Never Say Die: A Chess.com Tournament Experience

May 24 will mark the second anniversary of my dedicated attempts to improve at chess, but I noticed over the holiday season that I have yet to participate in a time-honored tradition enjoyed by countless chess enthusiasts around the world: *a tournament*. I have passed on several opportunities to play in local tournaments with the [San Antonio Chess Club](http://www.sanantoniochess.com) and playing with that group is the closest I have come to developing a 2016 New Year’s Resolution. Earlier this week I was about to play a 15-minute slow game on [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com) when I noticed that a tournament for the same time control was starting within 10 minutes. I joined the tournament and spent the next 2 and 1/2 hours playing in my first chess tournament! I was skeptical of the online tournament format but was pleasantly surprised by the energy of the players and the fierceness of the competition. I finished *2nd* overall with a 4/5 score. The loss was disappointing but it strengthened my resolve to play through.

I was thrilled to see that many of the games played in this little tournament were exceptional. Games where White or Black was winning with an enormous amount of material and excellent positional play were turned upside down with smart tactics and devastating blunders. It was during the first round as I watched a game in progress where Black was steamrolling his opponent until the chess gods intervened…

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2016.01.03”]
[Round “?”]
[White “tg-13”]
[Black “JakeBoz98”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A16”]
[WhiteElo “1182”]
[BlackElo “1075”]
[Annotator “Wesley Surber”]
[PlyCount “131”]
[EventDate “2016.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]

1. e4 e5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 b6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. a3 d6 6. d3 Bd7 7. Be3 Ng4 8. Be2 f5
9. O-O f4 10. d4 fxe3 11. d5 exf2+ {This is about the time that I joined the
group in kibitzing this game. I had mixed feelings about the position because
it felt as though White had sacrificed material unnecessarily and now Black
was literally knocking at the castle door. However, this game would go on to
prove that chess is a game where nothing is ever a sure thing.} 12. Kh1 Nd4 13.
Nxd4 exd4 14. Bxg4 dxc3 {This was very hard to watch. Black was literally
gobbling up White’s minor pieces with pawns and I expected a resignation at
any moment.} 15. Bxd7+ {From the outside looking in, this move seemed like
desperation.} Qxd7 16. Rxf2 cxb2 17. Rxb2 O-O-O 18. Qf3 g5 19. Qf6 Bg7 20. Qxg5
Bxb2 {At this point, White is left with only a Rook, Queen, and foot soldiers.
He needed a miracle…} 21. Rb1 Be5 22. g3 Rhg8 23. Qd2 Rdf8 24. Qe2 Qa4 25.
Qe3 Qxc4 26. Rc1 Qa6 27. Kg2 Bb2 28. Rc2 Bxa3 29. Ra2 Bc5 30. Rxa6 Bxe3 31.
Rxa7 Rf2+ 32. Kh3 Rff8 33. Ra8+ Kd7 34. Rxf8 Rxf8 35. Kh4 {This is the point
that I kept hearing the words “Never Say Die” in my head. White refused to
give up despite being crippled early in the game.} c5 36. dxc6+ Kxc6 37. h3 b5
38. Kh5 Rg8 39. g4 b4 40. h4 b3 41. g5 b2 42. Kh6 b1=Q 43. Kxh7 Qb3 44. g6 Bd4
45. Kh6 Bg7+ 46. Kh7 Qf7 47. gxf7 $4 {I could not believe that just happened.}
Rf8 48. Kxg7 Ra8 49. f8=Q Rxf8 50. Kxf8 Kd7 51. Kf7 Kc6 52. h5 Kc5 53. Kf6 Kd4
54. Kf5 Kc5 55. h6 Kd4 56. h7 d5 57. h8=Q+ {Back from the brink, White’s
“never say die” attitude pays off in the endgame.} Kc4 58. exd5 Kxd5 59. Qe5+
Kc4 60. Qd6 Kc3 61. Qd5 Kb4 62. Qc6 Ka5 63. Qb7 Ka4 64. Ke4 Ka3 65. Kd3 Ka4 66.
Kc4 {tg-13 won by resignation} 1-0
[/pgn]

