Round zero is complete here in Reno, and everybody is still tied with 0 points out of 0!
The main job on Thursday is just to get here, which was no problem this year because the weather was beautiful. I picked up a passenger en route.
Yes, that’s Jesse Kraai (photo taken by my wife), looking as if he’s dressed for a bike ride more than a chess tournament. Biking really seems to be his passion these days, and we spent a good long time talking about it on the trip up to Reno. Even though Jesse has been on this trip many times before, as we passed by one beautiful vista after another, he kept oohing and aahing as he visualized seeing it from a bike.
However, for this weekend the name of the game is chess. This will be Jesse’s first tournament since the last Reno tournament, the Western States Open in October, where he tied for first. It will be interesting to see how he does. Six months seems like a long layoff, but remember that before that he hadn’t played in tournaments for two or three years. It didn’t seem to do him any harm! Sometimes I think a layoff can revitalize your creativity.
As for me, this is my first tournament since the Bay Area International in January, so I’ve had about a three-month break. I felt as if I came away from that tournament with some good momentum, but can the momentum continue after such a long interruption?
Tune in later this weekend for some answers!
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Good luck to both you and Jesse in the tournament! I started taking lessons with Jesse and, although I would like to do them more often, we’ve had a few so far and I look forward to more. He really is a fantastic teacher.
Hope to see more blog posts from you during or after the tournament, updating us with on your progress!