My first game in the US Open

I was hoping for an easy match-up, to kind of ease into the flow of the tournament. No such luck. When I checked the pairing sheet out in the hall, I saw that my first opponent was rated 2150. Plus I had the black pieces, not that that was really a factor. To make matters worse, when I got to the board, I found a 13 year old kid waiting for me. Rats. Not at all the way I was hoping to start.

We played a long game, and I eventually maneuvered myself into a thoroughly lost endgame. Very crafty. I was down a piece and had a couple of pawns that weren't going anywhere, while he had 2 pawns that were unstoppable. I should have resigned, but I saw a chance to force a stalemate if he got sloppy. Not likely, but after playing for 4 hours, I figured I'd hang in there for just a few more moves.

Here's the position:

I think the reason I played on at this point is that I was thinking of him as a 13-year-old kid, who might make a youthful mistake. I should have been thinking of him as a 2150 player, who didn't get to that level by letting a fish like me off the hook.

Bingo! He walked right into it! If he had just continued to push the h pawn, I would have thrown in the towel. But now the kings are in a stalemate position. All I have to do is push my a pawn, forcing him to capture, then push my c pawn, forcing him to capture again, and we had a stalemate. Suddenly I was feeling pretty good, and I knew he would just be kicking himself very soon. So I confidently played...

62. ...a2

and he confidently played...

63. h6!

Uh-oh. This wasn't in my plan. He doesn't really have to stop my pawns at all. Why should he worry about me getting a silly queen on the board, when he can mate me with his little pawns? Obviously, this kid counts moves a lot better than I do.

Actually, I resigned at this point, but the game would have proceeded...

63. ... a1(Q)

64. h7 mate

A nice position to look at. I have overwhelming material superiority, but he's got my king. A good example of pawn power. I think I learned something from this one.