Tactics Time Chess Newsletter - 2013 National Open

Published: Sat, 06/08/13

Greetings from Vegas!

Hey there, -- Hola from Sin City!

My third round game Saturday morning ended very quickly (a checkmate in 9 moves!) so I have some extra time, and thought I would write a quick email newsletter!

I am currently playing at the National Open in Las Vegas, NV. The tournament is being played at the Riveria Hotel and Casino on "The Strip". I am here with my "wing man" Francisco Baltier, who you may have heard me mention before.

There is nothing quite like a large chess tournament. I think that going to one should be on every chess player's "Bucket List".

The National Open is always a very well run event. They have a lot of experienced tournament directors, the rounds always start on time, and they give away lots of nice prizes.

I had one player come up to me and introduce himself, and he thanked me for writing my book! That was really awesome!

They have a lot of nice side events at the tournament here, including a G/10 tournament, blitz tournament, simuls, and lectures. There is a chess bookstore with a large selection. There is even a daily chess newspaper! Pretty cool!

Players play in different sections based on their ratings. For example 1200-1399, 1400-1599, 1600-1799, etc. You can play "up", but you can't play "down".

Here is my third round game, which was a really quick one. It lasted only 9 moves, and I actually had more time on my clock when the game ended, than when I started. This tournament is using a 30 second increment, where you get an additional 30 seconds after each move. This time control is becoming common, because this allows players to always have time to record their move, and avoids some of the "time scrambles", and people losing on time.

[Event "National Open 2013"]
[Site "Las Vegas, NV"]
[Date "2013.06.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Currell, John"]
[Black "Brennan, Tim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A52"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1854"]
[PlyCount "18"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bf4 Bb4+ 6. Nbd2 Qe7 7. a3 Ngxe5 8. Bxe5 Nxe5 9. axb4 Nd3# 0-1

Here it is white to move. My opponent made the mistake, 9. axb4, which allows... (you fill in the blank) :-)

You can see the complete game here (Thanks to Jeff Baffo for posting).

http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2013/6/8/Game69962719.html

After the game, I saw Francisco, and was able to tell him what happened in the game with just the word "Buddha", which is what we call this trap. Francisco is the one who got me playing the Budapest defense, and I really enjoy it against 1. d4 2. c4.

Obviously checkmating your opponent in 9 moves is not common in a tournament like this, but it does happen. It is kind of funny to me when people "complain" that there are too many "mate in one" problems in my Tactics Time eBook, but the reality is that even 1800 players miss mate in ones, in long time control games. Recently I was playing though some of the games from the Colorado Closed, and a 2300 rated player missed a mate in one. So it does happen.

Right now I have one win, one draw, and one loss, so I won't be coming home with any prize money, but hopefully can still perform well in my last 3 games :-)

Hope you are having a great weekend!

Your Friend,

Tim Brennan

tim@tacticstime.com

Big Tourney Tips

Playing a large tournament can be grueling, especially ones where you are potentially playing 2 long games per day. You can end up playing close to 12 hours of chess in one day if your games go long.

Make sure to get plenty of rest. I even like to take "power naps" between rounds if possible.

Conserve energy. Don't waste it all on things like blitz, unless you are still a teenager. Save your energy for the games.

Don't drink too much alcohol (something I used to be very guilty of doing, before I quit drinking completely last year).

Try to clear yourself from outside distractions if possible. Unplug from the real world, and try to focus on chess as much as possible.

Try to get a hotel room close to the ground floor. There can often be a rush of chess players all trying to use the elevators at the same time.

Bring a sweater. Even though it is 110 degrees in Las Vegas right now, the tournament room is actually quite chilly because the air conditioning is on full blast.

Figure out how to set your clock before you go. The time controls are often complicated. The National Open is using 40 moves in 90 minutes with a 30 second increment, and then Sudden death G/30 with 30 second increment.

Have Fun!

Chess Celebrities

One of the fun things about going to a large chess tournament is that you can get to meet some of the top players in the game. In the past I have got to see and meet top players such as Boris Spassky, and the Polgar sisters at various large tournaments.

USCF article

The USCF posted a report about the National Open, which you can see here,
http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12239/716/

They also had an interesting article with some good ideas from the world of Poker, which I really enjoyed.

http://www.uschess.org/content/view/12227/343/

CS Chess News

Paul Anderson also sent out a new Colorado Springs Chess e-mail newsletter today, with an interesting tactic...

Official Site

The official site for the National Open is very nice. You can see the results, pairings, newsletters, photots, etc.

Col vs New Mexico

This weekend is also the annual Colorado vs New Mexico tournament. Each state sends one representative for each class. This year it is being played in New Mexico. Each player plays two games against the class representative from the other state. The state with the most points at the end wins!