Journey to the National Master Title, Part 14

In five March 2025 tournaments, I finished first twice and second three times while scoring 15/19 with just two losses; in April I picked up where I left off by scoring 3/4 in the April 6, 2025 East Market Swiss, finishing second-sixth and gaining 18 rating points to push my rating to 2015. That is my highest rating since November 12, 2023, when my rating was 2032. In the third round, I defeated the top seeded player, National Master Deshawn Kelley, but then I lost in the fourth round to Siddarth Kunapuli; that defeat snapped a 13 game streak during which I had no losses, which is my longest such streak since I had a 13 game streak in February-March 2023. During my most recent streak, I had 10 wins and three draws, while during my 2023 streak I had nine wins and four draws. I believe that when I develop the necessary consistency to put together a streak of longer than 20 games without losses I will be well on my way to surpassing the 2200 rating barrier.

Last year, in Journey to the National Master Title, Part 10, I discussed my Cincinnati Open history: "I first played in the Cincinnati Open in 1994, and it has become one of my favorite (nearly) annual events. There have been a few years that it has not been held, and a few other years that I was not able to participate for various reasons, but this year marked my 14th appearance--and the sixth time that I won a prize (including a tie for first place in the U2100 section in 2013)." This year, I took a third round bye, which meant that I played two games on Saturday followed by two games on Sunday. I played kids in all four games, starting with a first round win and then alternating wins and losses the rest of the way to finish 2/4 (2.5/5 including the bye), losing 14 rating points to drop my rating to 2001. In the last round, I lost to Elizabeth Xia, the highest rated nine year old girl in the country; in this tournament, she gained 81 rating points to establish a new career-high rating of 1911. I would have tied for fourth if I had won my last round game, and that would have matched my final ranking in 2023 and 2024.

I started the April 19, 2025 Columbus G/60 tournament poorly, losing in the first round to Colin Park (1708 published rating, 1788 live rating, 1839 post-tournament rating), who then won his second round game as well before losing in the last round to top seeded Evan Fan (2047). I bounced back to win my next two games to tie for second-third, but I still lost nine rating points to drop my rating to 1992.

I scored 2.5/4 in the April 26, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado. I lost my last round game on board one to Alex Cretsos, who won the tournament with 4/4. Cretsos gained 50 rating points establish a new career-high rating (2020), and I lost seven rating points to drop my rating to 1985. The next day, I scored 3/4 in the April 27, 2025 East Market Swiss, tying for second-third. I started 3/3 before losing to top seeded Deshawn Kelley in the last round. I gained 14 rating points to lift my rating to 1999.

My performance in the May 3, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament was a very disappointing setback. I made an unsound sacrifice versus Peyton Legg (1765) and lost in the first round, bounced back to win two games, and then blundered in the last round versus Daniel Chancey (1903). I lost 26 rating points to drop my rating to 1973. My slump continued the next weekend when I scored 2/4 in the May 11, 2025 East Market Swiss, losing 15 rating points to drop my rating to 1958. I scored 3/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's May 17, 2025 G/45 "A" Quad, gaining 12 rating points to improve my rating to 1970.

Unfortunately, I lost all 12 rating points--and much more--when I scored 2.5/7 in the U2100 section of the Chicago Open during Memorial Day Weekend. In the U2100 section of the 2024 Chicago Open, I scored 4/7 and only lost once, but this year I lost four games, including two to players rated below 1800, and my rating plummeted 52 points to 1918--my lowest rating since I hit my rating floor (1900) on March 31, 2021. My last round opponent had a published rating of just 1524, but before he beat me he defeated two players rated over 1900; he gained 193 rating points in this tournament, and he is now rated 1717. My tournament consisted of a series of tragicomedies (to borrow Mark Dvoretsky's word to describe a game gone awry), but perhaps the most tragic and comic was my lone draw, my third round game during which I had a losing position before my opponent hung a piece. I seemed to be cruising to victory when he played ...Ne6, after which he slapped his forehead as if he just realized he had blundered another piece:

Any sensible move wins easily for me here--but I let my guard down, and did not ask myself the most important question about any chess position: "What does my opponent want?" Here, he wants me to create a potential stalemate if I take his N with my Q. A few seconds after I gave him what he wants by playing Qxe6, he played ...Rxg3+. I have to take the R to avoid a perpetual check, after which my opponent forces me to take his Q and thus stalemate his K. I delayed the inevitable by playing Kh2, after which my opponent played ...Rh3+ and offered a draw--twice. By this point, I felt embarrassed at my carelessness and frustrated with his theatrics--the head slap, followed by multiple draw offers when it is obvious that the draw is unavoidable. I don't blame my opponent for playing on in a completely lost position; there is no rule against playing on until checkmate--but the head slap and the multiple draw offers were a bit much for me to take. I played the game out until stalemate appeared on the board. Normally, after every game I wish my opponent good luck in his next game, but after this game I said, "You had a resignable game but you are resourceful. The head slap was a nice touch. Congratulations on the best game of your career." I am not proud of making that semi-sarcastic dig, but I am not ashamed either; drawing me with Black probably is the best result he has had in his chess career. I am still not sure who is the bigger clown: my opponent for his "Three Stooges" theatrics after he played ...Ne6, or me for being foolish enough to let my guard down at any time, let alone in a game in the biggest tournament that I play in each year.

After the Chicago Open's fifth round, I scored 3.5/10 in the Chicago Open Blitz, including 1/6 versus players rated above 2100 and 2.5/4 versus players rated below 2100. There were 55 players in the Open section and 66 players in the U1900 section. 

I enjoy the "big time" environment of the Chicago Open, and I feel blessed to have played in the event 15 times, even though this one did not turn out the way that I had hoped or planned. I remain undaunted; after I hit my rating floor on March 31, 2021, I pushed my rating back over 2000 four tournaments later, on April 17, 2021. As I have always done, I lick my wounds, study my games, and prepare for the next tournament. Bill Belichick once very famously said, "We're on to Cincinnati," and that was literally the case for me--my next tournament was the May 31, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado. I started out with 2.5/3 and could have tied for first place with a last round win, but I lost to Evan Fan (2063) to finish out of the money and lose two rating points to drop to 1916.

