So, it all ended yesterday. My first tournament ended on a disappointing note for me, as I lost the last round to a player named Sanjay Gupta, rating 1749. It has started getting more and more frustrating, the way I fail to win games against sub 1900 players. I got three chances to do that in this tournament and I failed in all three, securing an ugly draw in one of them.
The irritating thing is that it is not that they are playing well to win. It is more a case of a blunder from me which costs me the game. After six rounds, I had scored 1.5 points out of a possible 6 and I was looking down the barrel. I aimed to win all five games to end up with a respectable score. I almost succeeded, as I won four on the trot but the loss in the last game is haunting me and I suppose it will continue to haunt me for quite some time. It was similar to the loss I incurred in our Inter MAHE championship against Swarup, the captian of the Kasturba Medical College, where I had blundered after having him on the mat for the first 20 odd moves. No wonder, I lost out on the prize by half a point and that is what I can't forget.
All in all, finishing with 5.5 points out of 11 was an average performance, if not bad and there were a lot of lessons to be learnt. I know my game better and I hope to prepare well for the next tournament, the one in Amity scheduled for mid May. My FIDE rating performance is 1588, which is way below the minimum I expected, i.e. 1700. I am not reading too much into it as of now because it is not my rating. If I improve my game in the next month or so, I am sure I would start with a 1700+ rating. I met a lot of people and made a lot of friends there, of all age groups. It is a pleasure to see children of 7-15 years of age play phenomenal chess and beating people of their parents and grandfather's age!
It is so very true that defeats teach you more than the wins. I never analyzed my game but now I will. Thankfully I have found some very helpful people there who have told me about the method to be adopted and hopefully I would put up a better show against the next 5 rated players that I meet.
The entire tournament was a pleasure, met a lot of people and I hope to learn in the future from the players like Saket, Saveson, Siddharth, Sanjay, Surendra and many more(ohh.. I didn't notice that all of the names start with S!!).
Monday, March 30, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
Chess Diary - Part 3
Day 5:Round 7:I did not write much about yesterday's two rounds because I lost in both of them to unrated players. I won't say I played badly but I should have put up a better fight and analyzed the game closely. I think the fact that the players were unrated filled me up with overconfidence and I paid a heavy price for it, losing both the games. And yeah, today I was too focussed on my games so I didn't care which table my friends were playing on in the hall. And after playing a hard fought game that lasted around 4 hours, I did not have the energy left in me to search anyone so I decided to return home.
Today I went in with a sense of urgency. I had analyzed my game yesterday and found out the deficiencies and blunders. Sometimes you make a seemingly harmless move and it costs you the game! I did not believe in it earlier but I had seen it yesterday. Hence, I reached the venue at 3.55 pm, went to check the pairings (and for a change, saw only my table number, rather than the usual days on which I see "everybody's" table and opponents). I was drawn against Vaibhav Varma ( he mentioned it to me specifically that he is a Varma and not Verma) who was unrated. After the two shattering defeats to unrated players yesterday, I was so much down on confidence that I hardly paid attention to his rating. Only while entering his name in the scoresheet did I ask him that.
I was playing white so there was the usual opening that I feel comfortable with. I missed a good move on the 3rd move itself. It did not lose anything but I could have gained a vital advantage. The game went on to take an unusual course from the beginning and somehow I felt comfortable with it. The reason is that most of the players memorize the openings and they know what to play against what attack. I am not a player trained by coaches and all so I feel it quite difficult to memorize them. Hence, my opening is weak. I missed an opportunity or two in the middlegame as well but I had got an advantage of two pawns and was confident of winning in the endgame. However, the winning move did not strike me at the right time and I almost threw away a win, when I worked out an apparently silly move which would be winning for me.
My opponent was taking at least 15 minutes for each move after the 35th move or so. He offered me a draw on the 40th move and only then I realized that if I did not play carefully I would throw away a win.I refused the draw because after losing 3 games on the trot, I could not afford another loss and finally, when I made the 55th move he could not find any escape route and offered to shake hands, which means that the player resigns. It is a pleasure to see this gesture from your opponent and shaking hands after winning the game and saying "well played" is like rubbing salt into his wounds. It felt good to win after 48 hours and I hope I would do well tomorrow as well. I really need to!
