Ian Edgerle reports from Ypsilanti July Super Swiss
The light shines on Ian
Photo Credit: Katie Loh
To be completely honest the Super Swiss in Ypslianti was a make or break tournament for me, if I did well in my own mind I would keep playing but if I would have done poorly I most likely would have quit the game competitively for good. My return to the game was more than successful. After a couple lucky wins with people dropping queens and getting flagged etc., I gained more than 75 rating points in one tournament and had a plus score against 5 experts in the tournament. I felt like the layoff was needed for me to focus on the always challenging junior year of high school for the ACT and most important year of grades as far as colleges are concerned. I also felt the break was needed because I had a poor string of tournaments rating-wise and didn't want to completely burn myself out from the game. I was also losing interest and continued to ask myself why I was even playing anymore. Multiple months after popping in and out of national tournaments without much motivation to win I figured out the answer to my question was I liked the game too much to quit and that quitting chess is almost like taking away a part of my life. Getting back into the 1900's is very encouraging and will keep me in the game for my senior year at the very least as I have suddenly found a second wind for the game.
You can find three of Ian’s games here:
http://www.westmichiganchess.com/Shared%20Documents/2010_2/201007superswiss.htm
Tournament Director Dr. Ed Mandell’s USCF Rating Report can be found here:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201008017211.1-12928026