David Ottosen
06-08-2004, 01:11 AM
After close to 18 months without really looking at a chess board, some friends cajoled me into playing a tourney. This was a sectional event where they allowed 48 players to enter, then the top 6 play a round robin, the next 6 play a round robin etc. I was ranked =13th so I was at the top of section C (my current rating being 2040 Canadian). EV wise, this wasn't a great use of 15+ hours of my time, as it was $20 to enter, and first was $110 (no second prize). This was also the first incremental time control tourney I had ever played (where you get additional time added to your clock after each move; I believe it was 40 moves in 100 minutes, with 30 seconds added after each move).
Round 1: Back in the day, there was a young girl from Russia who came over and was doing pretty well (relatively speaking); she had been to a few age group gender world championships etc, but was just rated in the mid 1600s. During my absence, everyone had told me she had gotten quite a bit better, and was now pushing close to 2000. Just what you want after a long layoff, a young hungry junior who can't wait to place your head on their trophy mantle. Fortunately, I still had a few tricks left...
Ottosen - Anastasia Kazakevich:
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Qf3 Nc6 4.Nge2 Nb4 5.Kd1 Be7 6.Qg3 g6 7.Nb5 d6 8.e5 d5 9.h4 h5 10.d4 Nc6 11.Bg5 Bxg5 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.hxg5 cxd5 14.Qf4 Qc7 15.g4 h4 16.Rh3 Rh7 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Ne7 19.Bd3 Nc6 20.Qf4 f5 21.gxf6 Nxe5 22.Qxe5 Rd7 23.Bxg6 Qxd6 24.Rxh4 Kg8 25.f7+ Kf8 26.Rh8+ 1-0
Ahh satisfying. My friends of course immediately informed me that I had beaten a little girl, probably made her cry, and that they hoped I was very proud, to which I replied "eminently."
Round 2: Playing the only person in the sectional I didn't know anything about, an older fellow from Minnesota. He had been fairly soundly beaten in round 1, but I had really no idea what to expect.
Gustafson - Ottosen
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Qa5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4 e6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d4 Nce7 8.Bc2 Ng6 9.dxc5 b4 10.Be3 Nf6 11.e5 Nd5 12.Bd4 Bxc5 13.cxb4 Qxb4 14.a3 Qb6 15.Nc3 Bxd4 16.Nxd4 Nxe5 17.Na4 Qd6 18.Rc1 Qe7 19.f4 Ne3 20.Qe2 Nxf1 21.fxe5 Nxh2 22.Be4 Qh4 23.Bxb7 Qxd4+ 24.Kxh2 Qf4+ 25.g3 Qxc1 26.Bxa8 0-0 27.Be4 f5 28.Bc2 Rc8 29.Bb3 Qh6+ 30.Kg2 Rc1 31.Bd1 f4 32.Nc3 Qg5 33.Qd3 fxg3 34.Qxd7 h5 35.Qe8+ Kh7 36.Qxh5+ Qxh5 37.Bxh5 Rc2+ 38.Kxg3 Rxb2 39.Ne4 Rb3+ 40.Kf4 Rxa3 41.Bf7 Ra1 42.Bxe6
Kg6 43.Bf5+ Kf7 44.e6+ Ke7 45.Nc3 Re1 46.Kg5 a5 47.Kg6 Rg1+ 48.Kh7 g5 49.Kg6 g4 50.Nd5+ Kd6 51.Nf4 g3 52.Kf6 Re1 53.Ng2 Re2 54.Bh3 Rf2+ 55.Kg5 a4 56.Ne3 Re2 57.Kf4 g2 58.Bxg2 Kxe6 59.Bd5+ Kd6 60.Bg8 Kc5 61.Ke4 Rd2 62.Nf5 a3 63.Ke3 Rd8 64.Ba2 Kb4 65.Nd4 ½-½
A typically wacky game where either side could easily have won.
Round 3: What I expected to be my toughest test. A former master and very experienced player, he is also the player I lost to in the most critical game of my life. I was just about done with chess a few years ago and somehow made it into our provincial closed, where I went on an improbable winning streak, and entering the last round, found myself a full point ahead of the field despite being ranked 7th of the 8 players. I then proceeded to get waxed by this player and fall into a tie, and then got whitewashed in the playoff. Anyways, he seems to be in decline as well, and we had a typically funny game. I had posted on our chess newsgroup that I was planning to play 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 and somehow he had gotten wind of it.
Ottosen - Yearwood
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.e4 Bb7 6.f3 c5 7.d5 d6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nge2 b5 10.b3 bxc4 11.bxc4 Nbd7 12.0-0 Re8 13.Nd1 exd5 14.cxd5 Ne5 15.Bb5 Rf8 16.f4 Ng6 17.Ne3 a6 18.Bd3 Re8 19.Rb1 Bc8 20.a3 Ba5 21.Nc4 Bc7 22.h3 Qe7 23.Ng3 h5 24.Bb2 h4 25.Bxf6 Qxf6 26.e5 dxe5 27.fxe5 Qd8 28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Qxg6 Re7 30.Nh5 Kh8 31.d6 Be6 32.Rf4 Bxc4 33.Nf6 1-0
Nothing will ever make up for the one loss to this guy, but it certainly sweetens every win over him and this one was particularly devastating.
