Dufus

Tonight, I went to the Manly Warringah Chess Club to watch my brother-in-law Steven play in the rapid (25 min time controls) tournament. While I was there, Steven encouraged me to sign up for the last 4 games anyway so I did.

How did I do? Okay, I guess. I got extremely lucky against the lower rated players (around 1200-1300 ELO rating) and ended up with a score of +3-0=1 or 3.5/4 in the Rapid tournament.

In the only game I drawn, I should have lost that game but my opponent missed the winning move in time pressure and allowed me to draw comfortably. The fact I managed to get a draw is of no consolation for me. I know that against higher rated opponents, I would have lost without batting an eyelid. I was practically kicking myself when I saw I had a lost endgame!

In my final game, I managed to win but it was a horrible, horrible way to win. See the position in the diagram. Black played Re8+. White of course should play Bxe8 but nooooooo.... I played Kf7 and after I played that move, I saw the Rook was en prise. Talk about a mistake of humongous proportions.

I'm still can't believe I didn't see the immediate win. What a dufus I am.