I’ve been thinking about going back to the local chess club to play some rated OTB games. On Mondays they play 3 rounds of G25+10, which counts for USCF regular and quick. I usually find some excuse NOT to go, but this week I just thought I should stop putting it off and go.
There were 26 people, which is way more than the last time I went, which is great. They try to do “quads” of 4 people where everyone plays the other players in that group. They did that for the top 5 groups, and then put the last 6 of us in a swiss format. Someday I’ll work my way up into the quads! The top quad was rated between 1950 and 2150, which are some pretty fierce competitors.
I ended up winning 2 and losing 1, which I was happy about. Even the 1 loss in round 2 was a fairly decent game. I was happy that I didn’t make any glaring 1-move blunders, which I usually have done over the board. Maybe all the tactics (see How I Use Chessable to Sharpen My Chess Tactics ) are starting to pay off.
Round 1
I played against a girl who was playing her first OTB game. She was really nervous.
Round 2
Playing against one of the top players in my section, and the only other person who won the first round. I felt like I was doing pretty well, but the endgame got to me. I was also running low on time which stressed me out a bit as I tried to play for the win, then keep the draw, then not lose.
Round 3
Since the last game took so long I had to rush into this game with no break. I was luckily able to settle myself down and reset to focus on this game. I stuck to my plan of playing simple moves and was able to slowly pull ahead.