So I was now tied for first; in round 4 I would play the co-leader.
Round 4: I can't pretend I like this guy; he is the epitomy of every stereotype about how chess players have no social skills or common sense. I have also done quite well against him in the past (despite some very bad positions); I was looking for this to continue and responded with what was in fact one of the more spectacular games I have ever played. Whether it was all sound or not is up for debate but I walked away feeling like a genius, and he walked away feeling like a beaten child.
Ottosen-Nguyen
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Rg1 b5 7. g4 Bb7 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. Be3 b4 10. g5 bxc3 11. gxf6 gxf6 12. Qh5 cxb2 13. Rb1 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 e5 15. Rxb2 Bc6 16. Be3 Rb8 17. Bc4 d5 18. exd5 Rxb2 19. dxc6 Qe7 20. Bc5 Qc7 21. Bxf7+ Kd8 22. Qd1+ Kc8 23. Be6+ Kb8 24. Rg7 Qa5+ 25. Kf1 Qb5+ 26. Kg1 Rb1 27. c7+ 1-0
I think with 25...Bxg7 he might have been winning, but I havent run it through the computer yet. I know that 21.Bxf7+ and 24.Rg7 were both enormous surprises to him.
Round 5: I was now a clear point ahead of the field, so I was guaranteed to win at least equal first and gain a few rating points. However, I did want to take clear first and not have any losses in this event. My opponent was someone I had not played before, and who was doing not too great so far in the tourney (1 loss and 3 draws). I knew he was desperate to win so I decided to do something unusual and play a drawish move on move 3 to see how far he would take it. Of course shortly after my natural instinct to do crazy stuff took over and by move 17 almost every piece on the board is hanging. I missed a couple of fairly easy wins and took the perpetual check with Nh3-f2-h3-f2.
Rekhson-Ottosen
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 c5 6. d5 Nf6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. dxe6 fxe6 10. Bc4 Nc6 11. O-O O-O 12. Qe2 Kh8 13. Rad1 Nd4 14. Qe5 b5 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Nxb5 Qb6 17. Kh1 Ng4 18. Qxd4 Qxd4 19. Rxd4 Rxf1+ 20. Bxf1 Nf2+ 21. Kg1 Bc5 22. Rxd7 Nh3+ 1/2-1/2
Any basic computer program will point out the routine wins such as 18.Rxf1+ but this game more than any showed my rust; I just couldn't keep the pieces straight in my mind and overlooked lots of things.
I was very happy after the event /images/graemlins/grin.gif The $110 first place almost made up for the $450 I dropped on Party during one of the lunch breaks. Oh well!
Round 1: Back in the day, there was a young girl from Russia who came over and was doing pretty well (relatively speaking); she had been to a few age group gender world championships etc, but was just rated in the mid 1600s. During my absence, everyone had told me she had gotten quite a bit better, and was now pushing close to 2000. Just what you want after a long layoff, a young hungry junior who can't wait to place your head on their trophy mantle. Fortunately, I still had a few tricks left...
Ottosen - Anastasia Kazakevich:
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Qf3 Nc6 4.Nge2 Nb4 5.Kd1 Be7 6.Qg3 g6 7.Nb5 d6 8.e5 d5 9.h4 h5 10.d4 Nc6 11.Bg5 Bxg5 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.hxg5 cxd5 14.Qf4 Qc7 15.g4 h4 16.Rh3 Rh7 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Ne7 19.Bd3 Nc6 20.Qf4 f5 21.gxf6 Nxe5 22.Qxe5 Rd7 23.Bxg6 Qxd6 24.Rxh4 Kg8 25.f7+ Kf8 26.Rh8+ 1-0
Ahh satisfying. My friends of course immediately informed me that I had beaten a little girl, probably made her cry, and that they hoped I was very proud, to which I replied "eminently."
Round 2: Playing the only person in the sectional I didn't know anything about, an older fellow from Minnesota. He had been fairly soundly beaten in round 1, but I had really no idea what to expect.