Suffice to say that all of the kibitzers in the room were excited about this game and I felt a little nervous knowing that a player like *tg-13* was in the mix and able to turn the tables on a dime. I copied down the ID number for the game and stored it in a text file called *Never Say Die* so that I could come back post-tournament and write this entry. Unfortunately the psychological effect of that game caused more harm than good as I faced *tg-13* in the second round and was lured into an early trap, lost my Queen, and the game soon afterwards. The next exceptional game came in the second round.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2016.01.03”]
[Round “?”]
[White “AestheticFit”]
[Black “magab001”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D20”]
[WhiteElo “1144”]
[BlackElo “1139”]
[Annotator “Wesley Surber”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[EventDate “2016.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. d5 b5 5. a3 Bd6 6. b4 Nf6 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bxf6
Qxf6 9. h3 O-O 10. Nf3 c6 11. Nc3 cxd5 12. Nxd5 Qe6 13. a4 Ba6 14. Be2 Nc6 15.
Rb1 Rab8 16. a5 f5 17. exf5 Rxf5 18. O-O Rbf8 19. Nh4 {Black is definitely
winning in this position. Almost all of White’s big guns are aimed directly at
the castle, but things are not always as they seem.} Rg5 20. Bg4 Qf7 21. Bf5
Ne7 22. Nxe7+ Bxe7 23. Ng6 Qxf5 $4 {Black falls into a devastating trap.} 24.
Nxe7+ Kh7 25. Nxf5 {Two comments stick out in my mind from the kibitzing chat:
1) tactics 101, and 2) that was sexy! White turns the tide of the game with a
crippling fork.} Rfxf5 26. Qd7 e4 27. Qxa7 Bc8 28. a6 Rf6 29. Qc7 Bxh3 30. Kh2
Bxg2 31. Rg1 Rxf2 32. Rxg2 Rfxg2+ 33. Kh1 Re2 $4 {Black missed an opportunity
to launch a tactic of his own.} (33… R2g4 34. Rf1 Rh5+ 35. Qh2 Rgh4 36. Qxh4
Rxh4+) 34. a7 {Nothing can stop the a-pawn from causing major problems for
Black.} Rh5+ 35. Kg1 Rg5+ 36. Kf1 Rc2 37. a8=Q Rh5 38. Qxe4+ Rf5+ 39. Qxf5+ Kg8
40. Qcf7+ Kh8 41. Qf8# {AestheticFit won by checkmate} 1-0
[/pgn]

Black was in control of the game but missing a *simple* tactic cost him bigtime. It was fun to watch *magab001* in his other games because he played some very complicated and nailbiting positions. I had planned not to annotate any of my own games from the tournament but the next game was too good to pass up.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2016.01.03”]
[Round “?”]
[White “AmishHacker”]
[Black “yanakap”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “C68”]
[WhiteElo “1135”]
[BlackElo “905”]
[Annotator “Wesley Surber”]
[PlyCount “51”]
[EventDate “2016.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. O-O Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. d3 {I have
seen this position quite frequently in many of my recent games. It can be
tricky to maneuver but I have had moderate success pushing through my
opponent’s blockades.} h6 8. Nh4 d6 9. Ng6 Re8 10. Be3 Bxe3 11. fxe3 Bg4 12.
Qe1 Rc8 13. Qf2 Qd7 14. h3 Bxh3 15. gxh3 $6 {I had misgivings about this move
after I made it. It was obvious that Black planned to bring his Queen to my
Kingside but the move had already been made and I would have to counter his
attack as best I could.} Qxh3 16. Nd5 Qg4+ 17. Kh1 Qxg6 18. Rg1 Ng4 19. Qf3
Qh5+ 20. Kg2 Qh2+ 21. Kf1 Qh4 22. Rxg4 $1 {To avoid an appearance of arrogance
I only gave this move a single “!” but it was probably more of a “!!” move
because it forced Black to withdraw his Queen and put an end to his Kingside
attack.} Qd8 23. Ke2 {I decided to take a gamble here. I chose to sacrifice my
d5 Knight to open the c4-f7 diagonal. If Black took the bait then the game
would be over. If not, the game was probably over anyway for me.} Ne7 24. Nb6
Rb8 $4 {My opponent chose not to take the Knight but failed to see the attack
on the f7 square.} 25. Qxf7+ Kh8 $8 {Black has nowhere to go. There is no
defense against #/1.} 26. Qxg7# {AmishHacker won by checkmate} 1-0
[/pgn]

