Chess, Ice Storms, and Frustrating Draws: Lessons from the 2024 Wisconsin Memorial

2024 Wisconsin Memorial in Middleton, Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Memorial wasn’t my original plan. I was supposed to play in a Saturday tournament in Dubuque, Iowa, hoping for a low-key event with a light field and a relaxing Sunday watching football. Unfortunately, an ice storm (and likely low attendance) led to its cancellation. So, I had a decision: drive an hour back to Iowa City or push ahead an extra hour to Middleton, Wisconsin, for a more competitive two-day event. I chose Wisconsin.

My goal was clear: challenge the top seed, Hersh Singh (2300). Oddly enough, this was my first trip to Wisconsin, a state I’d only associated with cheese and Lyme disease. The competition, however, turned out to be as sharp as I expected.

The tournament didn’t go entirely as planned. In Round 3, I drew against one of my students (~1900), which was frustrating for obvious reasons. That result derailed my chance to face Hersh in the final round, going into the final round with 3.5 out of 4 with the two perfects playing one another. The draws were particularly annoying because I had promising positions in both games but failed to capitalize. Here are the critical moments from those games, where better calculation could have turned things around.

Round 3: James (2230) - Ashvath (1932)

I had worked very hard to grind an advantage against my student. I had to find one more precise move before the game began to play itself.

Round 3: Needing one more precise decision to achieve a complete victory.

Round 3: James (2230) - Aidan (2041)

This game was tougher and it was unfortunate because the opening decision I chose to play against him was a game time decision. It would have helped me to play something I was more familiar with. I was close to getting a devastating kingside initiative but I made the gross error of capturing the d-pawn. I didn’t put much effort into calculating that through and it should have lost me the game (-3.00). However, I was able to play damage control well and the game went on to draw.

I am happy about this result because if I won the game, I might have ignored my laziness and decided to just ‘show up’ to next event rather than come prepared.

Sicilian Rauzer Variation: Very close to seizing a kingside initiative but I blundered.

Despite the disappointment, there’s a positive aspect: I am motivated to work on improving my calculating efficiency. Growth in chess often comes from these frustrating moments, and I’ll use them to sharpen my play moving forward.

My next event will fire off in about 2 weeks. I’m returning to Wisconsin at the end of December for the 2024 North Central Open.

Let’s see what these upgrades look like!