I scored 3/5 in the U2100 section of the Cleveland Open to gain five rating points to improve to 1921. The good news about that result is that I did not lose a game, scoring one win and four draws; the bad news about that result is that I stood better in three of the four games that I drew, so if I had played more precisely I would have won more games and gained more rating points. The highlight of this tournament is that my daughter Rachel played in the Cleveland Open for the first time and she played in a two day weekend Swiss event for the second time. Rachel received a first round bye and then lost an "extra" rated game played during the first round. She fought hard throughout the tournament, facing higher rated players each round, and even though she lost all of her games she enjoyed the experience. It was a great Father's Day weekend for us!

Rachel and me before the first round of the 2025 Cleveland Open

Rachel and I played in the June 28, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado, the fifth time that we have played in this monthly event run by Robert Chenault. I scored 3/4 to finish third-fifth in the Open section, gaining 15 points to push my rating to 1936, and splitting the U2001 prize with one other player. Top seeded Aryan Balyan (2258 post-tournament rating) claimed clear first with 4/4, beating me in round three before defeating FM Hans Multhopp in the fourth round. Rachel scored 0/3 with a one point bye in the fourth round, but she had a great time, and she played an extra unrated game for fun during the fourth round.

Rachel and me prior to arriving at the June 28, 2025 Cincinnati Tornado

I started the second quarter of 2025 well, pushing my rating to 2015 after the April 6, 2025 East Market Swiss, but I lost 83 rating points in May before bouncing back to regain 20 rating points in June. 

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 in the first two quarters of 2025:

1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter. I lost 16 rating points in the first quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 2013 to 1997; I lost 61 rating points in the second quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 1997 to 1936. 

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; I lost four games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2025.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had nine draws and 14 losses in the first quarter of 2025; I had nine draws and 15 losses in the second 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 through the first two quarters of 2025 is .648. 

In 2025, I have scored 61 wins, 18 draws, and 29 losses in regular rated tournament games with three first place finishes in 27 events. I lost nine games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2025 is -77, so I need to gain 264 points to reach my goal. 

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 13

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 one rating point, dropping my rating to 1957.

I scored 3/4 in the February 1, 2025 Columbus Plus Score tournament, gaining 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1971. 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 1966.

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 1965. 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 nine rating points, dropping my rating to 1956. 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 1963. 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 G/60 tournament with 2.5/3. I gained 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1977. 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 1970. 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 15 rating points to push my rating to 1985--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 12 rating points to increase my rating to 1997. 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 1997; 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 16 rating points in the first quarter of 2025, decreasing my rating from 2013 to 1997. 

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 2025 is -18, so I need to gain 205 points to reach my goal.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 12

I started the fourth quarter of 2024 with a packed chess weekend. Unfortunately, it was packed with painful losses! I scored 2/4 in the October 5, 2024 Columbus Plus Score tournament. I lost 34 rating points to plummet to 1944. This is the seventh time I have played in a Columbus Plus Score event, and just the second time that I did not achieve a plus score. In the fourth round, I lost to Mehmet Yilanli, the third highest rated seven year old in the United States. Yilanli's published rating for October 2024 was 1696, but his live rating was already 1784 and his post-tournament rating was 1795. 

Things only got worse for me in the October 6, 2024 East Market Round Robin. Originally scheduled as a four round G/45 Swiss, the format was switched to a six round G/25 (with five second increment) round robin because only seven players participated. I lost my first three games before recovering to win my last three games to tie for third-fifth with 3/6. I lost 14 rating points, and my rating slid to 1930. 

In the midst of this disastrous chess weekend, I lost five straight rated games. I cannot remember the last time that I lost five straight rated games. Looking through the past 10 years of my chess performance records, the worst losing streaks that I found were four four-game losing streaks; the most recent one took place in the U2100 section of the 2022 Chicago Open, and the previous one happened in the March 6, 2021 Upper Valley G/45, when I went 0-4 against four players who had each earned or would soon earn the National Master title--a marked contrast to this five game losing streak that included defeats to three players rated below 1800, albeit three players who are underrated kids (one of whom entered the tournament rated 1799 and exited the tournament rated 1857).

I recovered from my "lost chess weekend" to score 3.5/4 in the Columbus G/45 on October 19, 2024, gaining 51 rating points to lift my rating back up to 1981, and tying for first-second with Louis Zhang (who drew with me in the third round).

Louis Zhang (white) versus David Friedman (black), October 19, 2024 Columbus G/45

Then, I scored 3/4 in the October 20, 2024 East Market Swiss, tying for first-third but losing eight rating points to drop to 1973. That marked my 12th first place finish in 2024, tying a personal mark set in 2019. Overall, I scored five wins and three draws during the October 19-20, 2024 weekend, gaining 43 rating points and finishing first twice in one weekend for the first time since April 6-7, 2024.

I entered the October 26, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado with a streak of 11 straight regular rated games without a loss. I won my first round game to extend that streak to 12, but then squandered a winning position in round two and lost to end my streak. I won my last two games to finish with 3/4, earning a tie for second-fourth and gaining three rating points to climb back to 1976.

I won my first two games in the November 10, 2024 East Market Swiss, but then I blundered in my third round game to turn an equal position into a lost position. In the fourth round, I lost for the first time to Keya Jha, the number one rated nine year old girl in the country. I had scored four wins and three draws in our previous games. I lost 19 rating points to drop to 1957.

