Tournament disasters

[Matt Mackenzie]

We've all had 'em.......

Including me, this weekend - perusal of the Blackpool Open crosstable wil reveal my name way down - a *very* long way down......

Indeed in my last two congresses, my record reads +0 =5 -5

So let's have some other confessions. In particular, has anybody ever managed a big round duck egg??

[Phil Makepeace]

In 2005, when I was going for a FIDE Rating, I scored 4½/10 - including 1½/7 v rated players - at the Millfield Young Masters. My part of 1679 meant I ended up with an initial rating of 1903, and I've been playing catch-up ever since.

[David Sedgwick]

I recall the Hastings Congress of 1992-93.

In those days there was a third long one round a day tournament, below the Premier and the Challengers. On this occasion it was a ten round event. There were about thirty players and I was the fifth seed.

I duly won my first game. Nine days later I won my last game. That doubled my total score.

Some months later, I was contacted by the grader. The then BCF grading program had produced an error message to the effect that my results were implausibly bad and he wanted to check whether the information was in fact correct.

On investigation, we found that there had indeed been an error. One of my eight consecutive losses had been against a filler and the game had not been graded, even though it should have been. The appropriate correction was duly made, thus making my grading performance even worse.

[Matt Mackenzie]

Can I just add to the above about this weekend:

When you have scored 0.5 out of 3 up to that point, you don't really expect to find Sunday morning that you have been paired with a player still graded higher than yourself, with your third black in four games

Even more so, when said player is local legend Mike Surtees. After 1e4 e5, he replied 2 a3, and then 3 d3, 4 f4 and 5 c4.......

Normal opening by his standards, then I actually made a fairly good fight of it, but was ground down in the end.

He disposed of his final round opponent, with the black pieces, in about half an hour

[Jonathan Bryant]

We've all had 'em.......

Including me, this weekend - perusal of the Blackpool Open crosstable wil reveal my name way down - a *very* long way down......

Indeed in my last two congresses, my record reads +0 =5 -5

So let's have some other confessions. In particular, has anybody ever managed a big round duck egg??

I had an awful British the first time I went. This would have been around 1989. They had several all-play-all sections in those days so in theory you ended up playing people of a similar level and it should all be pretty closely fought. I lost in the first round, won in the second round (when my opponent blundered a piece for no reason), and then scraped a few draws in the next 9 games. Two weeks of misery in Plymouth.

[Thomas Rendle]

I find all-play-all tournaments can be particularly unforgiving. You don't start to get the easier games that come on low scores in swiss events - also the field is quick to pounce on any player seen to be struggling.

I had a terrible tournament in Swedish APA once, I think I scored 3/9 against a lower average opponent.

However I was once playing of the the infamous First Saturday tournaments in Budapest and I again got off to a bad start (0/2 including blowing a winning position in the 2nd game). My opponent (rated around 2240 around the same as me at the time) had also started with 0/2 but he proceeded to completely outplay me until I was desperately playing to draw - suddenly he went into a long think and lost on time (despite the 30sec increment). My tournament got back on track - he went on to score a miserable 0.5/13. Considering the average rating of the tournament was about 2270 I can't think of many worse tournament disasters that I've witnessed. It became depressing day after day to watch him losing decent positions and also a Rook vs Rook and Bishop ending.

[Joey Stewart]

I have been in several teams where one individual has a completely rotten season, even when playing against relatively level graded opposition - I guess what happens is they lose a few early on and then panic and think they are letting the side down and lose some more from over pressing, trying to get the elusive win, and finally just dont care at the end and play without really giving the remaining games much thought.

But as for tournaments, well in my days graded around 100-120 I had some bad tournaments. I played the coventry international and only got 1.5/5 and also I played a rapidplay open and only got 1.5/6 (not sure why I got talked into that - they said it would improve my chess but all it did was make me want to avoid stronger players unless totally unavoidable - its only been in the last year or so that I have really wanted to go chasing after good players)

[Gavin Strachan]

I played in a tournament once and was 3/3. Sunday trains made me 40 mins late and I lost rd 4 on time and was so peed off lost rd 5 in blundering badly. Civil Service tournament several yrs back.

[Alex Holowczak]

My tournament disaster came before round 3 in the weekender of last year's British, when after a fluke run of results, the bottom two scoregroups comprising four players had three of the players with 0 whites and 2 blacks, and the other had had 1 white and 1 black.

So much for breaking you in gently...

[David Haydon]

i remember my worst tournament was in a major at st albans, think it was u140 section and i was graded 121 at the time...i started on 0/3 on the saturday and came back winning my last 2 on the sunday, winning on time in round 4 and getting lucky again in round 5 i believe. utter disaster.

[David Grobler]

i remember my worst tournament was in a major at st albans, think it was u140 section and i was graded 121 at the time...i started on 0/3 on the saturday and came back winning my last 2 on the sunday, winning on time in round 4 and getting lucky again in round 5 i believe. utter disaster.

Hi David...
2/5 hardly sounds like a disaster....
I dream of scoring 2/5 in a Major.......

[David Haydon]

2/5 is not bad, when you didnt deserve to win any of them i guess

[Sebastian Stone]

I'm pretty mediocre in most tournaments I play in.

However, I usually manage to win at least 1 game.

At East Devon I celebrated my 10th congress with a record poor score of 1.5/5 with 3 draws and 2 defeats.

Comically I accidentally sacced a knight for two pawns thinking I had won those two pawns forgetting I had sacced a knight at the beginning of the sequence. Luckily my quick play convinced my lower rated opponent I knew what I was doing and I managed to bluff my way to a draw.

[Peter Ackley]

Back in the '90s in the Midlands I played in a two-day event. Lost the first and second games and either drew or won the third. Turned up on Sunday to win Rounds 4 and 5 by default.

[David Grobler]

I'm pretty mediocre in most tournaments I play in.

However, I usually manage to win at least 1 game.

At East Devon I celebrated my 10th congress with a record poor score of 1.5/5 with 3 draws and 2 defeats.

Comically I accidentally sacced a knight for two pawns thinking I had won those two pawns forgetting I had sacced a knight at the beginning of the sequence. Luckily my quick play convinced my lower rated opponent I knew what I was doing and I managed to bluff my way to a draw.

Guys ...guys....2 out of 5 and 1 and a half out of 5 is not a "Tournament Disaster"
Next tourney you play in....during the final round...check out the 2 guys who are playing on bottom board with 0 out of 4 . Look into their eyes...feel their pain....
They are having the disaster.....