My first encounter with Jesse despite 15 years of playing chess in the same state!

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. Be3 d5 7. Nd2 Bd6 8. c4?! Too ambitious! 8... Ne5 9. Qb3 Nxd3+ 10. Qxd3 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Qxe4 Bb4+ 13. Ke2 O-O 14. Rhd1 f5! r1bq1rk1/pp4pp/4p3/5p2/1bPNQ3/4B3/PP2KPPP/R2R4 w - - 0 15 15. Qe5?! 15. Qf4! is the correct response. 15... Bd6!? 16. Nxe6! Bxf4 17. Rxd8 Bxe6 18. Rxa8 Rxa8 19. Bxf4 Bxc4+ 20. Kf3= doesn't gain Black anything, so he'd probably settle for ( 15. Qf4 ) 15... Qf6 16. Nf3 Qxb2+ 17. Kf1 . 15... Bd6 16. Qb5 f4 17. c5? fxe3 18. Nf3 18. cxd6 puts up a better fight, but I missed Black's next, and didn't want to allow ...Rxf2+. 18... Bd7! 19. Qd3 Bxc5 20. Qxd7 Qb6 21. fxe3 Rad8 22. Qa4 Qxb2+ 23. Kf1 Bxe3 24. Qh4 Rd2 0-1 [RM+Fritz 9 (120s)]

Charles' run towards clear 2nd got a big boost when he bested Chris Candelario in the 2nd round.

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. Re1 Nbd7 7. c4 e5 8. d5 h6 9. Nc3 Nh7 10. Nh4!? Nb6 11. Qd3 g5 12. Nf3? White ends up playing a KID without the fast Queenside play. 12. Nf5! blockades Black's favorite pawn break; it's well worth losing the c-pawn to do so. 12... f5 13. e4 f4 14. Nd2 Qf6 15. f3 g4 16. Rf1 Ng5 17. Nd1 h5 18. Qe2 Bd7 19. b3 Rf7 20. Ba3 Raf8 21. gxf4 5rk1/pppb1rb1/1n1p1q2/3Pp1np/2P1PPp1/BP3P2/P2NQ1BP/R2N1RK1 b - - 0 21 21... Nh3+? Deflates his own attack. Black can get away with 21... Qxf4! since 22. fxg4?? is refuted by 22... Qxd2! 23. Qxd2 Rxf1+ 24. Bxf1 Nf3+ . 22. Bxh3 gxh3 23. f5 Bh6 24. Kh1 Kh7 25. Nc3 Missing his chance for counterplay. 25. f4! Bxf4 26. Qxh5+ Qh6 (not 26... Kg8?? 27. Rxf4! exf4 28. Bb2) 27. Qxh6+ Bxh6 28. Bb4 25... Rg7 26. Rg1 Rfg8 27. Rxg7+? White can't afford the luxury of giving up the file, especially with his loose Nd2 under fire. 27... Rxg7 27... Qxg7! and White has no good defense against the threat of ...Qg2+, i.e. 28. f4!? Qg2+ 29. Qxg2 hxg2+ 30. Kg1 Bxf4 and White must give up his N to stop ...Be3#. 28. Rg1? 28. f4 was the only chance to stay in the game. 28... Rxg1+ 29. Kxg1 Qg5+ 0-1 [RM+Fritz 9 (120s)]

Munir had the best chance to hold against Jesse.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. e3 d6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 e6 7. Bd3 Be7 8. O-O h6 In the post-mortem, Jesse opined that this and Black's 4th were just a waste of time. 9. Re1 O-O 10. d5 exd5 11. Nxd5 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Nb4 13. Bb1 Na6 14. a3 Intending to bring Ra1 into play via the 2nd rank. 14... Nc5 15. b4 Nd7 16. Qd3 f5 17. Ra2 Nf6? The e4 square isn't a good home for the N. 18. Rae2 Ne4 19. Nd4 Bf6 r1bq1rk1/pp4p1/3p1b1p/3P1p2/1P1Nn3/P2Q4/4RPPP/1BB1R1K1 w - - 0 20 20. Bb2?! A rare miss by Jesse. 20. Rxe4! wins material: 20... fxe4? 21. Qxe4 Re8 22. Qh7+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Kf7 24. Rxe8 Qxe8 25. Bg6+ wins. 20... Be5 21. Ne6 Bxe6 22. dxe6 Bxb2 23. Rxe4? Now it isn't sound. 23... Qe7? 23... fxe4! 24. Qxe4 Re8 25. Qh7+ Kf8 26. Qh8+ Ke7 leaves White without a follow up (Bb2 covers g7!), so he has to settle for 26.Bg6, winning back some material. 24. Rc4 Rac8?? 25. Rxc8 ( 25. Rxc8 ) 25... Rxc8 26. Qxf5 g5 27. Qg6+ Bg7 leaves Black with nothing better to do than wait for White to open the f-file and break the blockade of the e6 pawn. 1-0 [RM+Fritz 9 (120s)]