The Kings Island Open has been one of my favorite tournaments since I first played in the event in 1994. This year, I scored 3/5 in the U2100 section, finishing out of the money and losing 13 rating points to fall to 1944. I won my first two games before facing Gabriel Heyer (1863) in the third round. I had scored 3.5/4 in my previous games versus Heyer, but I had White in each of those games and I had Black this time versus Heyer. He played 1. e3, and I overextended my position trying to "punish" his slightly unorthodox (but sound) opening. 

After round three, I played in the Kings Island Open Saturday Night Blitz, tying for third-eighth out of 35 players with a score of 6/8. There was not a third place prize, but I tied with four other players for the combined U2300/U2100 prize. My USCF blitz rating remained unchanged at 1800, which is my USCF blitz floor; many kids are strong players but have not played many USCF blitz games, so their blitz ratings are hundreds of points lower than their regular ratings: my only two losses were to Sharath Radhakrishnan, whose regular rating is 2248, but whose USCF blitz rating prior to this event was just 1971. He scored 6.5/8 to take clear second behind GM Jianchao Zhou, who finished first with 7.5/8.

In the fourth round versus Carter Evard (1790 after 19 games; 1862 after Kings Island), after mutual mistakes in the opening I "tilted" in this position:

Any normal move--such as 17. Rcd1--keeps the balance. Instead, I played 17. Bxh6??, foolishly and recklessly going all-in for an attack that I should have realized is unsound. My opponent took my B and then pocketed my d pawn after I played 18. Qxh6. Instead of patiently maneuvering to try to obtain an advantage from an equal position, I went for broke on move 17--and got broken! This is the kind of impulsive, unsound chess that I have to eliminate: there is no reason to give up my B for two pawns both in this specific position, and in general versus a player who I should reasonably expect to outplay without taking risks in a patient, positional game.

I scored 3/4 in the November 24, 2024 East Market Swiss, tying for second-fourth and gaining 19 rating points to climb back to 1963. This was a special tournament because my daughter Rachel played. Although she scored 0/4, she had a great time--and when she has a great time, I have a great time as well. This was Rachel's 10th regular rated tournament, and her second appearance at East Market, the site of her first regular rated tournament (March 12, 2023).

Pre-tournament selfie with Rachel at November 24, 2024 East Market Swiss

I started the December 8, 2024 East Market Swiss with 2.5/3, setting up a last round encounter for first place versus top seeded Deshawn Kelley. Kelley won, dropping me into a tie for fourth-sixth. I gained five rating points to lift my rating to 1968, exactly my rating at the start of 2024.

I scored 2/3 in the Dayton Chess Club's December 14, 2024 G/45 Swiss, tying for second-third and gaining three rating points to improve my rating to 1971. In the first round, Kiran Boyineppally (1750) held me to a draw in a wild time scramble, and then he won his next two games to take clear first.

My 2024 chess year concluded on December 28, 2024 at the Cincinnati Tornado. My daughter Rachel played, and this turned out to be one of my favorite events of the year both because we participated together and because I performed very well, scoring 3.5/4 to tie for first-second with the top seeded player (Will Sedlar, 2315) while gaining 42 rating points to lift my rating above 2000 (2013) for the first time since September 2024. This was my second largest single tournament rating gain in 2024, surpassed only by the 51 rating points that I gained in the October 19, 2024 Columbus G/45 tournament. After winning my first two games versus lower rated opponents, I drew with Gajanan Jayade (2128) in the third round and then I defeated FM Hans Multhopp in the fourth round. Sedlar knocked off the only player with a 3-0 score to join me in the winner's circle. Rachel scored 0/3 with a one point bye in round three, but she loves chess so much that she played several casual games during the third round.

Pre-tournament selfie with Rachel at December 28, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado

I entered October 2023 rated 2038 and dropped all the way to 1940 before bouncing back to 1968 by the end of December 2023. This year, I had a 2004 rating in August, and dropped all the way to 1930 before finishing December with a rating of 2013. I am not sure why I have had such dramatic rating fluctuations in the fall months of the past two years, but without those slumps I would be much closer to reaching my goal.

Regarding the challenge of trying to advance from the 1900-2000 range to 2200 in the current era, I found some interesting data confirming my impression that my current level of play is not substantially lower than my level of play during my peak rating years but rather that the rating distribution has shifted unfavorably for players in my rating range. USCF ratings distribution data from 2004 shows that the 2000 rating level was at the 96.9 percentile, the 2100 rating level was at the 98.1 percentile, and the 2200 rating level was at the 99.2 percentile; the USCF ratings distribution data from 2014 shows that the 2000 rating level was at the 97.8 percentile, the 2100 rating level was at the 98.7 percentile, and the 2200 rating level was at the 99.4 percentile. That data demonstrates that the percentage of players who are National Masters (2200 rating level) has stayed about the same (less than 1 percent) but the percentage of players who are Experts (2000 rating level) has decreased. One factor to keep in mind is that the rating pool of National Masters is artificially inflated by older players who have earned a 2200 rating floor but are likely no longer 2200 strength players. In other words, if one excludes the "floored" National Masters then it is possible that the percentage of players who are maintaining a 2200 performance level has decreased just like the percentage of players who are maintaining a 2000 performance level has decreased.

My interpretation of that data is that the small cohort of players who are talented enough and work hard enough to earn the NM title has remained roughly the same size, but overall it is more difficult to maintain an Expert level rating than it used to be. I have not found USCF ratings distribution data more recent than 2014, but based on my personal experience I suspect that the trends noted above have continued or even accelerated: objectively, I would say that my level of play now is not much worse than it was in 2014, but in 2014 I was rated over 2100 while now my rating fluctuates in the high 1900s/low 2000s.

