Post by petejwatts on Aug 24, 2009 17:10:20 GMT -5
In poker circles folks often write match reports and I thought it woud be cool if we started doing it too. So here is mine from the last Golders Green Rapidplay. Blitz has ruined my game to the point that I was playing in the U100 section:
My first game was against a guy who I’d played and lost to a couple of times previously. I was convinced I was a better player and had hoped to prove the point during the tourney, but I didn’t expect to face him straight away. He usually plays an unorthodox opening , as many amateurs do to throw an opponent, and I was looking forward to it to prove I was equal to it. It was indeed unusual - c3 - but disappointing as it wasn’t threatening. It did make me think for a bit though as to how to reply to it. I decided not to be phased and played my usual d5. Eventually we got into an Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit with colors reversed, which as I usually play this with white suited me fine. He still went into the endgame with a slight advantage from the Bishop pair deep in my position but I was able to win a pawn which was sufficient for the game.
My second opponent was a young boy - the kind of player who ought to be a pushover but often turns out to be much stronger than his official grade would suggest. No real surprise here though, he tried a sacrificial attack which had me slightly nervous but I went a piece and a couple of pawns up and kept my head to keep making progress until his flag fell.
My third opponent I had played before and I think I had beaten . He too tried a sacrificial attack which had me more nervous but he allowed me to capture two pieces for it which was enough to allow me to repulse it fairly easily. I had a little shock when he looked like he had a mating threat but I was lucky to have a defence against it and he resigned as soon as it failed.
My fourth opponent tried a conventional attack which again made me nervous, but for some reason failed to press it early enough so that when it came it was harmless. As it was beaten back he let me capture his queen which he thought just a blunder but I think I might have been able to win it anyway. Certainly I thought I had a probable win anyway - he wasn’t unlucky.
My fifth opponent was my friend Faye, who we sometimes see in HP during the summer - which bothered me a bit as I didn’t want to have beat a friend in a tourney, although I knew her game and I knew I was stronger and hence was likely to win. Unfortunately it was a bit embarrassing as she too allowed her queen to be trapped early and although she gamely fought on it was all over.
So I went into the last round with 5/5 and looking for a clean sheet. I didn’t get it. I won a pawn but delayed pressing home my advantage too long and placed my king in danger in the centre of the board where it was vulnerable to attack by my opponents rooks and I was forced to give one of my own up and I resigned shortly after. He too finished on 5/6 and we shared second place to a guy on 5.5. I was happy to see Faye get the Grading Prize.
There’s a great deal more I could write about but this will do for the time being.
There's been a major shift in the official ratings and I recently woke up to find i'm apparently a much better player than I thought I was, so will be playing in a higher tourney from now on. No more juniors and rogue ungraded players, hopefully.
My first game was against a guy who I’d played and lost to a couple of times previously. I was convinced I was a better player and had hoped to prove the point during the tourney, but I didn’t expect to face him straight away. He usually plays an unorthodox opening , as many amateurs do to throw an opponent, and I was looking forward to it to prove I was equal to it. It was indeed unusual - c3 - but disappointing as it wasn’t threatening. It did make me think for a bit though as to how to reply to it. I decided not to be phased and played my usual d5. Eventually we got into an Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit with colors reversed, which as I usually play this with white suited me fine. He still went into the endgame with a slight advantage from the Bishop pair deep in my position but I was able to win a pawn which was sufficient for the game.
My second opponent was a young boy - the kind of player who ought to be a pushover but often turns out to be much stronger than his official grade would suggest. No real surprise here though, he tried a sacrificial attack which had me slightly nervous but I went a piece and a couple of pawns up and kept my head to keep making progress until his flag fell.
My third opponent I had played before and I think I had beaten . He too tried a sacrificial attack which had me more nervous but he allowed me to capture two pieces for it which was enough to allow me to repulse it fairly easily. I had a little shock when he looked like he had a mating threat but I was lucky to have a defence against it and he resigned as soon as it failed.
My fourth opponent tried a conventional attack which again made me nervous, but for some reason failed to press it early enough so that when it came it was harmless. As it was beaten back he let me capture his queen which he thought just a blunder but I think I might have been able to win it anyway. Certainly I thought I had a probable win anyway - he wasn’t unlucky.
My fifth opponent was my friend Faye, who we sometimes see in HP during the summer - which bothered me a bit as I didn’t want to have beat a friend in a tourney, although I knew her game and I knew I was stronger and hence was likely to win. Unfortunately it was a bit embarrassing as she too allowed her queen to be trapped early and although she gamely fought on it was all over.
So I went into the last round with 5/5 and looking for a clean sheet. I didn’t get it. I won a pawn but delayed pressing home my advantage too long and placed my king in danger in the centre of the board where it was vulnerable to attack by my opponents rooks and I was forced to give one of my own up and I resigned shortly after. He too finished on 5/6 and we shared second place to a guy on 5.5. I was happy to see Faye get the Grading Prize.
There’s a great deal more I could write about but this will do for the time being.
There's been a major shift in the official ratings and I recently woke up to find i'm apparently a much better player than I thought I was, so will be playing in a higher tourney from now on. No more juniors and rogue ungraded players, hopefully.
