Round 2

Hard to believe Sam is sitting on his 1800 floor.

We were both down to 2 minutes, when I blundered.  I saw the mate as soon as I took my hand off the piece, and Sam didn’t hesitate to play it.  After the game, I said that I should play 37.Nd1, and then 37…f2, which the engine agrees, but he also has 37…Rxa2, which I pointed out, but hadn’t seen the cascade of mating threats that these two rooks can then provide.  We concluded that the position ought to be a draw at this point, I just didn’t stay as composed as he, in time-pressure.

Again, I also need to manage my clock better.  I quickly played 6.Qc2, thinking I could play f3 on the next move, and after …Ng4 should have played Qd3 and let him win my bishop for knight.  Not prudent.  Actually, I would have been much better than in the game, had I played 11.0-0-0, like I almost did, but decided to get fancy with the tricky 11.Bg5?  Apparently, even the trick doesn’t work, and I never saw …f4 coming.  Sam never got caught up in any of my tricks, except for somehow at the very end, and even then I only had a draw with best play.

[Event “Strong Swiss”]
[Site “Club Chess!!”]
[Date “2018.12.12”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Sam Bridle”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “1800”]
[ECO “B00”]
[EventDate “2018.12.12”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1895”]

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. c4 Ng6 5. Be3 Nf6 6. Qc2 Ng4 7. Bd2 Bc5 8. Nh3
O-O 9. Be2 d6 10. Nc3 f5 11. Bg5 Qe8 12. O-O-O f4 13. g3 h6 14. Bh4 Nxh4 15.
gxh4 Nxf2 16. Nxf2 Bxf2 17. Rdf1 Bxh4 18. h3 g5 19. Qd1 Bd7 20. Bh5 Qc8 21. Qf3
a6 22. Bg4 Bxg4 23. hxg4 Qd7 24. Kb1 b5 25. b3 bxc4 26. bxc4 Rab8+ 27. Kc2 Rb4
28. Kd3 Rfb8 29. Rxh4 gxh4 30. g5 Qf7 31. Rg1 Qg6 32. Rg4 hxg5 33. Qg2 Rb2 34.
Qg1 Kh7 35. Rxg5 Qh6 36. Qg4 f3 37. Rh5 Rd2# 0-1

Round 2

Okay, so I was going to give this post a generic name, but I think anyone who wins against the tricky London System is allowed to play this song for themselves; I haven’t heard it in forever.  I feel like the London is one of these systems that appears shallow, when it is actually quite deep.  I’ll have to spend some time going over this game, as I don’t even understand the things that the engine is trying to tell me.  Perhaps …d6, with a fianchetto is the best way to play against the London, but that is further out of my repertoire zone; I’ve tried playing that in a few games before, and it is also quite scary to play as Black.

The game was interesting, and it was dead equal when my young opponent decided to sac a piece.  Grayson has moved up 300 rating points in the last 6 months, and drew Expert Paul A. last week!  He’s definitely got quite a bit talent, and no doubt he will make further rating gains the longer he continues to stick with playing; like he has so regularly the past few months at both CSCC, and at Club Chess!!

[Event “December Swiss”]
[Site “CSCC”]
[Date “2018.11.12”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Grayson Harris”]
[Black “Brian Rountree”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “1895”]
[ECO “A45”]
[EventDate “2018.11.12”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1402”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Ngf3 Be7 6. h3 h6 7. Ne5 Nbd7 8. Nd3
O-O 9. Be2 c5 10. c3 Qb6 11. Qb3 c4 12. Qxb6 Nxb6 13. Ne5 Na4 14. Ndxc4 dxc4
15. Nxc4 Rac8 16. Bd6 Rfe8 17. Bxe7 Rxe7 18. Nd6 Rd8 19. Nxf5 exf5 20. Rb1 f4
21. Bb5 Nb6 22. Kd2 Ne4+ 23. Kc2 Nxf2 24. Rhf1 fxe3 25. Rbe1 Kf8 26. Bd3 Nd5
27. Bc4 f5 28. g3 g5 29. h4 f4 30. gxf4 gxf4 31. Rg1 Nf6 0-1

This event was only quick-rated, but as per usual I put their regular ratings because it better indicates a player’s true playing strength.

