Now I felt good. What really surprised me was how relaxed I was at the table. It’s a very similar feeling as when I am at the poker table. Now I had 2½ points and even if I lost the last game I would feel good.
I talked with my new friends and Ryan K. even bought me some pizza for helping him. He said he won the second game because he did what I told him and didn’t trade off his pieces. Good for him. I think he has the makings of a real chess player. It was time for the fourth and final game.
My fourth game was against Zhaosu Ye. He was a young Asian guy who had a lot of odd ticks. He seemed nervous and took a great deal of time. One move eight he took nearly 10 minutes, in a 45 minute game!? He played Alekhine’s and I decided to play the Maroczy Variation. I felt it would throw him a little off-balance. I was comfortable if it transposed over to a King’s Indian. I found it odd that he kept moving his knight on f3 and then back. I was surprised with his rating that his pieces were never coordinated. At least he resigned when it was obvious I was going to win with a pawn up and a passed pawn. One more thing, he used 42 minutes and I used 17. Here is the game:
Parma Open Game 4
White: Randall Bott
Black: Zhaosu Ye
1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 e5 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d6 5. Be2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. c3 exf4 8. Bxf4 Nd7 9. d4 Nf6 10. Qc2 d5 11. Nbd2 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nd5 13. Bd2 Nf6 14. Bd3 h6 15. Rae1 b6 16. Ng3 Re8 17. Bb5 Bd7 18. Bc4 Na5 19. Bd3 Bd6 20. Nf5 Rxe1 21. Nxe1 Bf8 22. b3 Nb7 23. Bf4 Nd6 24. Be5 Nxf5 25. Bxf5 Bxf5 26. Qxf5 Be7 27. Nd3 Qd5 28. c4 Qe4 29. Qxe4 Nxe4 30. Bxc7 1-0
I tied for first in the U2000 with Donald McClendon and we split the prize money. I gained over 100 points in my rating and I’m a step closer to my dream of a Master rating.
Retirement is good.