The Kidlington Chess Congress this year had a new venue: slightly further from home but a very nice location with excellent facilities. There was space for many more players and that can only be a good thing.
However my tournament started poorly: defeat in the first round against an opponent who was, on paper at least, not as strong as me. He played very well throughout, so I have no-one other than myself to blame. Round Two gave me a chance to recover: I had a good position out of the opening with an extra two pawns, but miscalculated slightly and in order to survive, I had to return the material and also allow a very strong attack. Fortunately for me, my opponent was in time trouble and I was able to outplay her in the endgame.
Round Three was an evening game against a 10-year-old boy who appeared to be very tired: he put his head down on his folded arms after every move and closed his eyes! I had an early advantage due to an opening trap he fell into, so I felt confident converting this one. Even the introduction of a Snickers by a parent to keep him awake didn’t help and I forced a resignation soon after. So 2 out of 3 at the end of the first day.
Day Two brought more success: for Round Four I recovered from an inaccurate opening to unleash a killer attack, checkmating my opponent’s King in the middle of the board. Now I had a real chance of winning a prize: I knew that a victory in the final round would give me a share of Second Place. Round Five began solidly enough and my opponent probably had a fair chance to take a draw, but I suspect also wanted to go for a win. Gradually I gained the upper hand until the point when I was two pawns up and about to exchange off the remaining pieces, he resigned.
So I finished on 4 out of 5 and gained a share of Second Place and a cash prize!
Games and analysis are available at https://www.sungate.co.uk/chess/kid2026.html and the final results and crosstables are at https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1325303.aspx?lan=1