Lilianna: Playing in My First Big Open Event

“Hi everyone, my name is Lilianna, a fourth grader and a proud Her League member. … I want to share with you some fun experiences from my first big open tournament … the 26th Annual Northeast Open (which took place from November 5 to November 7 in Stamford, Connecticut).”

BY Lilianna Gao - Highview Elementary School
HL MEMBER & HN COLUMNIST

Lilianna

Hi everyone, my name is Lilianna, a fourth grader and a proud Her League member. Today I want to share with you some fun experiences from my first big open tournament. I started to play over-the-board tournaments in the summer of this year, and besides a few times of play in a local chess club, I had played in only scholastic tournaments. So, the 26th Annual Northeast Open (which took place from November 5 to November 7 in Stamford, Connecticut) was my very first big open tournament.

At open tournaments like this one, you get to play adults and children, unlike the scholastic tournaments which only children can play. There were five rounds in this tournament, so I got to play only one game on Friday and two games each on Saturday and Sunday. For each game, I had 80 minutes for my first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the remaining of the game, with 30 seconds increment added to my clock for each move I made starting from the beginning. I had a lot of time to think in my game, and it was less likely to get into time trouble. Also, I did not get tired easily, as I would only play one or two games each day.

The location of this tournament has special meaning for me. I was born in Greenwich (a town right next to Stamford) before my family moved down to New York. So, it feels good to be back and visit the place. Most open tournaments are held in large luxury hotels. It is like a big party for all the chess lovers and players, especially for the ones in the area, and it is also not uncommon for players to take a flight to travel to a tournament far away and stay in the hotel during the tournament.

I got to play five very interesting chess games over three days, met old friends, and make a lot of new friends, including my opponents, during the tournament. There were so many lovely memories from this tournament. One thing that I will not forget was the book stand right outside of the tournament hall selling chess books and sets. I love reading books, including chess books, so I spent quite some time by the book stand before my first game on Friday evening (mostly reading The Woodpecker Method). Then I met one of America’s newest chess masters, Tani, as he was also playing in this tournament. He was so nice that he even signed his biography for people who purchased the new book from the book stand! After I finished my first game, I went back to the book stand, and the owner was not there anymore, but all the books were still there. Later I found out the owner himself joined and played in the tournament as well! It is such a festival for all the chess lovers!

As for the games, I played all five rounds, winning four games and losing one game, and got second place in my section (U1200). I lost one game to my old friend Errol, a 11th grader who had beaten me once before in another rated tournament. This time I went for opposite-side castling, as I liked attacking and I was not afraid of him, and we were in an exciting race to get to each other’s King. I lost the battle after two and a half hours of grinding chess, but I felt that I played better this time compared to our last game. So, I might be able to get my revenge soon. I look forward to our next game! All my opponents were very nice, and I was very glad to meet and play with them. There was one interesting story that I want to share. In open tournaments we need to bring our own chess board, sets and clock, and one of my opponents had a beautiful wooden chess board and sets. He was so happy to play with his board and pieces. However, there was a small problem with the board: there were no letters or numbers on the board to aid with chess notation. So, after the game, his seconds (his family) were very busy fixing the notations on the scorebook!

Unlike in scholastic tournaments, there was a lot of time between each round. It was like a very happy playdate for us in the hotel when waiting for our next game. I got to meet and talk to a lot of old and new chess friends. My little sister Isabella was also very excited, as she got to play with others about her age, and I felt that she was running around the whole day. There were some other chess girls in the tournament, but I think there could have been more. There was also a mixed doubles team prize for the best two-player team with the highest combined score!

Overall, it was such a fun experience playing my first open tournament. I look forward to my next one, and I hope to see more chess girls joining as well, especially my chessmates from Her League!