Today I went in with a sense of urgency. I had analyzed my game yesterday and found out the deficiencies and blunders. Sometimes you make a seemingly harmless move and it costs you the game! I did not believe in it earlier but I had seen it yesterday. Hence, I reached the venue at 3.55 pm, went to check the pairings (and for a change, saw only my table number, rather than the usual days on which I see "everybody's" table and opponents). I was drawn against Vaibhav Varma ( he mentioned it to me specifically that he is a Varma and not Verma) who was unrated. After the two shattering defeats to unrated players yesterday, I was so much down on confidence that I hardly paid attention to his rating. Only while entering his name in the scoresheet did I ask him that.
I was playing white so there was the usual opening that I feel comfortable with. I missed a good move on the 3rd move itself. It did not lose anything but I could have gained a vital advantage. The game went on to take an unusual course from the beginning and somehow I felt comfortable with it. The reason is that most of the players memorize the openings and they know what to play against what attack. I am not a player trained by coaches and all so I feel it quite difficult to memorize them. Hence, my opening is weak. I missed an opportunity or two in the middlegame as well but I had got an advantage of two pawns and was confident of winning in the endgame. However, the winning move did not strike me at the right time and I almost threw away a win, when I worked out an apparently silly move which would be winning for me.
My opponent was taking at least 15 minutes for each move after the 35th move or so. He offered me a draw on the 40th move and only then I realized that if I did not play carefully I would throw away a win.I refused the draw because after losing 3 games on the trot, I could not afford another loss and finally, when I made the 55th move he could not find any escape route and offered to shake hands, which means that the player resigns. It is a pleasure to see this gesture from your opponent and shaking hands after winning the game and saying "well played" is like rubbing salt into his wounds. It felt good to win after 48 hours and I hope I would do well tomorrow as well. I really need to!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Chess Diary - Part 2
Day 3, Round 4:
I went in for today's game full of energy, as I was overjoyed with both the results yesterday. I relaxed a lot through the day and reached the venue just five minutes before time. I straightaway rushed to check the pairings.
Table 67:Preetika Tayal vs Jayant Shekhar
This is what was written on the board. Hmm.. so for the first time in my life I'll be playing against a girl.. good enough! I have always believed that girls seriously lack intellect and I thought I would have a pretty decent game. However, I had missed one thing, i.e. her International rating, which was 1857. I have beaten players with 1900+ rating but I cannot treat it as my par rating right now so I knew that she would be a tough opponent. And for those who would think that I started thinking about "other things" the moment I saw a girl's name need to think again. The fact is that every participant pays a minimum of Rs 1500 as entry fee for this tournament and there is far too much at stake for me so I could not afford to get distracted.
The girl has just entered the 10th standard in APJ, Pitampura and after the first 10 moves or so, I was surprisingly very happy with my position. I had to play the black pieces and my opening is weak. For a change, it was me who was attacking her and she spent whole of the first part of the game defending.
I was starting to tire after the 20th move and that is when I made a silly mistake, which put me down a full piece,i.e. 3 points. And after that it just got worse and I resigned the game on 26th move. It was a good lesson for me and I repeated a mistake pointed out by my friend cum coach Akram Baig, i.e. I do not castle.
I hope I will not repeat this mistake for the games now onwards and I cannot afford to make mistakes like this any more.
However, it's not just about chess these days
I was really sad as I shook hands with my opponent and was walking out of the playing hall, when I walked across table no 109. A girl,(name removed coz it didn't go down well with few ppl) ,was playing her game with a boy having a good rating and she had an advantage in the game. Now, if at all you are thinking as to how I knew the name of the girl, read on to get the answer. In these tournaments, a list is put up outside the playing hall, listing clearly the name of the players with their ratings, points and the table numbers.
However, that did not change my disappointment and I decided to head back to the metro station and then to home. My misfortune didn't relent there either and as I entered the platform, a train left. I checked the information bar and found that the next train would be after 4 minutes, which is a long time, by metro standards. I was roaming to and fro on the station and the usual "bird watching" activity that one is expected to undergo in such a situation did not attract me, as I was far too disappointed after losing the game. Just as I turned back, I found the girl of table 109 on the same station! I went to her to find out about the result of the game. I straightaway walked across her, she recognized me and we started talking about our games, our standings, our points and all that. The game of chess is such that you can go on and on discussing about it and you would not finish.The initial 4 minute wait was now reduced to none and the announcement for the train's arrival broke the conversation for a minute.
So, what about you?Are you in school or college? That question hit me like anything. Here I am, 3 months away from being an engineer and she still doubts if I am a school student!! I attributed this to the unique quality of brainlessness that only a girl can possess and answered in a somewhat stern voice, "I will complete my engineering in June." This answer had probably the same effect on her that her question had on me and she wasted no time in cutting her tongue between her teeth for a moment. Then the unwantable happened.. Rajiv Chowk station was there and she got down. I could have taken the same route but I resisted and we exchanged best of luck wishes before parting.
I went in for today's game full of energy, as I was overjoyed with both the results yesterday. I relaxed a lot through the day and reached the venue just five minutes before time. I straightaway rushed to check the pairings.
Table 67:Preetika Tayal vs Jayant Shekhar
This is what was written on the board. Hmm.. so for the first time in my life I'll be playing against a girl.. good enough! I have always believed that girls seriously lack intellect and I thought I would have a pretty decent game. However, I had missed one thing, i.e. her International rating, which was 1857. I have beaten players with 1900+ rating but I cannot treat it as my par rating right now so I knew that she would be a tough opponent. And for those who would think that I started thinking about "other things" the moment I saw a girl's name need to think again. The fact is that every participant pays a minimum of Rs 1500 as entry fee for this tournament and there is far too much at stake for me so I could not afford to get distracted.
The girl has just entered the 10th standard in APJ, Pitampura and after the first 10 moves or so, I was surprisingly very happy with my position. I had to play the black pieces and my opening is weak. For a change, it was me who was attacking her and she spent whole of the first part of the game defending.
I was starting to tire after the 20th move and that is when I made a silly mistake, which put me down a full piece,i.e. 3 points. And after that it just got worse and I resigned the game on 26th move. It was a good lesson for me and I repeated a mistake pointed out by my friend cum coach Akram Baig, i.e. I do not castle.
I hope I will not repeat this mistake for the games now onwards and I cannot afford to make mistakes like this any more.
However, it's not just about chess these days
I was really sad as I shook hands with my opponent and was walking out of the playing hall, when I walked across table no 109. A girl,(name removed coz it didn't go down well with few ppl) ,was playing her game with a boy having a good rating and she had an advantage in the game. Now, if at all you are thinking as to how I knew the name of the girl, read on to get the answer. In these tournaments, a list is put up outside the playing hall, listing clearly the name of the players with their ratings, points and the table numbers.
However, that did not change my disappointment and I decided to head back to the metro station and then to home. My misfortune didn't relent there either and as I entered the platform, a train left. I checked the information bar and found that the next train would be after 4 minutes, which is a long time, by metro standards. I was roaming to and fro on the station and the usual "bird watching" activity that one is expected to undergo in such a situation did not attract me, as I was far too disappointed after losing the game. Just as I turned back, I found the girl of table 109 on the same station! I went to her to find out about the result of the game. I straightaway walked across her, she recognized me and we started talking about our games, our standings, our points and all that. The game of chess is such that you can go on and on discussing about it and you would not finish.The initial 4 minute wait was now reduced to none and the announcement for the train's arrival broke the conversation for a minute.
