Participating in chess tournaments can be challenging and stressful, but ultimately very rewarding. During these tournaments, one can play opponents from nearby as well as opponents from around the world. These tournaments range from all-inclusive events, where anyone can participate, including beginners, to more elite tournaments where only highly-rated players are invited. The tournaments can be one-day events or span many days. In addition, the time control of these events can range from as little as 20 minutes to as much as about 4-5 hours a game. One can get a chess rating from participating in US Chess Federation tournaments and winning games; with higher ratings, chess titles can be earned, such as FIDE (International Chess Federation) Master, Grand Master, and International Master (IM) earned in FIDE tournaments. I am currently a National Master who has been playing in chess tournaments for about 10 years and have participated in nearly 300 tournaments.
Recently, I participated in the New York Spring Invitational IM Norm Round Robin from April 14-18, 2022. This 9-round tournament spanned 5 days, with players invited from around the country, including multiple Grand Masters and International Masters. This was a FIDE International Chess Federation rated tournament where players had a chance to gain IM norms. You can achieve the IM title by gaining three IM norms and a 2400 FIDE rating. Each player had 90 minutes per game with a 30-second increment added to each move. During this tournament, I had a chance to play Levy Rozman, who has a YouTube channel entitled Gotham City Chess with over one million subscribers. I was playing black against him. The following is my experience playing him:
1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. d4 e4 4. a3 d5 5. Nc3 h6 6. Bg2 Nf6 7. f3 Bf5 8. fxe4 dxe4 9. Nh3 g6 10. Bf4 Bg7 11. Qd2 Qe7 12. c5 Qe6 13. Nf2 Nbd7 14. g4
The game started with an unorthodox opening he prepared against me. We ended up in a complex position after white temporarily sacrificed a pawn.
Bxg4 15. Ncxe4 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 O-O 17. Bxh6 Bxh6 18. Qxh6 Nf6 19. Nc3 Rad8 20. O-O-O Rfe8 21. Rhf1 Bxe2
There were several inaccuracies from both sides due to a sharp position (risky or tactical) and I ended up in a better endgame after he overlooked one of my moves.
22. Rde1 Bxf1 23. Rxe6 Rxe6 24. Bxf1 Re1+ 25. Kc2 Rxf1 26. Qe3 Re8 27. Qg3 Re7 28. Qb8+ Kg7 29. Qxa7 Rf2+ 30. Kb3
Black is better in this endgame because he has two rooks for the queen, a better pawn structure and safer king.
Rxh2 31. d5
However, after taking the pawn on the h2 square I overlooked the move pawn to d5 due to time pressure with only a few minutes left on the clock. I was unable to recapture the pawn back because he would push his other pawn on c5 forward, pinning my rook.
Rd7 32. d6 g5 33. Ka2 g4 34. Qa4 Rd8 35. Qf4 Rh5 36. Ne4
I ended up in a losing position with a few minutes left on the clock.
Nxe4 37. Qxg4+ Rg5 38. Qxe4 Kh6 39. Qe7 Rgg8 40.Qf6+ Kh7 41. Qxf7+ Rg7 42. Qh5+ Kg8 43. Qf5 Rdd7 44. Qe6+ Kf8 45. a4 Rh7 46. a5 Rhf7 47. Qe4 Rd8 48. Qh4 Ke8 49. Qh3 Rdd7 50. a6 bxa6 51. Qg2 Rb7 52. Qxc6+ Kf853. Qc8+ Kg7 54. Qg4+ Kh6 55. c6 Rb5 56. Qh3+ Kg7 57. c7
Sadly, I ended up losing after a grueling game that lasted nearly four hours.
This was my first invitational tournament of this caliber. All the players were highly rated and all had titles of either National Master, FIDE Master, International Master, or Grandmaster. All players were notified of the pairings a couple weeks in advance and were able to prepare openings against each other. I learned a lot from the tournament and games. For instance, I learned that I need to improve on calculation and time management during the game. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the tournament and its challenges, both mentally and physically. I finished with a gain of 11 FIDE rating points and a video made by Levy Rozman on Youtube for posterity which has accumulated 300K views.
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