Overall, I performed well in 2024, and I set several personal records for regular rated events, including most first place finishes (13, surpassing the 12 that I had in 2019), most events played (41, surpassing the 39 that I played in 2023), most prizes won (29, surpassing the 24 prizes I won in 2023), highest percentage of events in which I won a prize (70.7%, surpassing the 68.8% prize winning percentage that I had in 2020), most combined first/second place finishes (19, surpassing the 18 combined first/second place finishes that I had in 2023), most games played (167, surpassing the 155 games that I played in 2023), most games won (98, surpassing the 93 wins that I had in 2023), and most draws (33, surpassing the 27 draws that I had in 2012). Also, I won one game versus a National Master, pushing my career total to 81.

I had a good year, but not good enough to earn the National Master title. The biggest challenge is to cut down my losses to players rated below 1800. In the first half of the year I had four such losses, but that number ballooned to seven in the second half of the year, which prevented me from surpassing 2100. Similarly, my draw/loss ratio during the first half of the year was good, but I slipped in that regard in the second half of the year. Overall, though, I made progress, and had my best draw/loss ratio ever, which is a step in the right direction.

My five game losing streak over a two tournament span in October made the difference between a good year and an excellent year. I had winning positions in three of those games, and legitimate opportunities to do no worse than draw all five of them; if I had scored 4/5 in those games then my rating would be close to 2100 now instead of languishing in the low 2000s. The losing streak seems like an anomaly, because I won my next three games, and then the next weekend I finished first in two tournaments, gaining a combined 43 rating points.

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8, I listed four chess goals for 2024. Here are those goals, with notes about how I performed:

1) Gain 60 rating points per quarter. I gained three rating points in the first quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1968 to 1971; I gained 10 rating points in the second quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1971 to 1981; I lost three rating points in the third quarter of 2024, dropping my rating from 1981 to 1978; I gained 35 rating points in the fourth quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1978 to 2013. Overall, I gained 45 rating points in 2024, which averages out to 11.25 rating points per quarter.

2) Do not lose any games to players rated below 1800. I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2024; I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2024; I lost three games to players rated below 1800 in the third quarter of 2024; I lost four games to players rated below 1800 in the fourth quarter of 2024. Overall, I lost 11 games to players rated below 1800.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had 15 draws and eight losses in the first quarter of 2024; I had seven draws and nine losses in the second quarter of 2024; I had four draws and seven losses in the third quarter of 2024; I had seven draws and 12 losses in the fourth quarter of 2024. Overall, I had 33 draws and 36 losses.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage was .686, the fifth best of my career.

Here are my chess goals for 2025:

1) Gain 50 rating points per quarter.

2) Do not lose more than six games to players rated below 1800.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014.

In 2024, I scored 98 wins, 33 draws, and 36 losses in regular rated tournament games with 13 first place finishes in 41 events. I lost 11 games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2024 is 45, so I need to gain 187 points to reach my goal.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 11

On July 18, 2024, my daughter Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Chess Club's G/24 Swiss. This event only affected our USCF Quick ratings, and was a good warm up for the 4th Annual Joe Yun Memorial Tournament. I scored 2/4 and finished out of the money. Rachel lost all four of her games, but she enjoys playing chess regardless of the result, and she played casual games between rounds (in addition to checking on me and providing moral support during my games).

Rachel and I played in the 4th Annual Joe Yun Memorial Tournament, held from July 19-21, 2024. One of the weekend's highlights was introducing Rachel to International Master Calvin Blocker, who has won a record 15 Ohio Chess Championships. I first met Blocker at the 1989 Ohio Chess Congress. Blocker won the Ohio Chess Championship that year, and he was featured on the cover of the November-December 1989 Ohio Chess Bulletin:

 Cover photo of November-December 1989 Ohio Chess Bulletin

The magazine's photo caption is not hyperbole. I and the other spectators were in awe of Blocker's chess prowess. Rachel and I spoke to Blocker briefly right after we arrived at the tournament site, and we spent some quality time together prior to the second round:

Calvin Blocker and Rachel after the second round of the 2024 Joe Yun Memorial

Rachel and I played the two day schedule with a first round bye, so we each played two games on July 20, which was International Chess Day. My first game (second round) was a back and forth struggle versus Aaryn Rudrapati, the talented young player who beat me in the first round of the May 4, 2024 Columbus Plus Score tournament. After he blundered with 47...Kh7, I played 48.Re8:

Most tournament chess players know the value of placing a Rook on the seventh rank, but it should be noted that placing a Rook on the eighth rank can be powerful as well. Here, my opponent could have played 47...Kf8 to keep my Rook out, but once my Rook entered I had a winning attack. 

I won both of my International Chess Day games, while Rachel lost both of her games. I drew my third game (fourth round), and Rachel lost her third game. Rachel received a final round bye, while I needed a win in the final round to clinch a prize. Rachel enjoyed playing chess in the skittles room while I contested one of the last games to finish. When the dust cleared, I won, and I tied for first-third in the U2000 section. I gained 23 rating points to push my rating back up to 2004.

Unfortunately, I squandered the hard-earned gains from the Joe Yun Memorial Tournament by scoring just 2.5/4 in the August 3, 2024 Columbus Plus Score tournament. I lost 29 rating points to plummet to 1975; that is the most points I lost in one tournament since I lost 32 points in the January 2024 Cardinal Open. This is the sixth time I have played in a Columbus Plus Score event, and the third time that I have finished with 2.5 (I had 3 twice, and 2 once, which was the only time that I did not achieve a plus score). In round one, I lost to a player rated 1521, and in round three I drew with a different player rated 1521.

My rating slid down another 17 points to 1958 after I scored 3/5 in the U2100 section of the August 24-25, 2024 Indianapolis Open. This was a very frustrating tournament, because after winning my first game I obtained an equal position with Black on move four in the second round before playing sloppily and succumbing to a strong attack; then, in round three I obtained a decisive advantage by move eight only to let my opponent back in the game and then overlook a game-changing tactic. I recovered from those self-inflicted setbacks to win the last two games, but that only partially mitigated the damage to my rating. One bright spot is that after round three on Saturday August 24, I scored 6/8 in the Indianapolis Open Blitz to finish tied for first-seventh.

