One of the things that is interesting is that you never know what will happen in each round.
My fourth round, I played a 1600+ player in which I didn't get any advantage in the middlegame. I tried to force an endgame I wanted, but in doing so I dropped a pawn & nearly walked into a mate on the side of the board. My saving grace was that the opposite colored Bishops allowed me to hold the position.
My opponent from the fourth round then lost his 5th round game in 28 minutes!! He dropped a Bishop for nothing. When I saw this to my immediate left, I couldn't help but wonder, "Why couldn't he have done this against me?"
My fifth round was worse than the fourth. I blunder the opening position, allowing him to trade knights on c3 where the recapture was with the b-pawn instead of a Rook or the Queen. Then, he offers a draw on the 25th move. I saw what would happen with this game, but after he made his move (improperly offering a draw before moving) I declined it in frustration trying for more. Nine moves later, the position is completely lost, & I'm scrambling for ways to save this game, when he offers a draw again! I again ask him to make his move on the board first. As soon as he plays his move, I jump & accept this offer.
As badly as I'm playing, I still have 2.5 points out of 5 rounds, so I really can't complain too much.
I found out between Rounds 4 & 5 that New Jersey might not have any delegates at the delegates meeting since one moved to California & the rest are unavailable. The NJSCF board was helpful in this regard & it looks like I may be an actual delegate at the delegates meeting. I'll post more on this tomorrow.
I apologize for the lack of the game scores so far - scattered internet & laptop not fully functional yet. Links to the pgn games will be posted soon.
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