35) , ALEX BETANELI, JEREMY KANE
2006 47 (20+27) , DANE M MATTSON
2005 48 (20+28) , STANISLAU SMIATANKIN
I am Black, I have about 5 min. White has 1 min.(with 5 sec. delay). I spent too much evaluating the position after 1...Qh1+ 2. Ke2 Qxc1 3.Bxe6+ Kxe6 4. Qxg6+
Considering the time factor, I should have played ...Qg2+, now that my rook is protected I can move my king to e7.
During the game I didn't even look at ...Qg2+
In the actual game I ended up being up a Bishop, but lost too many pawns, and lost in a wild time scramble.
I have spent more time in the Dallas area than any other, about 17 years (1986-2003). While there I took part in numerous events at the Dallas Chess Club. The DCC is one of the most active clubs in the nation with over 2000 events hosted since 1991.
When I got a chance to play in a G/30 tournament this past Friday I took it. I finished 1-1=2 with a loss to a Master. I had draws against lower rated opponents, but considering the fact that I don't usually play G/30 and the that the players in question were up and coming juniors, it was not that bad.
The Friday, 4 round G/30 events usually attract around 80 players and has had over a 100.(when Hikaru Nakamura played). GMs and IMs from the UTD team frequent this event and this week was no exception.
The nation's top 11 year old Darwin Yang got past 2200 mark for the first time at this event by drawing GM ALEJANDRO RAMIREZ in round 2. Dawin had Q+2p vs Q, but could not find a way to get out of checks with not much time left on his clock
Top 11 year olds
1) Yang, Darwin TX 2202
2) Ostrovskiy, Aleksandr A NY 2020
3) Shetty, Atulya Arya MI 1943
TD and expert player Luis Salinas is the "main force" behind the DCC
IM Angelo Young won a 138 mover against Stamnov at the recent FIDE event in Milwaukee. This was a must win game for Angelo if he wanted to share first prize with IM Megen Amanov at 4.5/5.0
Angelo says "I don't know how many times me and FM Stamnov have played each other".
As of 3/14/2008 the answer is: 16 
Angelo's USCF record by total games agaist individuals (thanks to USCF -MSA Data program by W. Zimmerle)
Click here for ChessBase file
(10) IM Young,A - FM Stamnov,A [A11]MCA FIDE, 09.03.2008
I don't know how many times me and FM Stamnov play each other. 1.c4 c6 His favorite the Slav set-up. 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 Nc5 7.Qc2 Be7 8.d3 a5 9.Rb1! 0-0 10.Be2 Rb8? black must find a way to open the game in order not to get cramped. 11.0-0 Bd7 12.Na4 [ 12.e4 dxe4 13.dxe4 Qc7 14.e5 Ng4 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 f5 17.Qf4 Rbd8 18.h3 Nh6 19.Rbd1 favors white.] 12...Na6 [ 12...Nxa4 13.bxa4 b6 14.e4 Qe8 15.Ne5 dxe4 16.dxe4 c5 17.Nxd7 Nxd7 18.f4+/=] 13.Be5 Rc8 14.c5 Ra8 15.a3 Be8 16.Bxf6 Fritz like this move too! 16...Bxf6 17.d4 Nb8 18.Nb6 Ra7 19.Bd3 g6 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Nd7 22.Nxd7 Bxd7 23.Ra1 Qb8 24.Qc3 Re8 25.h3 [ 25.Rxa7 Qxa7 26.Ra1 Qb8 27.Ne5 Bxe5 28.dxe5 b6 29.cxb6 Qxb6 Is more prefeable than the text. 30.Ra6 ] 25...Rxa1 26.Rxa1 e5 27.dxe5 Rxe5 28.Nxe5 Bxe5 29.Qa3 Bxa1 30.Qxa1 b6 31.cxb6 Qxb6 32.Qd4 [ 32.Qa5 suggested by Fritz but my line is safer .] 32...Qxd4 33.exd4 g5 34.Kh2 h6 35.Kg3 Kg7 36.h4 f6 37.f4 gxh4+ 38.Kxh4 f5= Diagram equal but there is a lot of ways black could go wrong . weak pawns and white squares weaknesses. from move 38 thru move 112 was just mere of finding the right break for white. As i need more time too 16 mins to black and 15 mins for white. 