In 2010, Douglas Stewart participated as the Mississippi representative of the US State Champion of Champions tournament. This is an online tournament held with 3 0 time control at the Internet Chess Club. Here he gives some perspectives from the games.
I've won the State Championship 4 times. Three times were shared, and once wasn't. I took the trophy 2 of the 3 times I shared it. The most recent time that happened was 2010, where I shared first with Alex Cibotarica. Having beat Alex in the second round, I didn't feel guilty when I won the trophy.
As the trophy winner I was once eligible to play in the US State Champion of Champions tournament. I had one previously been invited (that I was aware of - perhaps more than once), but I messed up the time zone and ended up missing the tournament. This time I planned to really play.
Keep in mind that Mississippi is a fairly weak chess state (less weak now with David Ross around). I once compared our top 10 to the top 10 of every other smaller state and I found only perhaps one where we might be the favorite in a 10 on 10 match. I fully expected to be one of the lowest rated players in the tournament.
The format of the tournament is separate East and West tournaments, followed by a semi-final and a final. Mississippi is considered part of the East. As it turned out, I was the lowest rated player in the East - the only one under 2000. The East consisted of 22 players, including 2 GM's, 3 IM's, and 3 FM's. Since it is all play all I knew I would get to play some good players.
I took the day off to be fresh. I think I started around 5 or 6 PM, but I knew being rested would matter. I went over to Steve Perry's apartment to make sure that I had quiet environment to play in.
The tournament having a 3 0 time control meant that time was a critical part of many games. It also cuts down on the theoretical possibility of cheating, although I really think that's a rare issue.
First first round I played IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat from Marilyn with the black pieces. Not the easiest start! While my opening wasn't the greatest (I left normal theory in a King's Indian Defense around move 7 with a so-so move), I was okay through about move 16. After that though a e4-e5 push by my opponent broke open the game and I never recovered.
I would say this wasn't a difficult game for my opponent at all and a pretty mediocre start for me.
Here is the direct link to the game, although you can also get to it on the Results page off of the MCA website. I annotated the game with assistance from Fritz 13.
This is the first of 21 games from the tournament. Hopefully I can keep this effort going for a while and show you more of my games.
