Well, I didn’t do my job as a reporter — I can’t tell you who won the open section of the Winter Open. I can tell you who impressed me the most. That would be Kesav Viswanadha, who I think has had a breakthrough of sorts, as his rating is now well above 2200, and I never saw him in a bit of trouble in this tournament. He was tied for first entering the last round, and his position looked pretty good the last time I saw it. [See Monday update below.]
I can, however, tell me more than you want to know about my result, which was dreadful. I lost in round four and then finally in round five found somebody I could beat. So I ended with a score of 2½-2½ and surely lost a bunch of rating points.
Congratulations to Linnea, who lost her first game but won her second to finish with a 4-2 score in the under-1500 section. She tied for first under 1300, which is her first tournament prize ever! I’m so glad that she was able to bounce back from that awful mistake in the first round.
Because the schedules were staggered a little bit, I had a chance to watch most of Linnea’s last game. I also watched the game on the top board of the under-1500 section, which didn’t take long to complete because both players were playing as if they had a train to catch. Remember, the time control was game in 90 minutes. The winner of this game used all of 10 minutes, while the loser used 19 minutes … most of them after he was already busted!
Although I was amused by the reckless pace, the fact is that I think these kids have a better handle on time management than I do. When they see a move that looks obvious, they play it. When I see a move that looks obvious, I ask myself if I’m missing something and stew over it for five minutes, and then I make the obvious move.
I think my chess motto for next year will be “Just do it.” What, did you say that motto is already taken?
And on that note, merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it, may all of your attacks be brilliant and may your flags miraculously never fall.
Monday update: The results have now been posted, and my guess about the identity of the winner was confirmed. Kesav Viswanadha finished in clear first with 4½ points, finishing with four straight wins after a first-round draw. Two of the people I drew with (Vignesh Panchanatham and Arnold Hua) tied with my friend Robin Cunningham for second at 3½. Rather strangely, Panchanatham did not play in the last round even though he was tied with Viswanadha going into the round. When I say he didn’t play, I don’t mean he took a half-point bye. He took a zero-point bye. He must be very disappointed, because the logical pairing would have had him face off against Viswanadha in a winner-take-all match for first place.