I scored 2.5/5 in the Open Section of the August 31-September 1, 2024 Ohio Chess Congress, losing five rating points to slip to 1953. I scored a draw and two losses versus higher rated players, and I won both games versus lower rated players. After round three on Saturday August 31, I scored 4/7 in the Ohio Chess Congress Blitz to finish tied for third-sixth.

On September 7, 2024, I scored 2.5/3 in the top section of the Columbus G/60 Swiss, tying for first-second, and gaining 25 rating points to lift my rating back to 1978. I scored 3/3 in the September 14, 2024 Columbus G/75 Swiss, earning clear first place, and gaining 23 rating points to push my to 2001, the third time this year that I broke the 2000 barrier after falling below that level. The next task is to not only maintain a 2000-plus rating--which I did in each USCF rating supplement issued from December 2009-May 2017--but to advance past the 2100 level and then eclipse 2200 for the first time. I am proud that I have had a 2000 rating at some point in every calendar year from 1995-2024, an accomplishment that I suspect is uncommon for a player who does not have a 2000 rating floor and has never been rated over 2200. While I tend to be very goal-oriented and forward-thinking, it is important to also acknowledge what I have already achieved in chess.

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 7, I recapped the 2023 Ohio Senior Open and described why this is such a special event for me. The 2024 Ohio Senior Open again featured a contest for the most interesting or unusual chess set, with the winners determined by anonymous polling of the tournament's participants.

  

Joe Bello's 1923 Margate replica set won in the Staunton set category

 Joe Bello's Sherlock Holmes set won in the Figurine set category

Richard Hayes' Chaturanga set won in the Other set category

After gaining 48 points with two first place finishes in my two previous tournaments to increase my rating to 2001, I looked forward to posting a strong Ohio Senior Open performance--but I lost in the first round to 1700 rated Dave Rutherford, the same kind of setback that I suffered in my very first game after my excellent result in the Joe Yun Memorial Tournament lifted my rating above 2000. In my previous five rated games versus Rutherford I scored four wins and one draw; this loss is also the first time this year that I lost to a player rated below 1800 who is not a kid. During most of this game the position was equal, but I could play for practical winning chances without risk. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to find a win that was not there, and by the critical point in the game I barely had two minutes remaining while my opponent had nearly 20 minutes remaining (G/75 time control with 10 second delay). My winning attempt failed, and I ended up with a pawn down position that is drawn with best play:

Unfortunately, I erred by playing 69. Kxa4?? instead of 69. Bc2, which holds the balance. Here is one possible line: Bxg6 70. Bxa4 Ke5 71. Kb4 Kd4 72. Bd1 Be4 73. Bg4 g5 74. Bh3 Kd3 75. Bg4 Bd5 76. Bf5+ Ke3 77. Kc3 Be4 78. Be6 Kf4 79. Kd2 Bf5 80. Bc4 g4 81.Ke1 Kg3 82. Be2=

However, my opponent gave me one more opportunity to hold the draw by not pushing his pawn quickly enough, and a few moves later we reached this position when I barely had one minute remaining:

Trading Bs obviously leads to a lost K+P ending, but I had to decide quickly where to put my B. I played Bf1?? to cover one of the squares in the P's path, but the correct method is to place my B behind the P on a longer diagonal: 76. Bb5 Ke3 77. Be8 Be6 78. Bh5 Kf4 79. Kd2 Bg4 80. Bf7 Kf3 81. Ke1 Bh3 82. Be8. The P cannot advance without giving me an opportunity to seize the long diagonal and sacrifice my B. Instead, after the game continuation my opponent played 76...Ke3. With my K shut out, it only took him a few more moves to use his K and B to force me to give up control of the key diagonal. I have thought a lot about this loss, and I believe that two factors proved to be critical. The first factor is that I did not know the two diagram positions "by hand." I had studied similar positions and I know enough to figure them out step by step given sufficient time, but I am not familiar enough with them to play them fluidly in contrast to, for example, a position of K+Q versus K, from which I could produce a checkmate very quickly. The second factor is that by getting into such severe time pressure I left myself vulnerable to not having enough time left to accurately calculate variations in positions that I don't know "by hand." More practice could increase the number of positions that I know "by hand," but it is also important to give myself a sufficient margin for error by not getting so low on time, particularly in a game that did not feature many critical decisions (until the end, of course!).

I bounced back to win my next three games, and then I obtained a winning position by move 14 in the fifth round versus 2029 rated Mike Sheaf before squandering my advantage and then blundering into a loss. Jordan Henderson secured first place with 4.5/5 after Mike Joelson--who started out 4/4--walked into a helpmate in their last round game. I was the fifth seeded player out of 20 participants, and I finished tied for fifth-seventh place (fifth on tiebreaks). Sheaf, a co-champion last year, finished tied with Joelson for second-third, with Joelson receiving second place honors on tiebreaks. This is the first time that I lost two games in one Ohio Senior Open, and the first time in three appearances that I did not win a trophy (I tied for the best score in the age 50-59 category, but this year the tiebreak procedure resulted in that trophy going to the oldest of the tied players--even though the player who received the trophy played in a separate U1800 side event against lower rated opposition than I faced in the Open section). My 3/5 score added up to 23 lost rating points, pushing my rating back down to 1978.