So, what about you?Are you in school or college? That question hit me like anything. Here I am, 3 months away from being an engineer and she still doubts if I am a school student!! I attributed this to the unique quality of brainlessness that only a girl can possess and answered in a somewhat stern voice, "I will complete my engineering in June." This answer had probably the same effect on her that her question had on me and she wasted no time in cutting her tongue between her teeth for a moment. Then the unwantable happened.. Rajiv Chowk station was there and she got down. I could have taken the same route but I resisted and we exchanged best of luck wishes before parting.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Chess Diary - Part 1
The title suggests what I am upto these days and I plan to write my experiences for my own sake (as I know hardly anyone reads my blog) as they would help refresh the memories some time later. I am playing in an Internationally Rated Chess Tournament, which started on 22nd March and will go on until the next sunday, i.e. 29th March.I am not getting too much into technical chess in my posts so I am sure those who do not have any interest in the game(like most of my friends) would not have difficulty in reading.
Day 1, Round 1The tournament started yesterday, with the usual formal inauguration and then the pairing was done. My opponent was Mr. Gopalakrishna, an old man with white, longish beard and hardly any hair to match the color of the beard. I came to know from the list that he was rated 2070 so I was up against it straightaway. For layman's knowledge about chess and its ratings, anyone who is rated above 1750 or so is considered to be a strong opponent and given the fact that I am unrated till now, I knew that I will have a tough time. I was playing with white pieces so that gave me slight advantage, but it didn't last long and I crumbled under the pressure mounted by him and resigned the game in around 38 moves.
Day 2
I was not in a very good mood today, given yesterday's loss but I knew that I would get a comparatively easier opponent for the second round and that was the case. My opponent this time was Simarjiv Singh, a sardar kid.I was playing with black pieces, which meant he got the advantage. However, I had decided after yesterday's game that I would not sit back and defend. Thus, I offered him a gambit on the very first move and he took it. The pieces were getting exchanged regularly but he was ignoring the fact that I was gaining tempo after each exchange and he blundered. He had too many things to worry about and I opened my score for the tournament with an easy win.
Lot of time to spare.. what to do?? My game had started at around 10 a.m. and I initially took my time to think, which meant that I was trailing on time by around 30 minutes. However, the game got over before 11.30 and the next round was to start at 4 p.m. ( as the organizers had to ensure that all the games of round 2 end well before the start of the next round, so that they can decide on the pairings). I decided to go to my father's office for lunch, as it would kill time and I would get some much needed nutrition. I virtually starved for the entire day yesterday and I didn't want to repeat that. Another incentive for the travel to dad's office was that I had to take the Metro, which is a heaven for "bird watchers". I came back at 3 p.m, analyzed my previous game with a friend of mine and then went to check the pairings for the next round.
Day 2, Round 3: This has by far been the most memorable game I have ever played. I must have played better in online games but still, the fact that this game was against a FIDE rated player, Tarun Mathur( rating 1788), added to the excitement. The match was to begin at 4 p.m and I was seated well before time. My opponent kept me waiting for a long time and I decided to follow the game going on on the adjacent table, in which an 8 year old kid was beating the hell out of a 25 year old guy. I checked the watch and it was 4.25.. still no sign of Mr. Tarun. I decided to go to the organizers and they told me to wait until 5 p.m. I wished he never comes and I get a walk over, but that would not have made me happy. Finally, Mr. Mathur, a person of a medium height and somewhat stocky built(with a frightening French beard) appeared onto the scene and I switched my focus back to my table. I had the white pieces and, as is the case so many times, I lost the advantage of playing white when I had to break down a move into two. My opponent then slowly built his attack, which would have resulted in a catastrophe for me had I not calculated at least 4-5 variations before every move. He had too many threats but somehow, I just hung in, I even had to sacrifice a pawn to stop his attack. I can proudly say that I was at my defensive best in this game and I even offered him a draw later, which he refused. It was logical decision on his part because you do not agree to a draw when you are up a pawn and both the players have a Queen, two rooks and a bishop(of opposite colors). All of my pieces were tied down and one blunder would have been catastrophic. However, I managed to stop his attack and then he decided to change the flank of the attack and that is when a move struck me out of nowhere! I would not go into the technical terms of the move but I came up with a move which meant he either gives me an advantage for the rest of the game or the game would be a draw. Thus, it ended in a draw and I walked off a satisfied person, given my bad position throughout the game.