Round 1 –  bye

Round 2

[Event “Friday Quick Chess”]
[Site “Club Chess!!”]
[Date “2018.12.07”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Ron Rossi”]
[Black “Brian Rountree”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “1895”]
[ECO “C54”]
[EventDate “2018.12.07”]
[TimeControl “G/24, Inc/5”]
[WhiteElo “1940”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8.
O-O Bxc3 9. d5 Bf6 10. Re1 O-O 11. Rxe4 Ne7 12. Bg5 Nf5 13. Qd2 Nd6 14. Rg4
Bxg5 15. Nxg5 Nxc4 16. Rxc4 d6 17. Rac1 c5 18. dxc6 bxc6 19. Rxc6 d5 20. Rc7 h6
21. Nf3 Qd6 22. h3 Be6 23. Qd4 Rab8 24. Rxa7 Rb4 25. Qe5 Qb6 26. Qc7 Rxb2 27.
Qxb6 Rxb6 28. Rcc7 Rb1+ 29. Kh2 Rd1 30. Ne5 d4 31. a4 Rd2 32. Kg3 Ra2 33. a5 d3
34. Rc3 d2 35. Rd3 Ra3 0-1

Round 3

[Event “Friday Quick Chess”]
[Site “Club Chess!!”]
[Date “2018.12.07”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Dean Brown”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1401”]
[ECO “B27”]
[EventDate “2018.12.07”]
[TimeControl “G/24, Inc/5”]
[WhiteElo “1895”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. e5 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd5 7. Qe4 Nc7 8. Bc4
Bg7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bg5 d6 11. exd6 Qxd6 12. O-O Bf5 13. Qe3 Bxc2 14. Rac1 Bf5
15. a3 Ne5 16. Be2 Ng4 17. Qxe7 Qxe7 18. Bxe7 Rfe8 19. Bd6 Ne6 20. Bb5 Rec8 21.
h3 a6 22. Be2 Bh6 23. hxg4 Bxc1 24. gxf5 Bxb2 25. Nd1 Bxa3 26. Bxa3 Nf4 27. Re1
Re8 28. Ne3 Nxe2+ 29. Rxe2 gxf5 30. Kf1 Rac8 31. Nxf5 Rc1+ 32. Re1 Rexe1+ 33.
Nxe1 Kh8 34. Ke2 Rxe1+ 35. Kxe1 h5 36. Kd2 a5 37. Nd6 b6 38. Nxf7+ Kg7 39. Nd6
b5 40. Nxb5 Kg6 41. Bb2 h4 42. Nc3 Kf5 43. Na4 Kg4 44. Bc3 h3 45. gxh3+ Kxh3
46. Bxa5 Kg4 47. Ke3 Kf5 48. f4 Kf6 49. Ke4 Ke6 50. f5+ Kf6 51. Bc3+ Ke7 52.
Ke5 Kf7 53. f6 Ke8 54. Ke6 Kf8 55. Bb4+ Kg8 56. f7+ Kg7 57. f8=Q+ Kg6 58. Qf5+
Kg7 59. Bc3+ Kg8 1-0

Round 4

[Event “Friday Quick Chess”]
[Site “Club Chess!!”]
[Date “2018.12.07”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Jesse Williams”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1733”]
[ECO “B01”]
[EventDate “2018.12.07”]
[TimeControl “G/24, Inc 5”]
[WhiteElo “1895”]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 Bf5 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. h3
a6 9. Nh4 Bg6 10. Nxg6 hxg6 11. Re1 c6 12. Qf3 Bd6 13. Bf4 Bxf4 14. Qxf4 O-O
15. Rad1 Nbd7 16. a3 Rc8 17. b4 Nb6 18. Bb3 Nbd5 19. Nxd5 cxd5 20. Rc1 Qc7 21.
Qxc7 Rxc7 22. c4 dxc4 23. Rxc4 Rfc8 24. Rec1 Rxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxc4 26. Bxc4 b5 27.
Be2 Kf8 28. Kf1 Ke7 29. Bf3 Nd5 30. Bxd5 exd5 31. h4 Kd6 32. Ke2 Kc6 33. Ke3
Kb6 34. Kf4 f6 35. g4 a5 36. h5 axb4 37. axb4 Kc6 38. hxg6 Kd6 39. Kf5 Kd7 40.
f4 Kd6 41. g5 fxg5 42. fxg5 Kd7 43. Ke5 Kc6 44. Ke6 Kc7 45. Kxd5 Kd7 1-0

Round 1

Mark offered a draw, and then, wanting to play on, I immediately blundered the exchange in reply.  In the end, I flagged, forgot about the clock as I was absorbed by the position.

It sucks that so many games end in a draw because both players are running out of time.  I wanted to play on, but it doesn’t matter, you only get so much time, and then you can’t play anymore.  Some people think this time-controls is slow, but it’s not.  You have an hour and ten minutes to make 40 moves, and then there is no further time other than the 30 second increment.

Apparently, 33…Rd5 would have allowed me to hang on.  The pin of pawn to my queen there, after 33…Rb8, was stronger than I thought it would be.

[Event “Strong Swiss”]
[Site “Club Chess!!”]
[Date “2018.12.05”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Mark McGough”]
[Black “Brian Rountree”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1895”]
[ECO “E05”]
[EventDate “2018.12.05”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1896”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. Qxc4
b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. a4 h6 12. Bd2 c5 13. axb5 axb5 14. Na3 Qb6 15.
dxc5 Bxc5 16. e3 Be4 17. Qb3 Rab8 18. Bb4 Nd5 19. Bd2 Rfd8 20. Rfc1 N7f6 21.
Nc2 Ne7 22. Ba5 Qb7 23. Bxd8 Bxf3 24. Bxf3 Qxf3 25. Ne1 Qh5 26. Bxe7 Bxe7 27.
Kg2 g5 28. h3 g4 29. h4 Qf5 30. Qd3 Ne4 31. Rc2 Rd8 32. Qe2 h5 33. Ra5 Rb8 34.
Nd3 Bf6 1-0

Saturday

Round 1

I played this kid, for the first time, and whose rating jumped up 120 points in his last tournament alone.

[Event “Winter Springs Open”]
[Site “Manitou Springs City Hall”]
[Date “2018.12.01”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Luke Namesnik”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1582”]
[ECO “B27”]
[EventDate “2018.12.01”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1893”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 6. exd5 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nxd5 8.
Bc4 Nb6 9. Bb3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nc6 13. d5 Na5 14. Bc2 Nac4
15. Rd1 Nd6 16. Be3 Nbc4 17. Bd4 Nxb2 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Re1 Qc7 20. Bb3 Nbc4
21. Rac1 a6 22. Bxc4 Nxc4 23. Ne4 b5 24. d6 exd6 25. Qf6+ Kg8 26. Qd4 f6 27.
Nxf6+ Rxf6 28. Qxf6 Rf8 29. Qe6+ Qf7 30. a4 Kg7 31. Qxf7+ Rxf7 32. axb5 axb5
33. Rb1 Rb7 34. Rb4 d5 35. Rd1 Rd7 36. Rxb5 d4 37. Rb4 Ne5 38. Rbxd4 Ra7 39. f4
Nf7 40. Rd7 Rxd7 41. Rxd7 Kf6 42. g4 h6 43. Kf2 Ke6 44. Ra7 Kf6 45. Ke3 Kg7 46.
Kd4 Kf6 47. Ra6+ Kg7 48. Kd5 Nd8 49. Ra7+ Kf6 50. Rd7 Nf7 51. Rxf7+ Kxf7 52.
Ke5 Ke7 53. f5 gxf5 54. Kxf5 Kf7 55. h4 Kg7 56. Ke6 Kg6 57. Ke7 Kg7 58. h5 Kh8
59. Kf6 Kh7 60. Kf7 Kh8 61. Kg6 Kg8 62. Kxh6 Kh8 63. Kg6 Kg8 64. Kf6 Kf8 65. g5
Kg8 66. g6 Kh8 67. g7+ Kg8 68. h6 Kh7 69. Kf7 1-0

Round 2

Once again, I mismanaged my clock, thinking I had more than I did in the middlegame.  There were multiple times that I came close to playing the obvious …d5, but this is the sort of thing a player does in time-pressure, avoiding continuations that require more calculation.  The endgame was equal until I traded rooks, as Brian let me know after the game.  This is one of the positions where you can’t go by initial engine eval, have to play it out; as once the rooks come off, Black is lost, all blunders aside.

[Event “Winter Springs Open”]
[Site “Manitou Springs City Hall”]
[Date “2018.12.01”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Brian Wall”]
[Black “Brian Rountree”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1893”]
[ECO “C33”]
[EventDate “2018.12.01”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “2276”]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nc3 Qh4+ 4. Ke2 d6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Nd5 Kd7 7. Nxf4 Nc6 8.
d4 Nf6 9. Kd3 Qf2 10. Qe2 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Re8 12. Be3 Rxe4 13. Bxf2 Rxf4 14. Be2
Be7 15. c3 Re8 16. Be3 Rf6 17. Kd2 h6 18. d5 Nb8 19. Bxa7 g5 20. Bd4 Rg6 21. c4
Bf5 22. Rae1 Bf6 23. Bxf6 Rxf6 24. Nd4 Bg6 25. Rhf1 Rxf1 26. Rxf1 Re4 27. Nf5
Bxf5 28. Rxf5 Ke7 29. Bh5 f6 30. Be2 Nd7 31. b3 Nc5 32. b4 Nd7 33. Rf3 Ne5 34.
Re3 Rxe3 35. Kxe3 b6 36. g4 Kf7 37. a4 c5 38. a5 cxb4 39. a6 Nd7 40. a7 1-0

Sunday

Round 3

[Event “Winter Springs Open”]
[Site “Manitou Springs City Hall”]
[Date “2018.12.02”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Davin Yin”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1766”]
[ECO “B45”]
[EventDate “2018.12.02”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1893”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. e5 Ng8 8.
Bd3 Qa5 9. Qe2 Bb4 10. Bd2 Ne7 11. Rd1 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Qxa2 13. Bc4 Qa4 14. b3
Qa3 15. Ra1 Qc5 16. O-O Ng6 17. Rfd1 Qb6 18. Qd2 Qc7 19. Qd6 Qxd6 20. exd6 O-O
21. g3 f6 22. f4 Nh8 23. Ra5 Nf7 24. Bb4 Rb8 25. Bc5 a6 26. Rda1 Nh6 27. Bxa6
Bxa6 28. Rxa6 Nf5 29. Ra7 Rf7 30. Rc7 Rb5 31. b4 Rb8 32. Raa7 Rd8 33. c4 Nh6
34. b5 cxb5 35. cxb5 Rb8 36. b6 Nf5 37. b7 Rff8 38. Rxd7 Rfe8 39. Rc7 Nh6 40.
d7 Red8 41. Rc8 Nf7 42. Rxb8 Rxb8 43. Ra8 Rd8 44. Be7 g6 45. Bxd8 Nxd8 46. b8=Q
Kf7 47. Qxd8 e5 48. Qg8+ Ke7 49. d8=B+ Kd6 50. Qf8+ Kd5 51. Ra5+ Kd4 52. Qc5+
Ke4 53. Qc2+ Kd4 54. Bb6# 1-0

Round 4

[Event “Winter Springs Open”]
[Site “Manitou Springs City Hall”]
[Date “2018.12.02”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Neil Bhavikatti”]
[Black “Brian Rountree”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1893”]
[ECO “C60”]
[EventDate “2018.12.02”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “2112”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. O-O g6 5. c3 Bg7 6. d4 a6 7. Bxc6 Nxc6 8. d5
Nb8 9. d6 cxd6 10. Qxd6 Nc6 11. Be3 Bf8 12. Qd3 Be7 13. c4 O-O 14. Nc3 d6 15.
Nd5 Be6 16. Nd2 Bxd5 17. cxd5 Nb8 18. Qb3 b5 19. a4 Nd7 20. axb5 axb5 21. Rxa8
Qxa8 22. Qxb5 Nf6 23. f3 Rb8 24. Qc6 Qxc6 25. dxc6 Rxb2 26. Rc1 Rb8 27. Nc4 Ne8
28. Bb6 Bd8 29. Bxd8 Rxd8 30. Nb6 Nc7 31. Nd5 Ne6 32. c7 Nxc7 33. Rxc7 1-0

Round 4

This tournament, for me, finished in a rather unusual manner.  First tournament  where I’ve ever finished with this exact overall result.

Sam proposed a draw when we were both around 17 or 18 minutes.  I thought for a few minutes, and didn’t see a productive way forward, but I guess that was a premature evaluation.  I’ll have to really dig into this game and position.  perhaps, if I trade rooks and try hard to keep his bishop bad, I could at least work with my space advantage, but of course I saw my bishop as being bad, although perhaps it is doing more by supporting the center.  Wow, this is where chess gets hard.  hehe.

[Event “Strong Swiss”]
[Site “Club Chess!!”]
[Date “2018.11.29”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Sam Bridle”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “1800”]
[ECO “B00”]
[EventDate “2018.11.29”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1903”]

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 g6 5. h3 Bg7 6. Be3 O-O 7. Qd2 e5 8. d5 Ne7
9. O-O-O Bd7 10. g4 b5 11. g5 b4 12. gxf6 bxc3 13. Qxc3 Bxf6 14. Bh6 Bg7 15.
Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Nh2 f6 17. Qd2 f5 18. f3 fxe4 19. fxe4 Rf4 20. Bg2 Bb5 21. Ng4 h5
22. Ne3 Qd7 1/2-1/2

Round 4, final round

This was the final round for the November Swiss.  It’s funny, each week the initial projections for pairings changed, as one player would be added, or taking a bye.  I was originally projected to be paired with Mark, but was actually pleasantly surprised to get Paul, because I knew it will be a tough battle that is not too openings-bound.

17.bxc6  I’m guessing this is a mistake.  Even at the board, I felt I had to play the obvious and solid 17.dxc, but few are as tempted by dubious moves as I have been, since forever.  lol.  After playing it, I realized my error, that …c4 will occur.  I played the piece-sac in less than a minute, largely because I had already spent a lot of time looking at Nxb5 piece-sacs earlier.

[Event “November Swiss”]
[Site “CSCC”]
[Date “2018.11.27”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Brian Rountree”]
[Black “Paul Anderson”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “1985”]
[ECO “B12”]
[EventDate “2018.11.27”]
[TimeControl “G/90, Inc 30”]
[WhiteElo “1893”]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Na6 4. c3 Nc7 5. Bd3 g6 6. h3 h5 7. Na3 Ne6 8. Ne2 Ng7
9. c4 Bf5 10. O-O Bxd3 11. Qxd3 e6 12. c5 b6 13. b4 Nf5 14. Bd2 Be7 15. Rfc1
Ngh6 16. b5 bxc5 17. bxc6 c4 18. Nxc4 dxc4 19. Rxc4 O-O 20. c7 Qd7 21. Rb1 Rfc8
22. Ba5 Bf8 23. Qf3 Qd5 24. Qxd5 exd5 25. Rc3 Ne7 26. Bb4 Nhf5 27. Bd6 f6 28.
g4 Kf7 29. gxf5 Nxf5 30. Bxf8 Kxf8 31. f4 Kf7 32. Rb5 Ne7 33. Kf2 Ke6 34. Ng3
h4 35. Ne2 fxe5 36. fxe5 Rf8+ 37. Kg2 Kd7 38. Rb7 Rfc8 39. Nf4 a5 40. Rc5 Ra6
41. Nxd5 Nxd5 42. Rxd5+ Kc6 43. Rdb5 Rxc7 44. d5+ Kd7 45. e6+ Kd6 46. Rb8 Ke7
47. Rg8 Kf6 48. Rf8+ Kg7 49. Rd8 Kf6 50. Kf3 g5 51. Ke4 Rc2 52. Rf8+ Kg6 53.
Kd3 Rxa2 54. e7 Ra3+ 55. Kd4 Ra4+ 56. Ke5 Ra1 57. e8=Q+ Kg7 58. Qf7+ Kh6 59.
Rh8# 1-0