This result is very disappointing for me, but while ruminating about that disappointment I recalled an article that I wrote 11 years ago. In Only Thoughts and Actions Can be Controlled, Not Outcomes, I discussed how I processed the aftermath of a chess game during which I blundered but still won because my opponent blundered:

In a recent chess tournament, I won a game because my opponent responded to my blunder ...Nxe5 with the blunder Nxf7 instead of playing Nb5, which would have given him a winning position. Winning chess games used to make me feel very happy, while losing chess games used to make me feel very upset but those reactions are too extreme. A better, more balanced path is to prepare properly before the event, concentrate fully during the event, enjoy the entire process and not overreact to the result. All that a person can control is his own actions; outcomes and results are influenced by factors that a person cannot control: the results of other games affect who I get paired against--which means that I could face someone whose style is a good matchup or someone whose style is a difficult matchup--and my opponent's training, discipline and outlook affect the quality of his moves, so unless I play perfect moves 100% of the time I cannot control the outcome of the game. Of course, the better that I play the more influence I can exert over that outcome and that is one of the most seductive qualities of chess: the illusion that with only a little more knowledge and discipline a person can completely control his destiny (echoes of that illusion can be heard in the famous concluding words of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby). The difference between winning a game and losing a game and the difference between winning a tournament and finishing in the middle of the pack is sometimes just one move, one flickering of a neuron in someone's mind.

If I had been more well-rested and/or if I had studied more before the tournament then perhaps I would have played a different move but I have many interests and I enjoy the time/energy that I devote to those interests; I am not making excuses about that blunder or any other chess blunder, just stating the truth. At that moment under those conditions, ...Nxe5 was the best move I could find; I did not play impatiently and I thought that I had considered all of the relevant tactics. A minute or two after I played ...Nxe5, I saw the Nb5 idea; while I waited to see which move my opponent would play, I pondered the folly of basing one's emotional state on what happened next: I knew that the outcome of the game would likely be determined by his move and that if I was not careful then I could permit that outcome to affect my mood for the next several days. I vowed that, whatever happened, I would not overreact. I tried my best and ...Nxe5 is the move that I played, so there is nothing to be elated about and nothing to be upset about; winning the game after my opponent blundered did not "prove" anything about me (or about my opponent).

My opponent also did not rush and I assume that he did the best that he could under his individual circumstances. I have deliberately not given the complete move list or provided a diagram of the game position, because this particular game and these particular moves are just vibrations of a much larger cosmic string. If my opponent or I had vibrated the string a bit differently then we would have played a different melody but--regardless of the melody we created--there is nothing to cry about here. I should celebrate that I have been playing tournament chess for more than 25 years and that I am capable of playing chess at a higher level than 97% of all rated players; my young opponent should celebrate that he is already a strong player and that if he stays on his current path then he likely will become a chess master. No, it is even simpler than that: regardless of years spent or rating points obtained, the enjoyment of playing the game in the moment is the height of ecstasy; the game result is logically determined by the combined mental and psychological states of both players and there is no reason to become emotional about that logically determined outcome: if you have a succession of outcomes that you deem to be unsatisfactory then it is necessary to adjust your life pattern (sleep habits, study habits, etc.) to maximize the chance that you will enjoy better outcomes in the future.

Easy to say, hard to do but very necessary. My opponent looked distraught when he realized that he had blundered and I understand that feeling all too well. Chess is a very violent game; it may not be possible to completely eradicate the suffering one feels after a loss but I think that determined, focused concentration can result in a modified perspective.

More than a decade later, it is still difficult but necessary to embrace that modified perspective. As I noted when I began this series of articles, there are no guarantees on the Journey to the National Master Title, but I will not give up trying to achieve my goal and I will not give up chronicling my journey. I have a full slate of tournaments for the fourth quarter of 2024, so check back in January 2025 when I review my progress in the next installment in this series (Spoiler alert: I did not do well in my first two October 2024 tournaments, but I will persevere and expect to have good news to report at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024).

In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8, I listed four chess goals for 2024. Here are those goals, with notes about my progress toward each one through the first nine months of the year:

1) Gain 60 rating points per quarter. I gained three rating points in the first quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1968 to 1971; I gained 10 rating points in the second quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1971 to 1981; I lost three rating points in the third quarter of 2024, dropping my rating from 1981 to 1978.

2) Do not lose any games to players rated below 1800. I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2024, I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2024, and I lost three games to players rated below 1800 in the third quarter of 2024.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had 15 draws and eight losses in the first quarter of 2024; I had seven draws and nine losses in the second quarter of 2024; I had four draws and seven losses in the third quarter of 2024.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage through the first three quarters of 2024 is .694.

In 2024, I have scored 71 wins, 26 draws, and 24 losses in regular rated tournament games with 10 first place finishes in 30 events. I have lost seven games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2024 is seven so I need to gain 222 points to reach my goal.

Journey to the National Master Title, Part 10

On April 6, 2024, I played in my third Columbus Plus Score tournament, and this time I scored 3/4 after scoring 2.5/4 in each of my first two appearances. My rating (1971) did not change. I tied for first place with Manoj Ramachandran, who beat me in round two after I misplayed a winning position and then blundered away a chance to maintain equality. I ended my first round game with promising junior player Andrew Zhu (1698) by delivering an uncommon mate on an open board:

I scored 3.5/4 in the April 7, 2024 East Market Swiss, tying for first-second place and gaining 14 rating points to improve my rating to 1985. I took a bumpy road to the top, drawing in the first round versus Arman Abassi (rated 1485 after eight games, but rated 1643 after scoring 3/4 in this event) despite obtaining a two pawn advantage in the opening. I recovered to win my next two games, capping off my round three win against Keya Jha (the fourth ranked nine year old girl in the country) with a pretty checkmate:

In the last round, I faced Expert Bill Turner. I dropped an Exchange and a pawn by move 14. It is unusual for me to have a lost position out of the opening, but I steadied myself by recalling various winning positions that I have squandered recently: if I can lose from a winning position then why can't I win from a losing position? By move 24 I equalized, but at that point my pieces were more active than his and my position was easier to play. I created a passed pawn that ultimately decided the game in my favor. Near the end of the game, Turner had five pawns for a Rook, but I was able to promote my lone pawn while blockading his rampaging pawn armada.

I have known Turner for more than 30 years. Alex Zelner introduced us to each other, and I played my first rated game against Turner in the November 20, 1993 Wittenberg Tornado. Turner and I drew our fifth round game in the 2012 Kings Island Open to share first-fourth place in the U2100 section, and we also played each other at Kings Island in 2005 (I won) and 2013 (Turner won). 