I chose to annotate that game mostly because of **26.Nb6** because it was a high-stakes gamble that paid off in dividends. This was in the third round immediately following my earlier defeat so it helped to boost my confidence and carry me on to the end. The final game I want to show was played near the end of the tournament around the time that my eyelids were growing heavy and the fight for the top three positions had come down to the wire. It features *magab001* from the one of the earlier annotated games.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2016.01.03”]
[Round “?”]
[White “magab001”]
[Black “ChronoTheCode”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1146”]
[BlackElo “1088”]
[Annotator “Surber,Wesley”]
[PlyCount “97”]
[EventDate “2016.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 d5 5. exd5 Nd4 6. O-O Bg4 7. Ne2 Nxf3+ 8.
gxf3 Bxf3 9. Qe1 Ne4 10. Ng3 Qg5 11. Be2 Qg4 12. Bxf3 Qxf3 {Black wasted no
time moving his arsenal into White’s territory and threatening the castle, but
the assault would not hold for long.} 13. d3 Ng5 $2 14. Bxg5 $1 Qxd5 15. Qe4
Qe6 16. Qxb7 Rc8 17. Qxa7 Bd6 18. Qe3 O-O 19. Qf3 f6 20. Be3 Qh3 21. Qg2 Qh4
22. Ne4 f5 23. Ng5 f4 24. Ne6 Rf7 25. Bc5 Bxc5 26. Nxc5 Rcf8 27. f3 Rf5 28. Ne6
{White threatens Qxg7# but Black is still fighting with that “never say die”
attitude.} R8f7 29. Qg4 Qh6 30. Kh1 Rh5 31. Rf2 Kh8 32. Rg1 g6 33. d4 e4 34.
fxe4 Rh4 35. Qg2 g5 36. Nxg5 Rg7 $4 {It seems apparent that Black’s intentions
were to skewer the Queen on g2 but White was expecting this and was prepared
to engage with a crippling tactic of his own.} 37. Nf7+ $3 {Another sexy fork!
Black goes from being totally in control of this game to picking up the pieces.
} Kg8 38. Nxh6+ Kf8 39. Qxg7+ Ke8 $8 {Black has nowhere to go and is now on
the run.} 40. Qg8+ Kd7 41. Rg7+ Kc6 42. Nf5 Rh3 43. Qd5+ Kb6 44. Qc5+ Kb7 45.
Rxc7+ Ka6 {Never say die! Black holds on to the end and refuses to resign even
when the game is hopeless.} 46. Qa7+ Kb5 47. Rc5+ Kb4 48. c3+ Rxc3 49. bxc3# {
magab001 won by checkmate} 1-0
[/pgn]

So, what’s the verdict on this tournament and the whole of chess tournaments on the site? I found the Chess.com tournament experience to be much more pleasant than I had expected. The kibitzing with other participants was a lot of fun and it took a lot of the emphasis away from ELOs and put all emphasis on individual performance. A 900 ELO player could defeat a 1200 ELO player and vice versa, so tournaments on Chess.com are an excellent way to wade into the world of *competitive* chess. Besides, it is free to enter these tournaments and there are even some [cool trophies](http://images.chesscomfiles.com/uploads/trophy/549.b82b6f2c.200x200o.897e21ae2221.png) to display on your Chess.com profile page.

#### Final Tournament Standings
| Rank | Player | Rating | Record | Tie |
|——|—————-|——–|——–|—–|
| 1 | TheChessierGuy (16) | 1014 | 5/5 | 8.5 |
| 2 | AmishHacker (5) | 1151 | 4/5 | 7 |
| 3 | AestheticFit (6) | 1134 | 3/5 | 4 |
| 4 | yanakap (17) | 965 | 3/5 | 3.5 |
| 5 | magab001 (3) | 1126 | 2/5 | 1.5 |
| 6 | ChronoTheCode (10) | 1069 | 1.5/5 | 0.25 |

* View these games on [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com).
– [Game #1](http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1409817150): tg-13 (1182) vs. JakeBoz98 (1075)
– [Game #2](http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1409841626): AestheticFit (1144) vs. magab001 (1139)
– [Game #3](http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1409870895): AmishHacker (1135) vs. yanakap (905)
– [Game #4](http://www.chess.com/livechess/game?id=1409870894): magab001 (1146) vs. ChronoTheCode (1088)(1088)