Whew!

The Minnesota Open 2011 ended in a blizzard. Driving conditions were difficult, and I stayed an extra night in Minneapolis. The next morning, things were still messy. It took about twice as long to get home as it would have with dry pavement. Oh, and I did really well and had some luck in the Amateur section with 4 wins and 1 loss, winning the under 1800 prize.

One win was too short to learn much from, but the other 4 games should have some good stuff. The time control was the longest I have ever played (40/2,G/1 5 sec delay), and I took advantage of the time.

The short game should make a good video, working title: "Beware of Gift Rooks".

I won my first round game with a swindle. I feel a little bad about that, but a class A player should know all the pawn breakthroughs, and how to prevent them.

Black to move and win, seen from Black's side

White's last move was Kc4. I might have been able to draw this game, if he had made the required last move, but he definitely had the upper hand. (hint: If he had played hxg4 it would almost have been as bad as Kc4)(solution: 1...f3 and he cannot take either pawn or the other one captures and Queens)

My rating is now 1819, exactly 400 points higher than the last rating from my youth. I promised myself I would buy a nice chess set, when my rating crossed 1800. I was not expecting it so soon. I think I will get this one.

I don't know how long I will be able to keep this rating, but if I buckle down and study, maybe my strength will catch up (or pass) my rating.

I am not sure what my next tournament will be. I will likely get to one of the Saturday tournaments here in Rochester. There is the Rochester Open sometime in June, and I hope to go back to Ohio for the Columbus open in July.