39.Be2 Be8 40.Kg3 Kf6 41.Kf2 Ke6 42.Ke3 Kd6 43.Kd2 Kc7 44.Kc3 Bf7 45.Kb3 Kb6 46.Bd3 Be6 47.Kc3 Kc7 48.Kd2 Kd6 49.Ke3 Ke7 50.Be2 Bf7 51.Kf2 Kf6 52.Bd3 Be6 53.Ba6 Bd7 54.Kg3 Kg6 55.Kh4 Kg7 56.Bd3 Be6 57.Be2 Bf7 58.Bd1 Be8 59.Be2 Kf6 60.Bd3 Bd7 61.Kh5 Kg7 62.Kh4 Kg6 63.Kg3 Kf6 64.Be2 Be8 65.Kf2 Ke6 66.Ke3 Bd7 67.Bh5 Kf6 68.Kf3 Ke7 69.Kg3 Be8 70.Kh4 Bd7 71.Bf3 Kf6 72.Kg3 Be8 73.Be2 Ke6 74.Kf2 Bf7 75.Ke3 Kd6 76.Kd2 Kc7 77.Kc3 Be8 78.Bf3 Bf7 79.Kb3 Kb6 80.Ka3 Be8 81.Be2 Bf7 82.Bd3 Be6 83.Kb3 Bd7 84.Kc3 Kc7 85.Kc2 Kd6 86.Kc3 Kc7 87.Bc2 Kd6 88.Bb3 Be8 89.Bd1 Bf7 90.Kd2 Ke7 91.Ke1 Ke6 92.Kf1 Kf6 93.Be2 Be6 94.Bh5 Ke7 95.Kf2 Bd7 96.Kg3 Be8 97.Kh4 Bf7 98.Be2 Kf6 99.Kg3 Kg6 100.Ba6 Be6 101.Kf3 Bd7 102.Be2 Be8 103.Ke3 Kf6 104.Kd2 Ke6 105.Kc1 Kd6 106.Kc2 Kc7 107.Kb3 Kb6 108.Bd3 Bd7 109.Kc2 Kc7 110.Kd2 Be6 111.Kc2 Kd6 112.Kc3 Kc7 113.b5!! The winning move ! it will be hard for black to stop white king from marching inside . 113...cxb5 114.Bxb5 Kd6 115.Kb4 Bf7 116.Ka5 Kc7 117.Bd3 Be6 118.Kb5 Kd6 119.Kb6 Bc8 120.Bb5 Be6 121.Kb7 Bf7 122.Kc8 Bh5 123.Kd8 Bd1 124.Bd3 Ke6 125.Kc7 Bb3 126.Ba6 Bc2 127.Kd8 Be4 128.g3 Bf3 129.Bc8+ Kf6 130.Kd7 Kg6 131.Kd6 Be4 132.Ba6 Bf3 133.Ke5 Kh5 134.Kxf5 Be4+ 135.Ke5 Kg4 136.Be2+ Kxg3 137.f5 Kf2 138.Bh5 Black resigned thus winning the First MCA Fide .I think the right setup to stop the break would be Black Bd7,c6,d5,f5,h6,Kb6. and play Be8,Bf7,Be6 for tempos. 1-0
I was thinking the other day how I haven't made any gross blunders in a while. I didn't have long to wait. Yesterday I was playing Black in the Panov Botvinik variation of the Caro Kann against a a 1600 player, a line that I am very familiar with for at least 7 years.
In this position e6 is what I am supposed to play, then White plays Qxb7 and Black plays Nxd4. But I played Nxd4 first and lost a knight to Bb5+! A very frustrating way to lose 20 points.
Gopal is currently ranked #25 in the USCF age 16 list with a rating of 2035. For the last 4 years he has gone up one rating class every year. At this rate he should be a master by 2009. In one tournament in 2005 he went from 1594 to 1737!
What is the most number of problems you did in one sitting?
~500
On a scale of 1-10, How helpful is CTS in making one a better chess player?
7-8, but there is no substitute to playing stronger opponents.
When you see a problem, what percent of the time do you remember the answer, rather than calculate?
Diagram 1
Diagram 2
There were 48 players (7 FIDE) . Kudos to Chris for organizing. He is planning a round robin event in June that will guarantee a FIDE rating norm to unrated players. Free soft drinks and customized score sheets/pens were nice touches. Local Master, Ashish Vaja made a $100 donation to the first prize, to bring it to $400.
I finished 3-2=0. I lost to IM Angelo Young and expert Allen Becker. I didn't get blown away by the IM , I thought that I was hanging in there till the very end. A unexpected exchange sacrifice by Angelo sent me into a tail spin. Click here for pgn.
1st MCA/Southwest Chess Club FIDE Futurity
March 8-9
Confirmend FIDE titled participants
IM Angelo Young FIDE Country PHI
IM Mesgen Amanov FIDE Country TKM
FM Aleksander Stamnov FIDE Country MKD
5-SS Open Tournament G/90 + 30 Second increment.