White wrangles a draw from an inferior position.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. d3 Re8 7. a3 Nd4 8. Nxd4 Bxd4 9. Ne2 Bb6 10. Be3 c6 11. Ba4 Bxe3 12. fxe3 Qb6 13. Qd2 d5 13... Qxb2?? 14. Bb3 traps the Q. 14. Nc3 dxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. dxe4 Be6 17. h3 Rad8 18. Qc3 Rd7 19. Qxe5 19. Rad1 avoids losing both e-pawns, as in the game. 19... Qxe3+ 20. Kh1 Qd4 21. Qxd4 Rxd4 22. Bb3 Bxb3 23. cxb3 Rexe4 24. Rad1 Kf8 25. b4 Ke8 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Rf2 h5 28. g3 Rd3 29. Kg2 g6 30. Re2+ Kd7 31. h4 Rd5 32. Rf2 f5 33. Re2 Kc7 34. Kf3 Rd6 35. Kf4 Rd4+ 36. Ke5 Rg4 8/ppk5/2p3p1/4Kp1p/1P4rP/P5P1/1P2R3/8 w - - 0 37 It's hard to imagine Black converting his extra pawn when White's pieces are so much better centralized. 37. Re3 Kb6 38. b3 a5 39. bxa5+ Kxa5 40. Rc3 Kb5 41. Kd6 f4 42. gxf4 Rxh4 42... Rxf4 is a bit better, maintaining influence over the 4th rank. The h-pawn is harder for White to defend than the f-pawn also. 43. Rc5+ Kb6 44. Rc4 c5 45. b4 cxb4 46. Rxb4+ Ka6 47. Kc7 47. Ra4+ is the best way to secure the draw. 47... Kb6 48. Rb4+ and now 48... Ka5?! 49. f5! is too risky for Black. 47... b5 48. Kc6 Both sides were under 5 minutes; the game eventually ended in a draw. 1/2-1/2 [RM+Fritz 9 (120s)]

Thanks to the low turnout, I only needed to win one game to claim the U2000 prize.

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5 6. Bd3!? Avoids the main theoretical lines. 6... cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. h3 Nh5 9. Nde2 e5 10. O-O exf4 11. Bxf4 Nxf4 12. Rxf4 Qb6+ 13. Kh1 Qxb2 I ended up unhappy with the win of this pawn; White's development is so far ahead that he has compensation. 14. Rb1 Qa3 15. Nd5! Nc6 16. Rh4? Qa5 17. Nef4? Qd8! r1bq1rk1/pp3pbp /2np2p1/3N4/4PN1R/3B3P/P1P3P1/1R1Q3K w - - 0 18 The Rh4 is not an attacker; he's a trapped piece. 18. g3 Ne5 I did not want to risk 18... g5!? 19. Rh5 gxf4 20. gxf4 , but after 20... Ne7 21. e5 Ng6 22. f5 I can simply give back some material with 22... dxe5! 19. Qe2 Objectively best is 19. Ne2 , but it requires an admission that 17.Nef4 was dubious. 19... b6 I did not rush to play ...g5 because I saw no way for White to build his attack. The more development I have, the more it will feel like I'm a pawn up. 20. Rg1 Bb7 21. Rf1 Now it's go time. 21... g5 22. Nh5 22. Rh5 gxf4 23. gxf4 Nxd3 24. cxd3 Bxd5 eliminates a major portion of White's attackers and wins. 22... gxh4 23. Nhf6+ Kh8 24. Qh5 h6 25. Rf5 I threatened ...Bxd5 Nxd5 Qg5, kicking the wQ out. 25... Nxd3 26. Rg5? Bxd5 White's game has collapsed; he must also lose Nf6 or Rg5. 0-1 [RM+Fritz 9 (120s)]