Gustafson - Ottosen
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Qa5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4 e6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.d4 Nce7 8.Bc2 Ng6 9.dxc5 b4 10.Be3 Nf6 11.e5 Nd5 12.Bd4 Bxc5 13.cxb4 Qxb4 14.a3 Qb6 15.Nc3 Bxd4 16.Nxd4 Nxe5 17.Na4 Qd6 18.Rc1 Qe7 19.f4 Ne3 20.Qe2 Nxf1 21.fxe5 Nxh2 22.Be4 Qh4 23.Bxb7 Qxd4+ 24.Kxh2 Qf4+ 25.g3 Qxc1 26.Bxa8 0-0 27.Be4 f5 28.Bc2 Rc8 29.Bb3 Qh6+ 30.Kg2 Rc1 31.Bd1 f4 32.Nc3 Qg5 33.Qd3 fxg3 34.Qxd7 h5 35.Qe8+ Kh7 36.Qxh5+ Qxh5 37.Bxh5 Rc2+ 38.Kxg3 Rxb2 39.Ne4 Rb3+ 40.Kf4 Rxa3 41.Bf7 Ra1 42.Bxe6
Kg6 43.Bf5+ Kf7 44.e6+ Ke7 45.Nc3 Re1 46.Kg5 a5 47.Kg6 Rg1+ 48.Kh7 g5 49.Kg6 g4 50.Nd5+ Kd6 51.Nf4 g3 52.Kf6 Re1 53.Ng2 Re2 54.Bh3 Rf2+ 55.Kg5 a4 56.Ne3 Re2 57.Kf4 g2 58.Bxg2 Kxe6 59.Bd5+ Kd6 60.Bg8 Kc5 61.Ke4 Rd2 62.Nf5 a3 63.Ke3 Rd8 64.Ba2 Kb4 65.Nd4 ½-½
A typically wacky game where either side could easily have won.
Round 3: What I expected to be my toughest test. A former master and very experienced player, he is also the player I lost to in the most critical game of my life. I was just about done with chess a few years ago and somehow made it into our provincial closed, where I went on an improbable winning streak, and entering the last round, found myself a full point ahead of the field despite being ranked 7th of the 8 players. I then proceeded to get waxed by this player and fall into a tie, and then got whitewashed in the playoff. Anyways, he seems to be in decline as well, and we had a typically funny game. I had posted on our chess newsgroup that I was planning to play 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 and somehow he had gotten wind of it.
Ottosen - Yearwood
1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 b6 5.e4 Bb7 6.f3 c5 7.d5 d6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nge2 b5 10.b3 bxc4 11.bxc4 Nbd7 12.0-0 Re8 13.Nd1 exd5 14.cxd5 Ne5 15.Bb5 Rf8 16.f4 Ng6 17.Ne3 a6 18.Bd3 Re8 19.Rb1 Bc8 20.a3 Ba5 21.Nc4 Bc7 22.h3 Qe7 23.Ng3 h5 24.Bb2 h4 25.Bxf6 Qxf6 26.e5 dxe5 27.fxe5 Qd8 28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Qxg6 Re7 30.Nh5 Kh8 31.d6 Be6 32.Rf4 Bxc4 33.Nf6 1-0
Nothing will ever make up for the one loss to this guy, but it certainly sweetens every win over him and this one was particularly devastating.
So I was now tied for first; in round 4 I would play the co-leader.
Round 4: I can't pretend I like this guy; he is the epitomy of every stereotype about how chess players have no social skills or common sense. I have also done quite well against him in the past (despite some very bad positions); I was looking for this to continue and responded with what was in fact one of the more spectacular games I have ever played. Whether it was all sound or not is up for debate but I walked away feeling like a genius, and he walked away feeling like a beaten child.
Ottosen-Nguyen
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Rg1 b5 7. g4 Bb7 8. Bd3 Nc6 9. Be3 b4 10. g5 bxc3 11. gxf6 gxf6 12. Qh5 cxb2 13. Rb1 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 e5 15. Rxb2 Bc6 16. Be3 Rb8 17. Bc4 d5 18. exd5 Rxb2 19. dxc6 Qe7 20. Bc5 Qc7 21. Bxf7+ Kd8 22. Qd1+ Kc8 23. Be6+ Kb8 24. Rg7 Qa5+ 25. Kf1 Qb5+ 26. Kg1 Rb1 27. c7+ 1-0
I think with 25...Bxg7 he might have been winning, but I havent run it through the computer yet. I know that 21.Bxf7+ and 24.Rg7 were both enormous surprises to him.
Round 5: I was now a clear point ahead of the field, so I was guaranteed to win at least equal first and gain a few rating points. However, I did want to take clear first and not have any losses in this event. My opponent was someone I had not played before, and who was doing not too great so far in the tourney (1 loss and 3 draws). I knew he was desperate to win so I decided to do something unusual and play a drawish move on move 3 to see how far he would take it. Of course shortly after my natural instinct to do crazy stuff took over and by move 17 almost every piece on the board is hanging. I missed a couple of fairly easy wins and took the perpetual check with Nh3-f2-h3-f2.
Rekhson-Ottosen
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 c5 6. d5 Nf6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. dxe6 fxe6 10. Bc4 Nc6 11. O-O O-O 12. Qe2 Kh8 13. Rad1 Nd4 14. Qe5 b5 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Nxb5 Qb6 17. Kh1 Ng4 18. Qxd4 Qxd4 19. Rxd4 Rxf1+ 20. Bxf1 Nf2+ 21. Kg1 Bc5 22. Rxd7 Nh3+ 1/2-1/2
Any basic computer program will point out the routine wins such as 18.Rxf1+ but this game more than any showed my rust; I just couldn't keep the pieces straight in my mind and overlooked lots of things.
I was very happy after the event /images/graemlins/grin.gif The $110 first place almost made up for the $450 I dropped on Party during one of the lunch breaks. Oh well!