As of now, I have 1.5 points out of 3 and tomorrow would be a crucial day to my FIDE rating aspirations. I need all the luck!
Day 1, Round 1The tournament started yesterday, with the usual formal inauguration and then the pairing was done. My opponent was Mr. Gopalakrishna, an old man with white, longish beard and hardly any hair to match the color of the beard. I came to know from the list that he was rated 2070 so I was up against it straightaway. For layman's knowledge about chess and its ratings, anyone who is rated above 1750 or so is considered to be a strong opponent and given the fact that I am unrated till now, I knew that I will have a tough time. I was playing with white pieces so that gave me slight advantage, but it didn't last long and I crumbled under the pressure mounted by him and resigned the game in around 38 moves.
Day 2
I was not in a very good mood today, given yesterday's loss but I knew that I would get a comparatively easier opponent for the second round and that was the case. My opponent this time was Simarjiv Singh, a sardar kid.I was playing with black pieces, which meant he got the advantage. However, I had decided after yesterday's game that I would not sit back and defend. Thus, I offered him a gambit on the very first move and he took it. The pieces were getting exchanged regularly but he was ignoring the fact that I was gaining tempo after each exchange and he blundered. He had too many things to worry about and I opened my score for the tournament with an easy win.
Lot of time to spare.. what to do?? My game had started at around 10 a.m. and I initially took my time to think, which meant that I was trailing on time by around 30 minutes. However, the game got over before 11.30 and the next round was to start at 4 p.m. ( as the organizers had to ensure that all the games of round 2 end well before the start of the next round, so that they can decide on the pairings). I decided to go to my father's office for lunch, as it would kill time and I would get some much needed nutrition. I virtually starved for the entire day yesterday and I didn't want to repeat that. Another incentive for the travel to dad's office was that I had to take the Metro, which is a heaven for "bird watchers". I came back at 3 p.m, analyzed my previous game with a friend of mine and then went to check the pairings for the next round.
Day 2, Round 3: This has by far been the most memorable game I have ever played. I must have played better in online games but still, the fact that this game was against a FIDE rated player, Tarun Mathur( rating 1788), added to the excitement. The match was to begin at 4 p.m and I was seated well before time. My opponent kept me waiting for a long time and I decided to follow the game going on on the adjacent table, in which an 8 year old kid was beating the hell out of a 25 year old guy. I checked the watch and it was 4.25.. still no sign of Mr. Tarun. I decided to go to the organizers and they told me to wait until 5 p.m. I wished he never comes and I get a walk over, but that would not have made me happy. Finally, Mr. Mathur, a person of a medium height and somewhat stocky built(with a frightening French beard) appeared onto the scene and I switched my focus back to my table. I had the white pieces and, as is the case so many times, I lost the advantage of playing white when I had to break down a move into two. My opponent then slowly built his attack, which would have resulted in a catastrophe for me had I not calculated at least 4-5 variations before every move. He had too many threats but somehow, I just hung in, I even had to sacrifice a pawn to stop his attack. I can proudly say that I was at my defensive best in this game and I even offered him a draw later, which he refused. It was logical decision on his part because you do not agree to a draw when you are up a pawn and both the players have a Queen, two rooks and a bishop(of opposite colors). All of my pieces were tied down and one blunder would have been catastrophic. However, I managed to stop his attack and then he decided to change the flank of the attack and that is when a move struck me out of nowhere! I would not go into the technical terms of the move but I came up with a move which meant he either gives me an advantage for the rest of the game or the game would be a draw. Thus, it ended in a draw and I walked off a satisfied person, given my bad position throughout the game.
As of now, I have 1.5 points out of 3 and tomorrow would be a crucial day to my FIDE rating aspirations. I need all the luck!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Our Unfriendly Neighbourhood
It was Pakistan's turn to face its own music. The recent terror strikes on the Sri Lankan Cricket team has fuelled new speculations and I am sure not all of them are wrong. The entire world knows about what happened in Lahore so I would not go into the details of that. I am more interested at pointing out incidents which point to something else.