I first played in the Cincinnati Open in 1994, and it has become one of my favorite (nearly) annual events. There have been a few years that it has not been held, and a few other years that I was not able to participate for various reasons, but this year marked my 14th appearance--and the sixth time that I won a prize (including a tie for first place in the U2100 section in 2013). I scored three wins and a draw in the first four rounds of the April 13-14, 2024 Cincinnati Open to set up a last round board one game versus Gajanan Jayade with a chance to clinch clear first place with a win, and to share first place with a draw. This was a rematch of our board one encounter in the final round of the March 30, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado, and--unfortunately for me--I got the same result: a loss. Instead of obtaining at least a share of first place, my score of 3.5/5 tied me for fourth-seventh place in the FIDE Expert section. I gained 20 rating points to improve my rating to 2005. This is the first time my rating has been over 2000 in 2024, preserving my streak of having a 2000 rating at some point in every year since 1995, the first year that I broke through the 2000 rating barrier. While it is great to reestablish an Expert level rating, my goal remains unchanged--2200--and the next step is the same next step that I used to recommend to my students: surpass the next 100 point level, which in this case is 2100. My rating has not been over 2100 since October 2016, but I reached 2080 as recently as October 2022.

I scored 2.5/4 in the April 27, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado, matching my score in the March 30, 2024 Cincinnati Tornado--and I also mirrored my March 2024 Cincinnati Tornado performance by obtaining a winning position on board one in the last round with first place on the line only to blunder and lose. Despite the missed opportunity in the last round, I gained eight rating points to increase my rating to 2013, and I tied for first-second place among players rated under 2001 (even though my unofficial live rating for this event was over 2000, my official published April 2024 rating was 1954)

On May 4, 2024, I played in my fourth Columbus Plus Score tournament, and this was the first time that I did not obtain a plus score. I blundered a piece in the first round and lost to a player rated below 1800 for the third time this year. I bounced back by winning two nice games, and then played poorly before blundering in the last round when a win on board two versus the top seeded Brett Passen would have earned a first place tie. My rating dropped 18 points to 1995.

In seven tournaments from March 23 through May 4, I notched three first place finishes, one fourth place finish, and one tie for first place in my rating class; in all seven tournaments, I played a last round game with an opportunity to finish in first place, and that is very important: no one wins every last round game with first place on the line, but if you put yourself in that position frequently and are well-prepared then you will win your fair share of those big games.

During Memorial Day Weekend, I played in the U2100 section of the Chicago Open, and my streak of being in contention for first place in the last round crashed to an end. In the first round, I defeated Stella Xin, the eighth highest rated eight year old in the United States--and the highest rated eight year old girl by over 100 points. Then, after drawing my second round game I defeated Ian Singh, the seventh highest rated eight year old in the United States. By the end of the Chicago Open, Xin gained 65 points to establish a new career-high rating of 1864, and Singh gained 45 points to set a new career-high rating of 1864 as well. Here is the pretty mate that I delivered versus Singh:

There are so many underrated junior players that this has a deflationary effect on the rating pool. I am playing a lot of these kids, and because their ratings have not caught up with their current skill level I am (1) not getting as many rating points as I should when I beat them and (2) I am losing more rating points than I should when I draw with them or lose to them. FIDE recognized this widespread deflationary effect, and calculated that it is particularly impactful to players rated below 2000 (for reasons that are beyond the scope of this article to explain); consequently, FIDE added rating points to the ratings of every player rated below 2000 to correct this deflationary effect. The USCF should take a similar step. 

Looking at the quality of my games and my winning percentage in the past year or so, it is fair to say that I am playing around the 2100 level now, but my rating is mired around the low 2000s in no small part due to rating deflation. My peak rating so far is 2190, so I understand what it means to play at a 2100 level, and I think that I am objective enough to honestly say that circa 2016-2022 I was not playing at that level but that in the past two years I am playing at that level again.

The Chicago Open started to go sideways for me in rounds four and five; I drew both games despite having a decisive advantage in each one. That set up a round six game versus Ray Sun, a player who was playing in just his seventh rated over the board event since 2023. His rating jumped from 1410 to 1711 during that time. Sun outplayed me to deliver my only loss in the tournament, and then he drew his last round game to finish in the money with an undefeated 5/7. It may sound like an excuse to say that he is underrated, but in the 2024 Chicago Open he gained 164 points to set a new career-high rating of 1875. I have played more tournaments in the past two months than he has played in the past two years, so it is fair to say that if he keeps playing his rating will keep going up with a larger sample size of games. I concluded the tournament with a draw, finishing with 4/7, and losing eight rating points to slip back to 1987; I had pushed my rating back over 2000 for most of the tournament, but the loss to Sun was costly.

After the Chicago Open's fifth round, I played in the Chicago Open Blitz, scoring 4/10. I scored 3.5/6 versus non-Master opponents, and .5/4 versus Masters. This was a very large Blitz tournament, with 77 players in the Open section and 79 players in the U1900 section. In recent years when I played in the Chicago Open Blitz, there were between 42 and 49 players in the Open section.

