The UIAM Chess Tournament Is Over!

Alright, yesterday, I went to that UIAM Chess Tournament that I've been talking about in my last few posts.
We all gathered at Hazwan's house as planned.

Then, all 5 of us had to squeeze at the back of Ashman's father's car!
You can imagine how cramped we were, coupled with the fact that the car isn't designed to accommodate that many people!

So, when we finally reached UIAM, we followed the registration procedure and waited anxiously for the first round of the tournament to begin.
It was supposed to start at 10 am, but was delayed for some reason.
We waited for nearly an hour, and by the time the first round started, it was already 11.30 am!

The tournament was supposed to have seven rounds. But due to time constraints, the number of rounds was reduced to 6 rounds, much to Ashman's and Hazwan's disbelief.

Another case of poor time management was the closing and prize giving ceremony.
It was scheduled to start at 6 pm, so after the 6th and final round we proceeded to the auditorium.
We waited and waited and waited.
The ceremony only started at around 8 pm! That's a two hour delay!
Unbelievable!

Here are the results of my friends and I.
Ashman - 4 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw ( 4.5/6 )
Andrew - 3 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw ( 3.5/6 )
Hazwan - 3 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw ( 3.5/6 )
Sehran - 3 wins, 3 losses ( 3/6 )
Hari - 2 wins, 4 losses ( 2/6 )

Well, as you can see, Ashman got the highest points, and Hari got the lowest.
Hazwan and I got the same score.
And Sehran, well, not bad a score for an amateur!

Oh, Hari keeps on saying that he wasn't himself that day. That's why he got such a low score.
Technically, he blundered a lot in the last few rounds of the tournament.
I don't really know.
He keeps on finishing his games faster than I do.

Anyway, I won the 1st and 2nd rounds, lost the 3rd and 4th rounds, won the 5th round and drew the 6th round.
I got the 19th position out of 65 competitors.
Oh well, that's good enough for me!

Let me see. I think I can remember what happened on each of my rounds:
Round 1 - I played with an amateur and won easily.

Round 2 - I made a slight miscalculation in the middle game, but I managed to organise and effective endgame defense, taking out two of my opponents minor pieces and winning on time with only around 10-15 seconds left on my clock!

Round 3 - I played the Italian Game instead of the Scotch Game, which I preferred more. I reorganised in the middle game, leading to a better middle game position than my opponent, but I had less pawns. My opponent was apparently a very strong endgame player, and so, during the endgame, her superior pawn structure led to my downfall.

Round 4 - I played with quite a famous player who participated in an MSSS competition once. I was successful in the opening. We brawled in the midgame, with me having a slight advantage. But he organised a clever trap that could lead to me being checkmated. I avoided it, however, and pulled out a stunning attack that cost my opponent a rook. He had 30 seconds left on his clock, and I had 3 minutes. Then, he pulled another complex trap on me, which cost me almost 2 minutes and 30 seconds to calculate. I avoided his trap yet again, but lost on time, even though I was dominating the game skill wise from start to finish!

Round 5 - To my surprise, I had to play against Sehran! We brawled in the opening and the middle game, but during the endgame, Sehran made a few, critical blunders that led to him losing the opposition and allowing my King to infiltrate his pawn structure. After a forced rook exchange, Sehran's defeat was all but inevitable.

Round 6 - I was matched against a player whose style of play matched my own! He even used my favourite Black opening, the Petrov Defense! I declined the free pawn, of course. Accepting it would be a mistake. The middle game was a ferocious fight for control of the open ranks and the right to castle. It was an open game and we were fairly matched, I lost my right to castle to the Kingside and he lost his very active light-squared Bishop. In the end, he offered a draw and I accepted, deciding that I shouldn't take my chances with a player that mirrored my playing style.

Overall, it was an exhilarating day.
But all of us didn't expect that we would each get a certificate of participation!
That really lightened up everyone's faces!
Ashman even got the 7th place in the top 10!

He won RM50. And he made us stay at the prize giving ceremony until his name was called, even though everyone else clearly wanted to leave because it was so late.
But he insisted on staying, and when he finally received his RM50, we were all so relieved that the ordeal of waiting for him to receive his prize was over!

Then, we went to a McDonald's outlet located at a place which name escapes me.
Then, we went back to Hazwan's house.
A few minutes later, my parents picked me up from Hazwan's house.
By the time I reached home, it was nearly 10 pm!

My parents then decided that I shouldn't go to school the next day, because of three main reasons:
1. My brother didn't want to go to school.
2. I had a horrible headache.
3. My parents wanted me to get sufficient rest.

But I will be coming on Tuesday...


Oh, and Jannah, if you're reading this...
I have very good reasons why I can't come to your dress-up party!
I am not making excuses! Honestly!
So you can't hate me because it's not my fault!

I am sorry, by the way.
But if I stayed in Bukit Jelutong, things would be a whole lot different.
Hopefully you'll be able to understand that...


And finally,
Happy Birthday, Jaslyn!

I'll give you a birthday present on Tuesday, alright?


Right, I guess that's it for now.

Comment me, kay?

May the Force be with you...