I scored 2/4 in the January 4, 2025 Columbus
Plus Score tournament. I lost 16 rating points to drop to 1997. This
is the eighth time I have played in a
Columbus Plus Score event, and the third time that I did not
achieve a plus score (but I also have never had a minus score). I squandered an easily winning endgame in the first round due to hasty, inaccurate play. In the diagram below, I am about to play my 42nd move, and Stockfish 17 says that I have a nearly +7 advantage.
There are many paths to victory, but perhaps the simplest is what I initially planned: pushing my e pawn, and if Black checks me then I can run my K up the board, using my R and P for shelter if necessary. However, I became concerned that Black's g pawn could become dangerous if Black uses his K and R to take my f pawn and g pawn while my e pawn runs. So, I decided to be "safe" and take the g pawn--but now my K has no shelter, so Black can either check me forever, or else be just in time to pick off all of my pawns. A couple moves later, my opponent blundered and gave me a second chance to push my e pawn under favorable circumstances, but after I missed that winning opportunity the game fizzled to a draw; turning a win into a draw represents a 12 point rating swing, and in order to regain those points at my current rating level I would have to win one game against a 2000 rated player or two games against an 1800 rated player. Chess can be brutal!
How can a strong and experienced player make such a mistake? Ignoring for a moment the reality that even world champions blunder because blunders are an inherent part of chess, this specific mistake reflects a larger weakness that I need to correct: I too often rely on a combination of my general chess knowledge and my intuitive feel for chess positions as opposed to doing move by move calculation. My general chess knowledge states that a player who is up two pawns wins trivially the vast majority of the time, and my intuitive feel for chess positions led me to believe that capturing the g pawn eliminated Black's last practical drawing chance--but move by move calculation would have enabled me to see that White is winning after 42. e4 Ra2+ 43. Ke3 Ra3+ 44. Kd4 Ra4+ 45. Ke5 g4 46. Rf4. Black's g pawn will fall, and my K and R will escort the e pawn down the board, as Black's K is cut off and I can evade R checks.
Although the tournament was not a success, I ended the event on a positive note; in the fourth round, I beat Mehmet Yilanli, the highest rated seven year old in the United States (1880), avenging my loss to Yilanli in the fourth round of the October 5, 2024 Columbus Plus Score tournament.
I scored 3/4 in the January 5, 2025 East Market Swiss, gaining nine rating points to bounce back over 2000 (2006), and tying for second-fourth. I won my first three games before losing to top seeded Broderick Bauml in a last round battle for first place.
As soon as I popped my head above 2000, I crashed below again by losing 19 rating points in the Columbus Winter Open to slip to 1987. I reached a winning position in the first round versus Maxwell Chung (1783) only to dissipate my advantage with inaccurate moves before doing an unsound piece sacrifice; instead of a quick win, I suffered my first loss of 2025 versus a player rated below 1800. I won my next two games but then lost to Aryan Balyan (2162) in a last round battle for second place.
I scored 2/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's January 18, 2025 G/45 Swiss, losing 10 rating points to drop to 1977. Although I did not perform as well as I expect to perform in this event, in the first round I delivered a pretty checkmate versus two-time Dayton Chess Club Champion David Guehl. I do not recall ever seeing this exact pattern before; it is interesting that my Q could be replaced by a B or even by a P and it would still be a checkmate because my opponent's K is hemmed in by his own Ps:
I scored 2/4 in the January 19, 2025 East Market Swiss, losing 19 rating points to fall to 1958. In the last round, with second place up for grabs, I lost to Keya Jha (1934), the second highest rated 10 year old girl in the country; she already ranks on the 95th percentile of all players nationwide! She finished clear second behind John Miller (2049), the top ranked player who beat me in the third round en route to a 4-0 performance.
In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 9, I described the history of the Cardinal Open, and I explained why it is one of my favorite tournaments. I tied for second-third among players rated under 2200 in the strong Open section of the 1999 Cardinal Open, highlighted by beating 13 year old National Master A.J. Steigman in the last round. Last year, I scored just 2.5/5 in the U2100 section. This year, I started with 2/3 on Saturday, putting myself in position to win a prize and gain rating points with two wins on Sunday. After the third round, I played in the Cardinal Open Saturday Night Blitz, scoring 5/8 to tie for first-second U2000 in the Open section. I scored 1.5/2 versus players who hold the NM title, including an exciting last round win versus Savio Bennihyn Joseph Benher, who has a 2231 regular rating. In the main event on Sunday, I beat my friend Robert Chenault (1906) in the fourth round, but I lost to Srihari Kandadai in a last round game on board two; as a result, Kandadai tied for first place with 4.5/5, but if I had won that game then I would have tied for second. Kandadai gained 139 rating points, vaulting from 1803 to 1942. I lost two rating points, dropping my rating to 1956.
