TikariChess

Rounds 4 and 5 recap: Two longer draws to end the tournament to close out 2/5 (1 free point from the bye, so really 1/4) . Pre-review with my coach, I think I generally played solidly this weekend. I’ll take it. #chesspunks

G3 recap: played way up. Had a solid position against the Maroczy. Had what should have been a drawn endgame but lost to a missed tactic in time trouble. 1/3 (full point bye for R2). #chesspunks

Weekend tournament G1 recap: Prep gave me a decent advantage out of the opening on the white side of a QGA. Should have been able to muster an attack but didn’t find a good continuation. Traded down to a position where he had the initiative and a passed pawn. Outplayed from there. 0/1 #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open Round 9 recap: Unrated opponent, who had some vicious attacking games. I played the Accelerated Dragon. Kept initiative long enough to disrupt her piece coordination, then traded down to a bit worse NvB endgame. She misplayed it, but found the only drawing line. 4/9 #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open Round 8 recap: Played an unrated; I was on the white side of another Stonewall. Position went back and forth a few times. It looked like he’d taken control, but I found nice counterplay that forced him to repeat moves or get run over. 3.5/8. Last round early tomorrow. #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open Round 7 recap: Bye for round 6. Short prep; didn’t know the line we went down and made stupid early choices giving my opponent control of the center. Got some counterattack after a pawn break, but lost too many pawns in the flurry. 3/7 with two rounds to go. #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open Round 5 recap: My opponent had typically only played KID with a rare Classical Dutch. So of course he comes out with a Stonewall. Fortunately, enough of my Classical prep carried over. I controlled the game, broke through on the queenside, and won in 25 moves. 2.5/5 #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open round 3 recap: Played a 2077 in a line of the Slav I’m familiar with, but got squeezed after he sacced a pawn. Found some good tactics to prolong the inevitable, but wasn’t able to find a clean way to give the pawn back to regain the positional edge. 1.5/4. #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open Round 3 recap (bye in rd 2): I was happy with some of my play, but not all of it. Ended up on the White side of a Maroczy, despite being a d4 player. Knew it enough to not be blind, so felt okay. Calculation was variable - at times strong; others not. Fumbled. 1.5/3 #chesspunks

Reykjavik Open Round 1 recap: Played horribly. Missed too much, and my lower-rated opponent by all rights should have won the game. He gave me just enough tempi to hold an imbalanced endgame, then fell for a trap, allowing me to steal a win. I’ll take it, but I need to play better. 1-0 #chesspunks

Newly diagnosed with t2 diabetes. Played two games of online chess (rapid) and the adrenaline spiked my blood sugar through the roof. Going to have to remember to stay relaxed next week at the Reykjavik Open.

My daughter was very disappointed to learn the Mighty Ducks isn’t actually about ducks.

Jeni’s ice cream is awesome. Their gooey butter cake is one of all time favorites.

Took a break from chess over the holidays like I typically do. Jumped back in this morning and set a new rapid rating record. I’ve been working with my coach for about a year and a half, and I’ve gone from 1616 to 1781 in that time. At my age, I’m pretty happy with those gains. #chesspunks

Better down 11 than up 11!

It’s horrible that many consider being thoughtful of others as a sign of weakness.

Does this coincide with the uptick in yogurt consumption?

Quality pickups!

3D Benchy printed in orange PLA filament

So it begins - my obligatory first print. #BambuLab #3DPrinting

I guessed that’s what you meant, but autocorrect did get creative there!

Would second the recs above. How was Ben Johnson’s “Identifying Critical Moments…”?

Final round: misplayed the opening a bit. Got the initiative back by giving up a B for a N w/ a juicy outpost and attack on an IQP. Opponent sacked the exchange and outplayed me. He gave me the opportunity to sack the exchange back to lead to a drawn(?) K+P endgame. 3W/3D/0L for 4.5/6 #chesspunks

Round 5: Tied with 4 others for the lead. Got tactically outplayed; traded a B+N for R+P. Was able to reconsolidate well in the early endgame, force a trade of queens, and grab the initiative in the endgame. I was probably better in the final position but took the draw down on time. 4/5 #chesspunks

Round 4: Played the bracket leader. Had a great position in the late middlegame but let him get back in it. Drawish position where we were both pressing. He was more creative with his ideas but I was able to out calculate him in a few key moments. 3.5/4 heading into the last two rounds. #chesspunks

Round 3: Continued my pattern of winning in the first game of the day. Hopefully I’ll break the flip side of the script tonight. Game was “unclear” - he was ahead at points, but I had just enough counter chances to fight back. Normally I would have played passively in those spots. #chesspunks

Round 2: I was White; a QGD with a fighting middlegame. Calculated one liquidation line not quite far enough, where a few tempi on my opponent’s end put me on my back foot. Could have defended better but defended well enough that my opponent offered a draw, which I accepted. 1.5/2 #chesspunks

Weekend tournament time! Had the black pieces. Won a pawn early on with a tactic. My opponent played a line where he got the pawn back but got his bishop trapped in return. Lots of calculation opportunities - navigated my way through to win the bishop while limiting his counterplay. 1-0