The Nightly 5 0 tournament

Hello world. Tonight I participated in the Nightly 5 0 tournament on FICS. I usually do very very badly on these FICS tournaments, as it pairs you against highly rated players with very little time. But in this tournament I finished in 8th place with a 2.5/5 score! Go me. Here are the 5 games I played.

The first game featured me against a 1421 player. Opening was an English opening. He must have been half-asleep, because he missed several very simple tactics and I had a position where I could have ended with a Queen versus bishop. Unfortunately, by that time I had only about 20 seconds left on the clock and so couldn't make any moves. The game ended in a draw, which I was happy with, because I outplayed my opponent in the opening and middlegame.

waparker_Wedberg_2009_2_17_22_13.pgn
Result: 1/2-1/2

Second game featured a King's gambit, which I hate playing against. I had a losing position and then a winning position against a 1480 before losing on time. This was a position where I snatched material and had to endure a siege upon my back rank, but came out of it material up after my opponent blundered.

MauriceP_waparker_2009_2_18_01_39.pgn
Result: 1-0

Third game was a Dutch defense stonewall variation. My opponent was closer to my own rating and missed several good moves. I managed to reach a position where I had complete control of the f and h files surrounding his king, and I won after my opponent failed to defend his king.

wojowhiskey_waparker_2009_2_18_01_45.pgn
Result: 0-1

Fourth game: French defense advance variation. I got into trouble early on, but after a very dubious bishop sacrifice (move 18) I freed my game up some. I then was able to win the piece back after some tactical fireworks centering around the theme of attacking the defender (moves 24 - 30). After all this it simplified into an endgame where I was a pawn up and with a knight versus a bishop. All the pawns were on the same side of the board so my knight was an asset. I managed to put all my pawns on dark squares so my opponent had nothing to attack with his bishop. I won on time after a very exciting endgame! Unfortunately I missed the two opportunities to just take the bishop and win but it is blitz.

waparker_trentthechessnut_2009_2_17_22_46.pgn
Result: 1-0

Final game: Stonewall attack (Bird's Opening). I just got thumped in this game by a 1678 rated player. Not too much to talk about in this game. I had a nasty pin going on my opponent that would have won a piece (19. Bd3 instead of what I played). Afterwards my position just started to crumble like feta cheese!

waparker_Lemurian_2009_2_18_01_52.pgn
Result: 0-1

End results: waparker 2.5/5 (2 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw)