10 Losses, 4 Draws, Zero Wins

I've been playing over-the-board chess again, and have yet to get a single win.

In a previous blog post, a commenter chided me for playing in a tournament where I won 3 games as the higher-rated player. Well, since that event, I've only played up with few exceptions (two opponents were unrated). My record has been a numbing 10 losses and 4 draws, zero wins.

The first 4 games I recapped in my previous blog post: Rittenhouse Square Chess

Here are the rest.

Side note: I have not used engine analysis for these games except in a few critical positions just to see if my variations were correct. So this and the other games so far need much more review.

Eastern Chess Congress 2025

I played "up" in to the U1500 section. I took a bye in the first round so only played 4 games.

Time control: 40 / 80, SD 30, Delay 30 from move 1.

Game 1 vs. Su

My opponent played the Jobava London. "They" say: "don't worry about openings, just study tactics until you get stronger." Well, folks, this was an example of someone just playing their "Chessable openings for beginners" course to their advantage. I walked into a stupid line and was suffering the rest of the game:

See my other blog post on this topic of openings: Sorry, Beginners: Openings DO matter.

Game 2 vs. Dujue

This is one of my few draws. However, I missed a win on move 10.

My problem here is one of mindset. I didn't do concrete calculation on the winning move (10. d5!) because of - again - I'm STILL trying to follow "opening principles" of "develop your pieces before attacking."

Yes, you should always put concrete calculation before principles. I don't have an excuse here.

Game 3 vs. Vaibhavi

Yet another game in where I was better out of the opening and then threw it away due to poor understanding of principles that don't seem to be covered in any "how to chess" guide and that are not "common sense."

I actually challenge you, the reader, to justify 12. ... hxg6 without using the Engine. I'm thinking this sort of line is typically covered in games that I read through - but I skip over the long variation that explains that it is better for black (but without much elaboration).

Game 4 vs.Kazakevich

For my last round I faced an unrated player who also was winless. As in my previous game, I *again* completely overlooked a knight sacrifice by my opponent.

I think this is indicative of not considering sacrifices when trying to find my opponent's plan - and stop it. I need to be more vigilant on this.

With that loss, I was 0.5/4 and lost 51 USCF ELO, dropping below 1200 to 1172.

(For those of you who have the urge to comment "don't worry about rating!" 1) Please note I'm playing up, so obviously that's not a concern, but 2) See my previous blog post on that subject:

Sorry, Improvers: Your rating DOES matter.

Marshall Weekly U1600 (In-Progress)

While playing in the Eastern Chess Congress, I also have been playing in a weekly, SS-6 Weds 90+30 tournament.

Games are at 7 PM - I am not a huge fan of these tournaments and will likely stop playing after this one is complete. Playing a 3 - 4 hour game of chess after a full day of work is grueling. I have a job that requires a lot of thinking and analysis - not going to meetings and browsing the Internet all day like some people do - so by the time I get to the Club, my brain's already fried.

Again, a refrain of people handing out chess advice is "play longer time controls." I would love to - if they were on weekends.

Game 1 vs. Portugal

This was a particularly infuriating loss. My opponent played into my prep for the Vienna Gambit - for once - and once again I had a winning move, but failed to find it and then went on to lose the game.

Black to play with advantage.

Instead of reinforcing my advantage, I started thinking about a kingside attack, lost my advantage, and went on to lose the game. Painful.

Game 2 FULL POINT BYE

Because of my low rating, I was the odd-man-out and ended up with a full point bye in round 2.

This is the flip-side of "playing up." If you lose your first game, you might sit out the next round. You don't get to play, don't get ELO and waste a trip to the Club (you don't find out about the Bye until 10 - 15 minutes before the round starts).

"Rating doesn't matter" until it does in situations like this.

Game 3 vs. Pinn

Here's another fun fact about playing the Weekly tournaments at Marshall: many regulars are retirees on their rating "floor" - meaning when you are playing someone rated 1500, you are actually up against someone who at one point was 1700 - 1800 strength.

On one hand, this means you might get some rating points with a win or draw (as I have done in the past). On the other hand, such players are very likely to play slow, boring, for a draw - as happened in this game.

When I think back to my games that boosted my rating in 2024, they were actually mostly against younger players who took more chances and played unsound lines. Yes, I think my games against the "seniors" are higher quality, but the likelihood of scoring - without myself playing some "wild" line - is low.

Game 4 vs. DeDona

Speaking of which , here is another game against an older player on their "floor" that took that slow character.

Again, I found myself in a Vienna Gambit - which I have prep - and was slightly better out of the opening. However, the game turned to a 3.5 hour, 48-move marathon where I lost an endgame a pawn down.

The only error I could find in self-analysis was not fighting for the open file. Did this decide the game! Probably. I again tried to crack open the center prematurely instead of responding to my opponent's threats and disrupting their plan.

Thursday Action

Most Thursdays, Marshall Chess Club has an "Action" tournament - four round Swiss with 25 + delay time control. It's very popular, and typically features several titled players (including IM Jay "Ironman of Chess" Bonin).

I had been hesitant about playing this tournament - largely due to the conventional wisdom "play longer time controls" - but after I got the Full Point Bye in the weekly tournament (see above), I decided to give this one a shot. It wasn't so bad, and I'll likely play again whenever I can.

Interestingly, these 25+delay 5 tournaments affect both your Classical and Quick USCF rating, being "hybrid" tournaments.

Round 1 vs. Sharuda

My higher (1839 USCF) rated opponent showed up about 10 minutes late, but still managed to win by playing a slow Pirc. This seems to be a favorite opening in fast time control games, as I've faced it a lot online and at a Rapid 10+15 tournament earlier this year.

I had to stop taking notation as I was below 5 minutes - I ended up losing a rook-and-pawn endgame after pushing a pawn to far up the board.

Round 2. vs Van Dooijeweert

This was one my few draws - which I was happy with considering the extremely tactical nature of the opening.

Another position where I would challenge the reader to find the best move:

Round 3 vs. Siff

Yet another game where I could have been completely winning out of the opening and decided to "develop first" instead of doing concrete calculation.

White to play with advantage:

I didn't find this move - and missed several other chances to maintain advantage - finally losing to a forced checkmating attack on the kingside under time pressure.

Final Thoughts / What's Next

Problems with my game:

• I don't consider my opponent's sacrifices when calculating.
• I still think that I should "develop before attacking" as white, which leads to me missing some winning moves I could find if I actually invested in concrete calculation before falling back to "just develop."
• As Black, I start thinking about attacking when I should be defending / stopping my opponent's plans / improving my position.

I don't think my problem is calculation. I'm visualizing positions and lines. I'm not falling into traps. Almost all my losses were due missing an opportunity or allowing my opponent to get a positional advantage. In the past, I lost games when I hung a pawn or even a full piece. So far this "season" I haven't been doing that (with the exception of a game I lost in the last Weekly U1600 - a game I shouldn't have played being sleep-deprived + fried brain from work).

Instead:

• I see the end of the calculation and evaluate it as "bad" inaccurately.
• I don't even consider certain moves - pawn pushes, in particular, but also sacrifices by my opponent.

I'm going to stop playing the Weds 90+30 tournament, and focus more on Thursday Action and Weekend tournaments. I might play a weekly Monday night 90+30, but haven't decided yet. My brain is too fried on weeknights to get the most of it, and I can opt to play the Thursday tournaments when I've had an easy / early day at work (vs the Weds tournament that is non-optional unless I want to take byes).

The Marshall Amateur Championship (U2100) is coming up. I might play in that depending on my schedule and the entry list. If I'm the only sub-1300 player, it will be annoying to take a Full Point Bye (yet again) - I might take a "strategic" 1/2 point bye to try to avoid that. We'll see.

I'm going to start working through Woodpecker Method puzzles with the spaced repetition turned off. Not for building tactical skills, but rather to regain some of my position-evaluation sensibility. Many of the Woodpecker Method puzzles are not about winning a full piece or checkmate, but rather "gain a small advantage" or "equality that led to a draw." After months of doing tactics puzzles daily, that's what I need right now.

Update - Comments now enabled.