Tournament in Ogden

Yesterday was the Ogden K-12 chess tournament.

To be honest, I was a little disappointed with the opposition. Almost no rated players came, and almost nobody put up a fight, and I began to question by the fourth round whether or not the tournament was worth it.

My compensation came when I played against the 'almost' in the tournament, Jamie Olsen-Mills, an excellent example of an exceptional attacking player and pretty much the best female player in the state, with a rating in the high 1600s. I was also terrified of her up until this tournament.

I say my compensation came with her because I had one of the most instructional and vicious battles with her that I had ever had in my whole life in chess, even though she thoroughly trounced me.

White: Matthew R. Boren (1092, Paradigm High School)
Black: Jamie Olsen-Mills (1674, West High School)

1.d4 Nf6
2.Bg4 Ne4. I play the Trompowsky Attack, something I've always specialized in, but she disappoints me by playing the Shleimann Variation, which I have never specialized in.
3.Bf4 d5, and I achieve equilibrium.
4.e3 Nd7. I prepare to attack her d-pawn.
5.c4 e6. I attack the pawn and offer mine freely in exchange for her losing in position, and she refuses to take it. Clever.
6.Be2 Bb4+. My first minor mistake. She forces my king to move before I can castle.
7.Kf1 Qh4. She's testing me, trying to see if I'm a good enough player to see the checkmate.
8.g3 Qd8. I succesfully repulse the attack. She has learned to be cautious.
9.a3 Be7. I drive off her bishop.
10.Nc3 Nxc3. I had to get rid of that knight to break her iron grip on the kingside.
11.bxc3 g5. I take the knight, and then she moves in to kill my bishop. This was all part of my plan.
12.Be5 f6. My bishop is trapped now, but I have prepared a risky plan. Later, after the game, Jamie told me that she was worried about this part because she knew it left her in such a bad kingside position.
13.Bh5+ Kf8. I force her king to move over.
14.Qf3, and now it is impossible for her to take the bishop without her king dying. 14...Kg7, and she immediatly breaks free. At this point in the game I realized that she was too good to beat with my bishop sacrifice.
15.cxd5 exd5. She's just delaying to see what I'll do now, making me do all the thinking.
16.g4, a necessary but reluctant move. 16...fxe5, and she knows she can take out the bishop without my resistance.
17.Qf7+ Kh6
18.Qxf5 exd4. I am getting desperate. My bishop sacrifice did not work properly, and I am down in material now.
19.exd4 Nf6. My one hope is that she will lose on time. (My greatest weakness has always been that I never take long enough on my moves.)
20.Qf3 Rf8
21.h4 Nxh5
22.hxg5 Kg7
23.Qh3 Qe8
And, in an amateur fit of desperation, playing fast to make her play fast, I play the insensible and idiotic 24.gxh5?? and then, with a flourish, she sweeps her bishop off its square and ever so gracefully removes my queen from office. Soon after I lost the game.

Afterwards, in talking to Jamie, I found that she was not quite as terrifying asa I had originally thought. She was modest, straightforward and easy to talk to.

So was the tournament worth it? Definetly.