From: jrb@Ingres.COM (John Black)
Subject: Tournament Report from Berkeley Quads last Saturday, 11/14...
Organization: Ingres, an ASK Company, Alameda CA 94501
Distribution: usa
Date: 19 Nov 92 00:46:03 GMT


Last Saturday (11/14) I played in my first tournament since 1981 when I was 19
and playing a lot of chess.  What a different experience!  Below, I list my 
experience, impressions, and questions to others.  (I'm rated 1673 if anyone
wants to hit 'n' now.)

The tourney was the Berkeley Quads on the UCB campus; I got put in the second
quad of 4, where I was the lowest rated player at 1673, and the highest rated
guy was 1797.  This meant I would get 2 black's and a white (great).  The format
was RR in a four person section at 30/30 then SD/30.

I get nervous before a chess tournament; REAL nervous.  Is this common?  Does
anyone have any advice on how to handle this?  It really does affect my play,
I'm afraid; especially at these fast time controls.  And worse yet, sometimes
it causes me to avoid playing rated chess.

I didn't like the time control; way too fast.  I found myself in the middle of
a complex middlegame with 15 minutes for 20 moves and not near enough time to
look at all the moves I wanted to consider.  This has never happened to me in
40/2 or 40/90 games.  Except for the 2nd game (which was really boring) my games
were very sharp and full of blunders.  Yuck.

I won my first game in 16 moves after some very dubious moves on my part.  Time
pressure definitely played a part.

Next I drew an extremely boring game with a guy who refused to believe we had 
repeated a position three times (even though they were all in a row!).  In spite
of the fact I was a pawn up in a rook ending, he was trying to make do-nothing 
moves hoping my flag would fall.  I had offered a draw 20 moves and 45 minutes
earlier but he refused!  Then with only 1 minute remaining on my clock and 3
minutes on his, he accidentally repeated a position for the third time and I
claimed the draw; after 10 minutes of me and the TD arguing to convince him,
he finally conceded.

Here's my question: is SD really a fair way of playing chess?  In the final 
position I had a R+NP vs. R position, with my pawn on the 3rd rank.  This was
definitely drawn... my king was behind the pawn and his was in front; draw.
Heck, given the time, I would have liked trying to play out the ending to see
if this guy knew the drawing method!  But instead I was on the defensive since
this guy had 2 minutes more than I did on the clock... his strategy was to
*win* this ending by doing nothing; if he had succeeded, would it mean he was
a better chess player than I?  If not, then why does he get the full point?
Are there adjudications for completely drawn positions like this?  What if we
had traded off all the material and just started moving bare kings around the
board until my flag fell?  Would I still lose?  Help me out with the rules here.

I finally got white in the last game and promptly got into a bad opening; ugh.
This was against the 1797 player, and I fully expected to lose; I was exhausted
from the format and the fact that I had just played a very hard battle in the
last round which had ended 5 minutes before this game began.  Sheesh!  Suffice
to say, some complications helped me out and I ended up in an even endgame
(N+4P vs. N+4P).  After 50 moves of this game, I was ready for a nervous
breakdown; I offered a draw (it was a draw probably; if anything, I had the
advantage with an outside passer to my opponent's central passer).  So the
guy goes and looks at the tournament charts to see where he stands, and I say,
"a draw means we tie for first"--so he accepts.

But then it turned out it was wrong!  A draw meant I was the outright winner!
Of course, the gentlemanly thing to do was to let him out of his draw accept-
ance (which he wanted out of now).  I thought about the fact that I had to
meet someone in an hour and I thought about how tired I was; "I'd be happy
to split the prize money with you anyway," I offered.  How could the guy 
refuse?  The position was drawn and if he made me prove the draw then I
certainly wasn't going to give him any of the money!

So I won a tournament for the first time in my life (of course, winning a quad
is a lot easier than winning a large swiss).  I gained 22 rating points, got my
$12 entry back, and had a pretty good time.  Maybe I'll try it again sometime.

---------------
For those with strong stomach, here is the first game:

Thomas Randall (1685) vs. John Black (1673)
Berkeley Quads, Berkeley, 11/14/92

1.  e4   e5
2.  Nf3  Nc6
3.  d4   ed
4.  Nd4  Bc5

I was already out of my book knowledge here; it turns out Bc5 is a normal move
in this position, but I wasn't sure.  Steinitz used to like Qh4 here, but the
normal Black move is 4. ... Nf6; I played Bc5 just because it suits my taste.

5.  Nc6  

Trading off the knight is probably bad for white (although it's common after
4. ... Nf6); Soltis gives  5. Nb3 Bb6  6. a4 a6  7. Nc3 Qf6  8. Qe2 Nge7
9. Nd5 as slightly better for White.

5.  ...  bc
6.  Bc4  Qh4

This may be premature, but I liked it; White's kingside knight is gone and
I was trying to milk some initiative from this.  I was expecting 7. Qf3 or
Qe2.  Instead, White's next move was played instantly.

7.  o-o 

I thought for a long time here.  I was considering 7. ... d5 for a long
time; in fact, much too long considering how much time I had already used.
I was about to make this move when suddenly I saw 8. Bd5!! (8. ... dc
9. Qd5).  Oh no!!  I looked for a tactical counter-blow for Black, but 
couldn't find anything.  Now I had to find another move fast; I ended up
using about 10 minutes for my 7th move.  Much too long...

7.  ...  Nf6

My opponent had used about 10 minutes until now, but here he thought for a
long time.  The threat of 8. ... Ng4 undoubtedly had him worried since this
move is a crusher (White can't defend f2 and h2 in time!) and Ne4 is also
playable since Re1 isn't possible.

8.  Qe2  o-o
9.  Nc3  Re8?

I was low on time, but I didn't see that this allowed 10. Bf7+ picking up
a pawn.  It gets worse from here.

10. g3   Qh3
11. Qf3 

Forced, I think.  White wants to answer Ng4 with Qg2.  I now had around 5
minutes left for the next 19 moves and my opponent had about 10.  I was in
serious trouble... what should I do?  Move fast, I thought.  I figured I
was going to lose on time now, so I decided to complicate matters.

11. ...  d5??

This is a super-lemon.  I actually had a decent position, but this just loses.

12. ed   cd
13. Nd5 

Black's busted.

13. ...  Ne4
14. Nc7

With my limited powers of analysis, I haven't decided whether this was a
bad move or not.  It certainly looks awesome: forks the rooks, threatens
mate, etc.  When I made my 13th move, I had overlooked the mate threat and
now I was seriously worried.  Another option White had (which I did not see
during the game) is 14. Qf7+ followed by 15. Nf4+ trading queens, or even
14. Nf4 immediately.  3 minutes left on the clock.

14. ...  Re7
15. Na8?! 

This is what I was playing for with Ne4... does it work?  No time to 
calculate, just do it... it's the only try.

15. ...  Nf2!

Can you find a defense?  My opponent (with 7 minutes left) hastily touched
my Nf2 and then put it back down; I had to remind him that he would now
have to take my knight since he had touched it.  He sat there as if he
didn't hear me and thought over the position a little more.  Was he going
to deny touching the knight?  He whispered, "you're right; I have to take it."

16. Rf2  Re1+
resign

Of course, Rf2 loses; but what else?  If 16. Qg2 Bb7!  17. Qh3 Nh3#.  A
defensive try which I did *not* see during the game is 16. Be3.  Now after
16. ... Ng4 it's very complicated; the analysis is beyond me; it's certainly
White's best try, although I think Black still wins.

Any ideas?

john// (USCF 1695)
jrb@ingres.com
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess