Becoming a national champion U2000 (Part 2)

In part 1 of this installment, I was foreshadowing the events that happened in Craiova, ROU, between 18-23 Feb this year. If you missed that blog entry, you can catch up here.

Why does playing chess feel like banging your head against a wall? Or doesn't it...?!

I frankly don't know, but maybe you have a clearer picture in mind. If that's the case, please share your perspective in the comments to this article, dear reader.

Jokes aside, I've been playing since 2008, with varying level of success. Some events, it just feels like every small inaccuracy gets punished by the opponents. Moreover, you get stranded in unfamiliar middlegame waters and calculation simply refuses to "work." This happens across all levels, but it's doubly frustrating when you invest time, money, and energy into the process of improvement. I left off Part 1 at the lowest of the low. My rating had tanked from 2020 into the nether regions of 1870, leading to a sense of despair, and especially, not recognizing myself on the chessboard any longer.

"Who was this strange man moving the pieces and destroying my rating? Let's ban him!" - My thoughts when checking the FIDE ratings page every subsequent month.

And yet, after a rainy day, here comes the Sun, illuminating the path on the chessboard. While the weather in Craiova wasn't much to write home about, with freezing temperatures every day, the proverbial Sun shone on the chessboard, just enough to blind the opponents to some tactical opportunities and pave the road for my pieces to march on.

Before we delve into the deep end, let's summarize the results in a simple visual format, taken from the FIDE ratings page. Let's clarify something first. The championship was held as a U2200 event across 9 rounds (4 days with double rounds!) at the time control of 60'+30". This should explain why I faced opponents rated above 2000. Then, apart from the prizes in the general standings, the top finisher in each rating category was crowned national champion. That's how I got the 1st prize in the U2000 while finishing 4th overall in the U2200. Hope that makes sense!

Rounds 1-3: Give me anything, but not hope!

Being seeded 8th out of 100 participants, you expect the "list to halve" after each round, therefore ensuring 3 lower-rated opponents to begin with. Still, the early rounds test your patience and ability to outplay lower rated opponents.

With a customary 30 min delay at the beginning of Round 1, which is a rite of passage for most chess players, we were finally underway! My opponent, a young child, seemed rather cool and composed before the game started. With kids, it's important to build their "psychological profile", so you know where to strike later in the game. I find it particularly difficult to face young kids who have the body language of a collected adult. At the other end of the spectrum, the fidgety and nervous kids are easier to target, especially as they approach time trouble with their legs shaking nervously. In a fairly typical Caro-Kann, my opponent misplaced his pieces slightly and proceeded to grovel through an unattractive middlegame. With time trouble looming, he lashed out in desperation, but his attack was unsound. I missed a chance to win sooner around move 32, but didn't want to risk potential trouble against my king, and opted for a safer edge.

Round 2 was a big scare. My opponent, whom I last faced 4 years ago in the National Championship, hit me with a tactical thunderbolt that I didn't even come close to sniffing, 18...Qxc3!!, refuting my speculative knight sacrifice on e6. Having calculated all the other responses to my move, I omitted the obvious forcing reply and shook my head in disbelief. It was unexpected when he later gave the advantage away in one move with the unfortunate f5?? (en-passant is not forced, folks!) and transitioned into a lost endgame. Ultimately, I was thankful to escape this game with a full point, as the play in the early middlegame wasn't convincing.

Round 3 was quite enjoyable to play. Despite not knowing the theory in this rather unusual Bf4 QGD, I decided to opt for a Chebanenko Slav setup and steered the game towards an imbalanced middlegame. My opponent lost two crucial tempi on the unusual 11. g4?! and 12. Nh4?!, while I developed the pieces towards the center and took over that sector of the board. The crucial mistake came on move 28, when f5 left a gaping hole for my knight on e5, and the game was effectively over.

Rounds 4-6: Turbulent waters

Round 4 was a supremely strange game. First, I played a Catalan setup, which I rarely employ. In fact, a common trend in this tournament was that I wasn't guessing ANY of my opponents' openings. Therefore, I decided to spend more time sleeping and resting, instead of firing up Chessbase and staring into the screen for hours. This was a wise decision! Funnily, instead of playing into a line I knew well, I was out of theory as early as move 6, when the meek 6. c3 cannot promise any hope for an advantage. Later, however, with my opponent (the top seed of the event!) spending a lot of time on simple moves for unknown reasons, I obtained a powerful initiative against the weak d5 pawn. Showing good, if not perfect technique, I corralled his pawn using nice attack-defense geometry and transitioned into a winning double rook endgame. But then, disaster struck! I overlooked a simple pawn break that gave enough counterplay. The endgame was drawn according to the tablebases for a long time, until a decisive error on move 81 by the opponent allowed me to transition into a Lucena position and demonstrate the textbook conversion.

In Round 5 I faced Mihai Veneteanu (he leads our direct encounters 3-1 in classical chess), an uncomfortable opponent for me due to his playing style based on pure calculation. Probably aware that I was preparing new lines against his 1. e4 based on our previous clash, he deviated with the English Opening. I had forgotten most of my theory in this particular line and opted for a safe setup. On move 8, I committed a positional error, which was later compounded by getting my light squared bishop dangerously short of squares. I got some good counterplay after introducing asymmetry (exf4 gxf4) in the pawn structure, and later missed a chance to obtain some initiative on move 16. Instead, the poor 16...Qc7 led to a passive position with no source of counterplay. Later, Mihai applied strong pressure and secured the full point. This loss motivated me to try and play better the next morning. That evening, I had a nice dinner with my second. I can hear you exclaiming in unison now, what, even 1900-rated players travel with their seconds nowadays?! What is this heresy? Well, since I don't have a coach...this was a nice way to not spend every day completely alone. In fact, most of his contributions happened on the psychological side, making sure that I tackled each game with optimism and a good mindset.

Cozy Vietnamese restaurant in Craiova. We appreciated the interior decor with bamboo and the great service.

Round 6 was what nightmares are made of. I had scouted my opponent's tendencies the night before and felt prepared to tackle the most challenging lines he could throw at me. We reached some variation of the Tarrasch Defense (which I don't play with either color, by the way), and I promptly misplayed the plan against his IQP. My opponent liquidated the position into something without real chances for either side, until I found an inventive way to break through the blockade. But then, I had forgotten about my own idea of the exchange sacrifice during my trip to the restroom! Instead of the strong, Petrosian-like 24. Rc5! offering a positional exchange sacrifice, I played quietly and later succumbed to a horrendous one-move blunder with 28. Rd1??. I resigned on the spot. Please don't try at home! I had to laugh it off, knowing that the only way I can remain in contention is to string 3 consecutive wins at the end.

Rounds 7-9: Smooth sailing

A concerned face during round 7. To shop the lookbook, I recommend any cotton flannel shirt and a thick hoodie - brands don't matter. Just stay away from anything with more than 20% polyester.

My 7th round opponent had previously essayed the Exchange Slav in a classical game from 2024, so I opted for a QGD this time. She played into the principled Carlsbad structure, but seemed more eager to trade pieces. I later took on too many risks to imbalance the position and found myself in a passive position with a dormant bishop against an active knight in the queenless endgame. Still, knowing that I need a win with the black pieces, I started pushing my pawns on both flanks, trying to fix pawns on the light squares. The strategy proved successful, as my once-restricted bishop became a stronger piece than the white knight. However, for one move, I was dead lost, having overlooked a simple tactical shot. Luck was on my side, as the time trouble affliction plagued my young opponent.

One month prior, my 8th round opponent escaped with a draw in a rapid event. This time, I was motivated to prove that I can convert a winning chance if it appeared. Once more, expected a line and got hit with another OTB, so prudently decided to deviate from my main prep and try the so-called "Flamingo" setup against the English. I believe the term originates with GM Jesse Kraai of the ChessDojo, but someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I am very proud of this game. From the time management to the strong positional pressure applied beginning to end, this was a dominant victory.

So...before round 9, the tie-break calculations started. With a win, I could place realistically anywhere from 1st to 4th overall. Of course, when the Buchholz tie-break is used, you need to take a peek at your past opponents and almost forge a telepathic bond with them, hoping to imbue them with the motivation and strength to fight for points, even if there isn't much at stake for them in the final round. In fact, some deliberately play into quick draws just to wrap up the event and return home. Still, the main task remains focusing on your own game. I faced FM Ion-Cristian Veneteanu, the father of Mihai from Round 5. Not only did I want to settle the score against "la famiglia", but I also wanted to show that my win against him in 2021 wasn't a fluke. Despite expecting a Sicilian or Ruy Lopez from my FM opponent, he surprised me with the rare Philidor/Black Lion Defense. With precision, I took a firm stand against his brazen kingside excursion. Later, I exploited the imprecise 15...Qc7? move with a deft transformation of the pawn structure and then broke through the center. In the rook and pawn endgame, my opponent misevaluated his chances and I converted my advantage.

With a final 7/9 scoreline, the mission was over

With my second not there to celebrate the big success, having had to catch a train earlier during the last round, I was left to celebrate with one of my clubmates. We grabbed dinner, played some 8-ball pool, and generally bantered about random shenanigans until the prize ceremony. Here's a picture from the ceremony, next to my opponent from R6, Andrei Tanase. My eyes are trying to take a quick trip to Sleep Land, but I guess that's expected after 4 days with double rounds. Later on even, the locomotive of my train broke down in the middle of nowhere, so my father drove 2 hours to rescue me and my clubmate. Life isn't fun without a little bit of spice, right?!

Lessons and takeaways

• Openings used to be a strength. They weren't in this tournament. Time to intervene!
• My live rating is now 2011 FIDE - played another 2 classical events after this one. Getting close to my peak rating again, only 10 points away now!
• I showed better resilience and fighting spirit in this event, compared to previous ones. This largely contributed to the later-round success.
• Will now take a break from classical events for a bit and focus on my other work, with coaching, training camps, and some blogging/journalism on the side.

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