Journey to the National Master Title, Part 2

No one said that the journey to National Master would be easy. I scored 3/4 in the January 22, 2023 East Market Swiss, finishing tied for second-third but losing 12 rating points to fall to 2002. My only loss happened in the first round, when I was up a Pawn against a much lower rated player and had more than 25 minutes left in a G/45 time control but I inexplicably blundered into mate in one, the latest and most extreme example of the extent to which blundering has been the main obstacle to achieving my goal. Such mistakes are difficult to explain and foolish to excuse: the bottom line is that I have to hold myself to a higher standard, and not lose focus regardless of opponent/game situation/any other circumstance.

I scored 2.5/5 (one win, two draws, one loss, one half point bye) in the U2100 section of the February 4-5, 2023 Cardinal Open, losing 16 rating points; as a result of that subpar performance, I fell below the 2000 rating level for the first time in nearly a year. In the last round of the Cardinal Open, I faced William Stewart (1969), and a win would have not only kept my rating above 2000 but also enabled me to have a small net rating gain for the event.

After Stewart played 33 Rxh6 (see diagram below) I played the correct ...Bxc4+, but after 34 bxc4 I blundered with 34 ...Qb7, mistakenly believing that I had a checkmating attack on the Queenside. I subsequently lost the game after I missed an opportunity to force a draw by perpetual check.

Instead, after 34...gxh6 35.Qh5+ Kg8 36.Qg6+ Kh8 37.Nxg5 fxg5 38.Qxh6+ Qh7 White's attack is over and I am up a Rook for two Pawns. If White tries 37.Rh1 then ...Qh7 forces White to trade Queens or else retreat, again ending the attack in my favor. 

I bounced back from that final round disaster to score 3-0 in the February 11, 2023 DBTHS Swiss, an event run by the revived Dayton Chess Club. That performance pushed my rating back up to 1996. The next day, I scored 3.5/4 to take clear first in the East Market Swiss, gaining 11 rating points to restore my Expert level rating (2007, five points higher than before the Cardinal Open).

I played in four regular rated over the board chess tournaments since I wrote Journey to the National Master Title, Part 1. I scored 10 wins, three draws, and two losses in those tournaments, with two first place finishes. With a rating of 2007 after those tournaments, I suffered a net loss of seven points, and I need to gain 193 points to reach my goal. 

Overall in 2023, I have scored 14 wins, four draws, and three losses in regular rated tournament games with three first place finishes in six events--but the three losses (including two losses to players rated below 1700) were as costly as they were avoidable. Each loss at my rating level represents a 24 point swing (counting the points lost plus the points that would have been gained with a win), so the two lapses in concentration versus significantly lower rated players are the difference between being rated 2055 now and being rated 2007. 

I have two tournaments remaining in February 2023, so I have ample opportunities to demonstrate that I have learned my lesson. Hopefully Part 3 of this series will not include any losses to lower rated players!