I scored 3/4 in the February 1, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament, gaining 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1970. This is sixth time I achieved a plus score in nine appearances at this event. In the last round, I defeated Magnolia Zhu (1747), the fifth highest rated eight year old girl in the country. I was the eighth highest rated player in a strong field that included National Masters Will Sedlar (top scorer with 3.5/4), Jonathan Hilton, and Brett Passen, but I tied for second-fourth with Hilton and Expert Nicholas Bize. Sedlar defeated me in round two.
The February 15, 2025 Columbus G/60 tournament had an "Adults Only" (age 18 and up) format. Many adults prefer to not face young players, particularly young players who are not only strong but also underrated. I don't duck anybody at any time, but I wish that the U.S. Chess Federation would follow FIDE's example by adjusting the ratings of players rated under 2000 to reflect the obvious deflation that has happened in recent years. In the first round, I faced Pranav Jayaganesh, a young player who is still a "junior" according to the U.S. Chess Federation but who qualified for this "Adults Only" event because he is older than 18 and graduated from high school. I obtained an opening advantage plus a huge lead on the clock, but I did not cash in and my opponent offered me a draw twice in the endgame. Both times that he offered a draw the position was equal, but I convinced myself that I could induce him to make a time pressure error. Eventually, I sacrificed a pawn to create complications. With best play, he would have been forced to sacrifice back to maintain equality--but, instead, I blundered in his time pressure:
Here, 66.Kb5 maintains
a narrow path to equality: 66...Bxh4 67.c4 Bf2 68.Kxa5 h4 69.Kb5 Kg5 70.c5
Bxc5 71.Kxc5 Kf4 72.a5 Kf3 73.a6 h3 74.a7 h2 75.a8Q h1Q 76.Qa6 Kf4 77.Qxf6 Qxf1
78.Qh6+ Kxe4 79.f6 Qf2+ 80.Kd6 g3 81.Qh7+ Ke3 82.Qa7+ Kf3 83.Qxf2+ gxf2 84.f7
f1Q 85.f8Q+ Ke2 86.Qxf1+ Kxf1 87.Kxe5=. Unfortunately, I played 66.Kd5?? and lost after 66...Bxh4 67.c4 Bf2 68.c5 h4 69.c6 Bb6 70.Kd6
Kg5 71.c7 Bxc7+ 72.Kxc7 h3 73.Kd6 Kh4 74.Ke6 g3. I played the game continuation because I missed how fast Black's pawns are after 73...Kh4. I hastily assumed that if Black's K abandons f6 then my pawn would roll through. I remember NM Jim Jordan asserting "If you can count, you can become a Master." That still seems like an exaggeration to me, but this position is a great example of how important it is to count/calculate accurately. Jayaganesh finished with 2/3, gaining 32 rating points. I won my last two games to finish with 2/3, but I lost five rating points, dropping my rating to 1965.
I tied for first-third U2000 in the February 22, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado, scoring 3/4. I lost one rating point, dropping my rating to 1964. I was the fifth seed in the 29 player Open section, and I was the only player seeded in the top five to win a prize. The next day, I completed a full chess weekend by scoring 2.5/4 in the February 23, 2025 East Market Swiss. I lost 10 rating points, dropping my rating to 1954. I was the third seed out of 23 players. Only one of the top three seeded players won a prize. Shiv Srinivasan won the event with 3.5/4 after beating me and the second seeded player in rounds three and four respectively, and he gained 89 rating points to push his rating to 1865; this is the third time this year that I lost to a player rated below 1800 (and the second time that the sub-1800 player who beat me had a post-tournament rating above 1800). I missed several forced wins (and some forced draws) versus Srinivasan. Here is my last chance before I blundered and handed the win to him:
Srinivasan had just played 54.Kc4, getting out of check and renewing the mate threat on g7. I should have played 54...f6, which blocks my opponent's B while opening up f7 for my B and freeing my Q to swing over to d1. Stockfish 17 says that Black is nearly +5 here, meaning that my advantage is equivalent to being ahead by a R. Instead, I hallucinated that my opponent could get a perpetual check by sacrificing his R on f6 if I pushed the pawn, so I played 54...Qh6?? My opponent replied 55.g4, threatening both to deflect my Q with 56.g5 and to pin my Q with 56.Rh2. I can parry both threats by playing either 55...f6 or 55...Rd1--but because I did not notice the Rh2 threat I played 55...Be4?? and I thought that I had caught White's K in a mating net. I was deflated and discouraged when my opponent played 56.Rh2, a move which may look spectacular to a novice but is in fact a simple deflection tactic that I should have seen as soon as my opponent opened his second rank by pushing his g pawn. I had an advantage for a substantial portion of this game, but posterity will record the result as 1-0; there are no rating points or prizes awarded for "almost winning" or "winning for most of the game."
