I was satisfied with my results in last weekend's tournament. I got really discouraged after a heart-breaking loss in round 2 to a player rated 300 points higher than me. I call it "heart-breaking" because for a while I was up a pawn and had the advantage. I got too exhausted by the time we reached the endgame, and I lost my ability to focus. I caughed up a couple of pawns and resigned. I imagine if I could have won that game I would have had much better results for this tournament. But, I was still satisfied with myself because I came out of this tournament with a positive score (more wins than losses).
I think I may have over-done it by going to two major tournaments within a couple weeks of each other when I haven't been very active in tournament chess over the past few years. Oh well, I learned a lot.
I must also add that I defeated two children (rounds 1 & 6). Why do I mention this? Because when I play kids in the 7 - 11 age range I usually do really bad. The problem is that they are usually overconfident and they move very fast... it throws me off psychologically! But, I relaxed and took my time this time. It made all the difference.
I'm not sure when my next tournament will be. Maybe the one in my hometown in March. We'll see.
