My Experience Playing the Long Island Library Tour Part 1

The Long Island What now?

Long Island is home to many chess clubs that meet in cafes and libraries. In 2026, a bold venture is underway to have the clubs meet up at a rotating selection of host libraries, and also a store in Massapequa which is serving as the 6th location. For the kickoff event, we met at Your Move Chess & Games. The tournament was played in two sections:
1. Game 30 time control, 5 rounds
2. Game 20 time control, 3 rounds
I played in section 1

If you want to join the tour, the next stop is actually 2/7/2026 at Island Park Library.

My background and mindset going in

My OTB Tournament experience is rather limited, and the last time I played in one, I was a 17 year old in over my head at a kids club. I have been attending the Island Park Library Chess Club (we meet every Wednesday 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm) for about 6 months and trying to improve my skills at the game. I did know that I would encounter some very strong players at this meetup who might be better than my usual cohorts. They did not disappoint!

Game 1

My opening plan as black was basically to play King's Indian Defense against d4, and Caro-Kann against e4. Despite sticking to openings that are pretty familiar to me, I actually got zero wins as black! I think I will need to look over my mistakes and re-strategize for next time.

Funny Tidbit, while chatting with some other players before the round began, I heard my opponent saying something about playing the London against bad players, and waiting for them to make a mistake. When he played 1. d4, I thought he was insulting me! I quickly saw it was not personal when he continued with C4.

This game was a hard fought battle, and my nerves were getting to me by the end of it. My hands were shaking as I was notating the moves, and it seemed I could only do too little to try to defend! I resigned when it became clear that I couldn't stop the pawn promotion without giving up my Rook, even though my opponent only had 2 minutes left on the clock.

Game 2

After the utter struggle that was game 1, a swift victory in game 2 was quite the relief. After 3. Bc4 Nf6, I had a decision to make. I love to play for the Fried Liver, but this is a long time control and I could end up in trouble! A boring 4 knights position, or possibly pushing d4 would be wiser! Anyway, I decided to YOLO it and play 4. Ng5!?

Unfortunately, my opponent played a few moves of the opening out of the sequence they were used to, and lost a lot of material. Although it was rather early in the game, they resigned, giving me my first win!

Game 3

Alright, with one win and one loss under my belt, I was definitely feeling more relaxed going into the next round. I think that taking the e pawn on move 3 was really a mistake, as I was opening up the center without really having any development behind it. White had me dialed in the whole time, and Jonathan went on to score 4 points total, among the top finishers!

Game 4

In this game I got a clear advantage in the opening winning a full piece, but black fought back hard!

The notation above is incomplete, but I blundered my light square bishop shortly after this point, losing my material advantage (although maintaining the better position, in my opinion). I had his king on the run at one point, but needed to retreat my Rook to the back rank to defend a threatened checkmate in 1. Later, he was even threatening to mate me with the Rook and king, so I had to defend against that too! Although I think I could have found the winning attack eventually, I didn't have to. Black's time ran out with about 5 minutes remaining for me. Winning by flag wasn't my preferred outcome, but we take those.

Game 5

Between rounds, I got to hear Carlos talk a bit about his past tournament experience, including some wins over titled players. He certainly had a lot more experience than I did. I tried a bold Bishop sacrifice to open his king up to attack with 16. ... Bxh3, but I didn't quite have the piece activity to make anything happen with it. Later, I was hoping for a perpetual check with the Queen, and when that didn't work, I tried to bring the Rook into the attack. I forgot all about defending the f7 square though from the Queen and Bishop! I don't think I had much chance in this game, so I can't regret taking risks, but I wish I had calculated them a little bit more carefully!

In the end

Finishing out the tournament with a score of 2/5 and 11th place out of 24 competitors, I earned the middle of the pack finish I hoped for. I finished just ahead of a 13 year old boy who was duking it out against adults (1.5 points), and a few places behind the other representative from my club who was here in the tournament (3 points).

This review didn't go far into game analysis, but I have that work cut out for me privately!