Village Hall, 5635 S. New Berlin Rd., Hales Corners, WI. (Milwaukee Area).
FREE ENTRY TO GMs & IMs (Must commit in email or writing by 3/1/08)
EF: $45-Non-FIDE rated, $25-FIDE rated players.
$$1600 (b/40 full entries (Fide players count as half entries), if 60 non-Fide attend prize will be increased!)
1st $300.00(Guaranteed) 2nd $250.00 3rd $150.00,
U2000 1st $150.00 2nd $100.00,
U1800 1st $150.00 2nd $100.00,
U1600 1st $150.00 2nd $75.00,
U1400/Unrated 1st $75.00,
Special Prizes: Biggest Upset $50.00 & Best Game $50.00 Reg.: 9-9:30am
Rounds:
Sat: 10:00am, 3:00pm, 7:30pm,
Sun: 11:00, 3:30pm.
Ent/Info:
Christopher Baumgartner,
9985 Linda Ln., Des Plaines, IL 60016,
email: mcafide@yahoo.com or mcafidetournaments.blogspot.com,
phone (after 7pm ) 847-609-2987
38 players are competing in this 4 round swiss ( G/90 ). One game a week.
Place : Waukesha Chess Club
Day : Wednesdays
Time : 7pm
Cardenas wins click here for USCF results
4.0
1958 Cardenas, Davis R.
3.5
1559 Hartig, Hugo J.
Here Black has to play Nfd7, but blundered with Ne8??, after which I win the Queen for Rook with the sequence Rh3, g5 and Rf3I finished with 2-1=1
USCF Results here
I know how important it is to not to pay much attention to a player's rating, but when paired against a low rated adult player in round 2, I let my guard down. I have to make sure I don't do that again!
Lately I have been going over some games by Tal and felt like 1800 version of Tal (with none of the talent!) when I played my last move Nd4.
White didn't find the best move (Qb7) and a few moves later we arrived at the following position with White to play: 
I was too busy congratulating myself on my win of the exchange, that I didn't pay enough attention to the strong passer and paid for it! I dicided to blockade the pawn with the Queen, usually not a good idea. I should have played Rfd8 and attacked the White king.
This entry is dedicated to comments on Guy Hoffman's actions at the team tournament and the upcoming FIDE/USCF tournament in Milwaukee
Round 5
1) Romich 4.0 vs Parker 3.5 DRAW
2) Santarius 3.0 vs Yusim 3.5 1-0
3) Nietman 3.0 vs Smail B. 3.0 1-0
It looks like the following team will represent the East in the play-offs. The 3 grandmaster team will not be eligible.
I was very happy with my 3-0=1 performance. My favorite game was the last round win against Tony Dutiel(1834) from the Kansas City CC A-team. He was 4-0 going into this round. His team had 3.0 points to our 2.5, so it was a "must win" round for us.
I was playing board 3. We had an early win on Board 4. It looked to me like boards 1 and 2 should at least draw. Board 1 drew, but we lost on board 2. So I had to win my game. This game was one of the last three to finish, and was surrounded by other players whose fortunes depended on this game. The pressure was on!
I spent too much time early in the game deciding if I should go for the double minor piece exchanges which prevents White from castling. I got myself into terrible time preassure and had to make several quick moves before the time control at move 30.
I was especially happy with this position (Black to play) where I am down a pawn, but my pieces are extremely well placed, just look at those rooks! The Black rooks attack 15 squares, the White 6.
1) 2714 Izoria, Zviad
Trevor,Erik,Ashish & Alexander
Jonathan,Benjamin,Robby & Landon
1) 2386 Robby Adamson
2) 2246 Landon Brownell
3) 2115 Jonathan Cox
4) 2100 Benjamin Marmont
Right to left
1) 2282 Betaneli Alexander
2) 2239 Vaja Ashish
3) 2175 Santarius Erik
4) 2003 Magness Trevor 
IM Mesgen Amanov Checking out the last round action. (He did not play in the main event, but won the unrated blitz event) My team came in 3rd overall and won the U1900 prize. We also won the best team name with "Team Name Here"
1) 2000 WILLIAM M WENZ 1.5/4.0
2) 1905 STANLEY T GARVIN 0.5/4.0
3) 1851 Me 3.5/4.0
4) 1823 NEIL J GLEASON 2.0/3.0
5) 1643 NOLAN R HENDRICKSON 3.5/5.0
I drew a 1980 and beat 1601, 1709 & 1834
Rating change 1856->1886
