My Experience at the Super Nationals

by Kimberly Anonuevo

   (I am also writing about three chess games I played in the tournament that I thought were the best and most exciting games I played).

   The super nationals were very exciting, but I was also nervous. The chess tournament was held at the Kansas, Missouri convention center.

   When I arrived at the convention center I was amazed at how big it was.

   The kids were getting seated and the first round was about to start. Flags were being waved across the room. They were representing the United States of America, but two other states did not participate in the tournament. My opponent came and sat down across the battlefield. He's from Dallas, Texas and has a rating of 1350, which is about 300 more points than me. The room got quiet then clocks were being slammed, pieces were being moved, and the battle started. A few hours later my opponent and I were the only ones left playing in the room. I made my opponent resign after a few moves by having my pawn on the 2nd rank which was going to be a Queen.

   I was really, really relieved and happy because it was over.

   In the 2nd round I played with a K-4 champion who won at the super nationals before. He also had a rating of 1250, which is also about 200 more points than mine. We shook hands and said good luck to each other before our game started. Then the same thing happened just like the first round. Everybody was gone except for us. I had a Queen and two passed pawns but the pawns were separated and my opponent had a rook plus the king, so I exchanged my Queen for a rook and pushed my pawns to get my Queen back. I did and I also checkmated him. We shook hands again and told the tournament director our results.

   The next day after I took a look at the pairings up on the wall. I was really surprised on who they matched me up with. I was matched up with a male who is a class A player. His rating was 1914 and the board number given was 801. I didn't even know that it was board # 1. When I sat down, there was a demo board in front of all the boards, there were flags representing the states that participated, chairs in front of the boards and, there were nameplates. Written on each of the plates was the chess player's name. Our game lasted up to 3-4 hours when I had to resign because I had no chance to win with his position, which I thought was great. He also had a mating pattern, which I saw, so that was the time I resigned. We shook hands and said that it was a great game. I didn't feel bad because I knew that I played against a player that was almost a master and had a lot of experience.

   My total score was 4 wins out of 7 games, which I thought was pretty good for my first time competing in the super nationals.

   Now I can go home happy being proud of myself. Well, that is my experience to the super nationals.

Dedicated to Mr.Shorman