There was not a single policeman in the bus of the Sri Lankan team. Prior to the tour they had been promised President level security to them. Where was it??
Why was the departure of Pakistan's Team bus delayed by 5 minutes at the very last moment?
The route of the bus was changed at the very last moment. How did the attackers come to know about it?
The Geo TV camera that shot the attack is fixed somewhere, stationary. Normally, when a reporter bursts onto such a scene, the cameraman is seen running with the camera to find the right angles. However, here the camera has been fixed at just the perfect angle. Did they know about the incident's timing as well?
The attackers are shown to be roaming around freely in the streets of Lahore, 11 minutes after the attack. There is no policeman in sight.
I think this is proof enough that Lahore is out of Pakistan government's control now and the end of the democracy is not-so-far.
I am not pointing fingers at anyone but you can make up your mind as to whether the attack was planned or not.
There was not a single policeman in the bus of the Sri Lankan team. Prior to the tour they had been promised President level security to them. Where was it??
Why was the departure of Pakistan's Team bus delayed by 5 minutes at the very last moment?
The route of the bus was changed at the very last moment. How did the attackers come to know about it?
The Geo TV camera that shot the attack is fixed somewhere, stationary. Normally, when a reporter bursts onto such a scene, the cameraman is seen running with the camera to find the right angles. However, here the camera has been fixed at just the perfect angle. Did they know about the incident's timing as well?
The attackers are shown to be roaming around freely in the streets of Lahore, 11 minutes after the attack. There is no policeman in sight.
I think this is proof enough that Lahore is out of Pakistan government's control now and the end of the democracy is not-so-far.
I am not pointing fingers at anyone but you can make up your mind as to whether the attack was planned or not.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Stop wondering friends, I'm all right
In the past few days, there has been a significant rise in the number of posts in my blog. All this while I was under the impression that nobody bothers hopping onto my blog for any reason. But, it seems there is an occasional reader or two for my blog all the time and that is the reason I have faced quite a few questions recently, asking me if I was doing well??
Those who know me or have followed my blog for a decent length of time know that I am a lazy blogger, who would not update my blog so easily. The fact that I made as many as 10 updates so quickly has really made them sit up and take notice and they could not help asking me what I have been upto.
My answer would be,"I'm fine." It is just that I have been offered a few sponsored posts lately and I was happy enough to acknowledge their offer, as they are paying a decent enough money for a neutral review.
Apart from that I have been killing time, as always. With two crucial exams coming up on the next two Sundays, everything apart from studies will have to take a back seat. The month of march will present me some exciting opportunities, both for my academics and sports so I hope I reach my birthday with a few good things in my kitty.
Those who know me or have followed my blog for a decent length of time know that I am a lazy blogger, who would not update my blog so easily. The fact that I made as many as 10 updates so quickly has really made them sit up and take notice and they could not help asking me what I have been upto.
My answer would be,"I'm fine." It is just that I have been offered a few sponsored posts lately and I was happy enough to acknowledge their offer, as they are paying a decent enough money for a neutral review.
Apart from that I have been killing time, as always. With two crucial exams coming up on the next two Sundays, everything apart from studies will have to take a back seat. The month of march will present me some exciting opportunities, both for my academics and sports so I hope I reach my birthday with a few good things in my kitty.
All of a sudden, it's raining offers for my blog :)
There was a phase when I did not earn even a single penny from my blog, due to the lack of opportunities at the two sites used by me for getting sponsored posts. However, things seem to have taken a pleasant turn for the past three days. I am getting offers right, left and centre!
In the last two days I have made more than $30 from blog sponsorships and just as I write this, I have got one more offer worth $5. Apart from that, I have got the offers from advertisers to put their ads on my blog and I would be paid for every click it generates for them. Things are looking so rosy now :)
In the last two days I have made more than $30 from blog sponsorships and just as I write this, I have got one more offer worth $5. Apart from that, I have got the offers from advertisers to put their ads on my blog and I would be paid for every click it generates for them. Things are looking so rosy now :)
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