Sunday, May 24, 2009

Lina Grumette Jet Lag Classic Rds. 1-3

Sometimes it doesn't pay to do things on the cheap. My first three rounds were played at Game/60. Usually I like that time control, but the trade off is often you have no time between rounds. I wasn't planning to have time to post anything until after round 4. However when I lose round 3 in 30 minutes then I have time to kill.

First round was a crazy, but sloppy game. Neither of us played so hot. I missed the best moves towards the end and offered a draw even though I was up a pawn. The problem was I had g and h pawns versus his h pawn with each of us having a rook. Here's the game. I think most would agree I don't have much chance of winning. At the end he had a minute, and I had two minutes.

MWhite-PW0522409.pgn


Round two was an insipid game where I gave up the exchange and then got a piece trapped. I would be down a rook, so I figured "Why play that out when you can take a little break instead." I was kind of annoyed during that game. After I had given up the exchange I was fiddling around with the captured pieces. It was one those little fidgety things that I sometimes do, and I'm not even aware I'm doing it. One of the players at the board next to me, reaches over and puts his hand on mine to get me to stop. I mumbled "I'm sorry." and went back to my position. But then I found myself getting really annoyed by the fact that he actually reached over and touched my hand. What the hell was that all about? I felt like saying "You touch me again, I'll touch you back much harder." I refrained. I wasn't in the mood to cause a scene.

I did get out grab a bite to eat, and enjoy a little sunshine. It didn't help me for round three. I played a teenage kid who likes to attack. I knew that since I sat next to him in round 1 and watched him take apart his higher rated opponent pretty quickly. I did not defend well at all.

RYang-PW052409.pgn


So much for being rested for round three. Let's see if I'm rested for round four. Hopefully I won't fall asleep with the longer time control of 40/2 SD/1.

11 comments:

From the patzer said...

Let's hope that the next games go all your way. Let the jetlag be gone.

Banatt said...

You'll do better next time, I'm sure.

wang said...

Good luck Polly, I'm sorry to say that G60 is a pretty lousy time control. The game becomes almost as much about stamina as it does chess skill.

tanch said...

Best of luck for the rest of the games, Polly!

G/60 controls are indeed terrible as wang mentioned. There's barely enough time to think.

Polly said...

Actually G/60 isn't terrible. Sure beats the usual game/30 I play on Thursdays. I like g/75 to g/90. 40/2 G/60 is way too much time for someone with ADD like me. :-)

Anonymous said...

You touch me again, I'll touch you back much harder.This was hilarious, although that probably wasn't the intent.

It's funny the various opinions on G/60: "barely enough time to think" vs "the game becomes almost as much about stamina".

IMO, it seems to be a pretty good balance of quality vs. time.

Diamondback said...

Hi Polly:

I just played the 2 day schedule at Somerset, New Jersey, USAE East Championships schedule, which the first 3 rounds were G/60 and then the 4th round standard time controls. I should have taken the first round and second round draws from my opponents because I did not have time to make the advantage count in 60 minutes. By accepting the two draws, I would have enough stamina to play tough in the third and fourth rounds. Live and Learn.
My first time playing this time of G/60 time control in a major chess tournement....DB

Polly said...

diamondback: I usually find the transition from G/60 to the slow control hard, particularly if I'm playing someone who has been playing the slow control all along. The opponent will be moving slowly, and I'll be trying to adjust my pace for the extra time.

Matt Hayes said...

Nice to see you again, Polly. Hope you'll come back next year too!

Polly said...

Matt: I was pulling for you to win the section, but I guess Monday just wasn't your day. Very nice result though. Good luck in your next tournament.

Linuxguy said...

I got a chuckle out of that second game in particular. That would be me, like a lamb to the slaughter at G/60. I figured G/60 would be a poor idea for myself, but now I think yeah, no way.