Over 20 years ago, I asked Grandmaster Edmar Mednis how to consistently convert winning positions/how to avoid blundering away winning positions, and he told me to think of a chess game as equivalent to taking a five hour car trip: if you drive safely for four and a half hours but then crash into a ditch that is not a successful car trip; similarly, if you dominate your opponent for most of the game but then blunder, that is not a successful chess game. The car trip/chess game is not over until you safely reach your desired destination. I remember Mednis' story but remembering it is not enough: I must apply this wisdom when the outcome of the game hangs in the balance. It is not enough to be a good storyteller. I asked Mednis the question not to have a pithy pearl of wisdom to share, but to obtain practical advice to use during my games.
I scored 3/4 in the March 1, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament. This is the seventh time I achieved a plus score in 10 appearances at this event. I gained seven rating points, lifting my rating to 1961. I was the seventh seeded player, but I tied for second-sixth behind rising young Expert Siddarth Kunapuli. In the last round, I defeated National Master Brett Passen, the top seeded player. Two of the top three seeded players did not finish with a plus score, which indicates how competitive this tournament was.
I followed up my solid Columbus Plus Score result by winning the March 8, 2025 Columbus tournament with 2.5/3. I gained 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1975. The combined ages of my three opponents was significantly less than my age, and I am proud that I am showing that "Generation X" players can still compete with talented "Generation Alpha" players. On March 9, 2025, I scored 3/4 in the East Market Swiss, tying for second-fourth but losing seven rating points to drop my rating to 1968. I played ...Nxh3 in two games--the first time, I sacrificed unsoundly and lost to Stanley Qiu (1790) in the second round, but the second time my attack versus veteran Columbus player Thomas Stafa (1859) crashed through successfully.
Here is the position prior to my 29th move versus Qiu:
I stand clearly worse here, so I went for it with ...Nxh3+. I captured
two pawns for my N, and I had ideas of lifting the Rf8 and swinging the
other R to the f file, but White's Q, B, and R are putting too much
pressure on my K. I lost after 30.gxh3 Qxh3 31.Qg2 Qxc3 32.Ne3 Rf4
33.Qg6 Rf6 34.Qxh5
Qd3 35.Rfd1 Rg6+ 36.Ng4 Qe4 37.Rb8+ Bf8 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Qh8+ Ke7
40.Qe8#.
Here is the position prior to my 30th move in my fourth round game versus Stafa. My pieces are swarming around Stafa's K, and after ...Nxh3 I won quickly: 31.Bxh3 Qxf2+ 32.Ng2 Nf4 33.Qf3 Rxh3+ 34.Rxh3 Qxf3.
I scored 3.5/4 in the March 16, 2025 East Market Swiss, claiming clear first while gaining 14 rating points to push my rating to 1982--but the highlight of the event was spending the day with my daughter Rachel, who drew her first round game despite not playing in any tournaments since the December 28, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado (where I also scored 3.5/4, finishing first-second). Rachel and I enjoyed Yellow Brick cheese pizza during the lunch break after the second round, and she also had a brownie batter sundae from NOLA Daq Shack.
Pre-tournament selfie with Rachel at March 16, 2025 East Market Swiss
The March 29, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado was my final tournament of the first quarter of the year. I scored 3/4 to finish clear second, gaining 13 rating points to increase my rating to 1995. In the third round, I drew Will Sedlar (2341), and thus I earned the "Master Bounty" prize paid out to a player who defeats or draws with the event's top seeded player.
I started the first quarter of 2025 horribly--losing 57 rating points in January--but I finished strongly, gaining 41 rating points in March. In five March tournaments I finished first twice and second three times while scoring 15/19 with just two losses--but both losses were to players rated below 1800, which means that a great month could have been even better. The blown winning positions described earlier in this article represent the difference between being rated over 2050 now versus being rated 1995; the rating points are there for the taking, but I have to take them by consistently converting winning positions.
In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 12, I listed four chess goals for 2025. Here are those goals, with notes about how I have performed so far this year:
1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter. I lost 18 rating points in the first quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 2013 to 1995.
2) Do not lose more than six games to players rated below 1800. I lost five games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2025.
3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had nine draws and 14 losses in the first quarter of 2025.
4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage in the first quarter of 2025 was .681.
In 2025, I have scored 35 wins, nine draws, and 14 losses in regular rated tournament games with two first place finishes in 15 events. I lost five games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2024 is -18, so I need to gain 205 points to reach my goal.