On June 1, 2024, I played in my fifth Columbus Plus Score tournament, scoring 3/4, and gaining three rating points to inch up to 1990. In the third round, I avenged my April 6, 2024 Columbus Plus Score loss to Manoj Ramachandran, but we both shared first place with Siddarth Kunapuli, who defeated me in the last round. Kunapuli also beat me in the first round of the 2023 Kings Island Open, a loss that I discussed in Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8; in between those two games, I beat Kunapuli in the March 10, 2024 East Market Swiss to secure clear second place. My most recent loss to Kunapuli is particularly frustrating because I had just pushed my live rating above 2000 after winning my first three games, and because I obtained a winning position by move 19 only to soon not only squander my advantage but fall into a mating net. Here is the position prior to my 19th move:

I should have played ...Bc5, creating the dual threat of taking on b2 and taking on f2, which overworks the Q defending both f2 and the Ne2. Stockfish 16 gives Black a nearly +2 advantage after ...Bc5. Instead, I played ...Nxf2 followed by ...Bc5, when White is slightly better. However, my opponent erred, and we soon reached an unusual position where I had a R and four Ps in exchange for a B and a N:

Stockfish 16 evaluates this position as dynamically equal--but after my opponent blundered with Rg2 I could have obtained a nearly +2 advantage with the powerful centralizing move ...Qd4. Unfortunately, I played ...Re1 with the idea of ...Qd1 followed by a Q trade and advancing my Q-side pawns; in general, my plan made sense, but chess often requires calculation of specific tactical lines and that is where I fell short here. White refuted my idea by playing Nf5 after ...Re1. I could have still salvaged equality with ...Qe4, but instead I lost after ...Qd1 because my opponent hit me with Nh6+ followed by trading Qs and decisively invading with his R on the e file. I could not hold off the combined onslaught of his R, B, N, and his suddenly powerful f pawn. The game ended when he promoted his f pawn to a N with check and then checkmated me with his R after I took his new N with my R:

Instead of resigning, I let my opponent play this pretty checkmate on the board. As a lover of chess beauty, I appreciate the artistic finish, but from a competitive standpoint it is disappointing that I squandered two opportunities to obtain a decisive advantage and then missed a chance to maintain equality.

On June 15, 2024, my daughter Rachel and I played in the three round Columbus G/60 tournament. This was Rachel's third rated tournament in 2024 after playing four rated tournaments (plus two Quick rated tournaments) in 2023. I scored 2/3, gained one rating point to move my rating up to 1991, and tied for second-fourth place. I sandwiched two nice wins around a second round loss during which I squandered a +3 advantage and then missed a way to force a drawn endgame. Rachel lost her first two games, and then won her third round game despite arriving 40 minutes late because she did not realize that the round had started; the lower section rounds start as soon as possible as opposed to starting at a set time, and I was not aware that Rachel was not at her board because I was still finishing my second round game when Rachel's third round game began. In an odd twist, Rachel's opponent never came back after playing his first move, so Rachel played her first move, waited an hour, and claimed a win on time!

Rachel was not able to attend the Chicago Open this year, but we wore matching 2024 Chicago Open shirts to the June 15, 2024 Columbus G/60 tournament

Rachel and I played in the June 27, 2024 Cincinnati G/24 tournament. The tournament was scheduled to be USCF quick rated, but the usual tournament director was not able to show up due to a back injury, so instead the tournament was changed to unrated G/24 quads. I scored 2/3 in the top-rated quad, beating my former student Colin Gohmann (2005 regular/1885 quick), losing to top-seeded Sunav Adhikari (2068/1763), and beating Ido Ater Datz (1559/1520) in the last round. Rachel lost all three of her games in the lowest-rated quad, but she had a great time, and she played several extra games throughout the night, including an untimed game versus FM Hans Multhopp.

Rachel enjoyed her game versus FM Multhopp on 6/27/24

On June 29, 2024, Rachel and I played in the Cincinnati Tornado. Rachel scored 1/4 in the U1001 section, but she had a highlight moment in the second round when she delivered a checkmate for the first time in a rated game (her previous two wins were on time). After I congratulated Rachel, she told me that she had learned that checkmate from me; that will always be one of my favorite chess moments! I scored 3/4, losing 10 rating points to slide back to 1981. I was the fifth seeded player in the 27 player Open section, and I finished tied for third-eighth place, winning the prize for first-fourth U2001 (there was not a third place prize). 

In my fourth round game versus Lucas Edwards, I did a pseudo-sacrifice of my Queen to reach a winning position. Instead of retreating my Q after my opponent played Nc3, I uncorked ...Qh1+:

My opponent took my Q, and then I regained the lost material plus more after ...Bxe3+.

Queen sacrifices inspire the imaginations of chess players from amateur level to Grandmaster level. There are two other Queen sacrifices from my chess career that stand out in my memory. In the first round of the September 2010 Ohio Chess Congress, I used a Queen sacrifice to defeat the reigning Ohio Chess Champion, NM Kris Meekins, forcing mate after 22.Qxh7+ Kxh7 23.Rh4+ Kg7 24.Bh6+:

In round eight of the April 2011 House of Chess FIDE Double Round Robin, I gave up my Queen to force a win versus NM William Wright. I had Black, and after my opponent played Nf3?? I played ...Qxf3!:

He replied Qxf3, and then resigned after I played ...Re1+ because after Kg2 I would have played ...h3++. Declining the Q sacrifice not only leaves White a piece down, but Black still has a forced mate after Qb1 Re3. 

My sparkling win against Edwards was a nice way to cap off the first half of 2024. In Journey to the National Master Title, Part 8, I listed four chess goals for 2024. Here are those goals, with notes about my progress toward each one through the first six months of the year:

1) Gain 60 rating points per quarter. I gained three rating points in the first quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1968 to 1971; I gained 10 rating points in the second quarter of 2024, improving my rating from 1971 to 1981.

2) Do not lose any games to players rated below 1800. I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the first quarter of 2024, and I lost two games to players rated below 1800 in the second quarter of 2024.

3) Accumulate more draws than losses. I had 15 draws and eight losses in the first quarter of 2024; I had seven draws and nine losses in the second quarter of 2024.

4) Maintain a winning percentage of at least .750, to break my personal record of .740 set in 2014. My winning percentage through the first two quarters of 2024 is .696.

In 2024, I have scored 53 wins, 22 draws, and 17 losses in regular rated tournament games with seven place finishes in 23 events. I have lost four games to players rated below 1800. My net rating gain for 2024 is 13 points so I need to gain 219 points to reach my goal.