In 2026 I hope to be playing more consistently - and better! - than at the end of 2025. The goals include regular study, regular tournaments in Madison, and more tournaments outside of Madison. I also have a goal of playing in the 2026 US Senior Open and the 2026 Wisconsin State Championship. In addition, I plan to overhaul my opening repertoire. Certainly the Sicilian Closed did not work for me in 2025. Like last year, the link to Chessbase videos is [here](https://videos.chessbase.com/en/myvideos). Chessbase news is [here](https://en.chessbase.com/). Chessbase [tips and tricks](https://books.chessbase.com/en/chessbase-17-tips-tricks). Chessbase Open Games book is [here](https://books.chessbase.com/en/openings-1-the-open-games). Chessbase Basic Pawn Structures book is [here](https://books.chessbase.com/en/basic-pawn-structures). The Chessbase Cozio opening book is [here](https://books.chessbase.com/en/master-the-cozio-variation-a-hidden-gem-in-th). The Fritz 20 User manual is no longer available in PDF format, instead the online version is [here](https://books.chessbase.com/en/fritz-20-handbook/introduction). **Early 2025** *January 27, 2026* - [January Rapid at Growth Chess Center](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/JANRAP26) Madison. Somehow, this tournament found 10 people to enter on a bitterly cold January night. I started with a routine win against a player rated 700 or so. Then, I played a teen with a rating just south of 1300. With more than 30 seconds on my clock, and with a queen and three pawns versus a rook, I stumbled into an extremely frustrating stalemate that should have been easily avoided. Then I played the eventual winner and lost rather predictably on the white side of a Guioco Piano. Finally, I played Andrew who runs the Madison Chess Club. This game was messy but fun. In the end I was unable to withstand some kingside pressure after a pretty interesting middle game. Not the best of results, but quite a bit of fun. Game 1: [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8mevfaaxa9cafpoirh43g/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-1.pgn?rlkey=df48pz0obgh8dfknxmiyu89yu&dl=0); [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/u4bm9shk7xp2f1idhpgv9/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-1.pdf?rlkey=1kjmap00bbolxc06gi6vumep1&dl=0). Game 2: [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/h2444yuia98zrtwiakaxi/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-2.pgn?rlkey=70eu15kojem5do6n0x3mu0k5b&e=1&dl=0); [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/2e91udzxilbai899zzyv8/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-2.pdf?rlkey=9kq86sblzjt1b575oahrvjk84&dl=0). Game 3: [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4x0vf01nm84hbi31dwebk/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-3.pgn?rlkey=e33mdudq97eyq1u48irv4q9er&dl=0); [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/czvipsq1qo156advtii1h/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-3.pdf?rlkey=4jiaf4zdqzt5sllfrh5ricx39&dl=0). Game 4: [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/517zah6bqbhl22kjjkwis/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-4.pgn?rlkey=dyax3exvl4rup9dcnyvcop12u&dl=0); [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4565tdi6q802dt001hsd5/2026-Growth-Chess-January-Rapid-Round-4.pdf?rlkey=6yb7u5jvy6bjufe05rexux6fc&dl=0). *February 7, 2026* - [2026 Medical College of Wisconsin Open]() - 2026 Medical College of Wisconsin Open On February 7, I played in the 2026 Medical College Open. They had an Under 1601 section, so I made the decision to play in that section rather than the Open. The venue, in Wauwatosa, is a very modern medical school where a couple of the rooms had been set aside for the Open tournament and a scholastic tournament. It’s genuinely great to see all the young kids playing in the Milwaukee area. When I was growing up, there certainly wasn’t the large number of tournaments set up especially for school age kids. Now, many of the schools have teams and coaches - things completely missing when I was that age. The U1601 section was four rounds where the time control was G/60 d5. My first round was against a person rated 1137 and it exposed my lack of a new plan against the Sicilian. Actually, I have the plan, I just haven’t implemented it. My opponent simply dropped a piece and resigned (1-0; games: [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rb52k3kak5ja6h6gcf9c1/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-1.pdf?rlkey=9o5bvbszuwjvalz49acl1txtj&dl=0) [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8e8ky35vpxe71u4d8rfq3/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-1.pgn?rlkey=mnuhilrwvj8w8wsvrnm61xcjh&dl=0)). My second game was against another lower rated player who played a very strange 1.d4 opening against me (1.d4, 2.Bf4, 3.e3, and 4.c4). He had an even game for 25 moves, but mismanagement of his pawn chains cost him one, and then later, two pawns. (0-1; games: [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ickg7c6bjipk66256xgiv/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-2.pdf?rlkey=pzm1j0yhjejcjbc68ahpsf02y&dl=0) [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rts419h3fxv3ynio1zgpo/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-2.pgn?rlkey=ius8btui6wpieerkqktwwmpop&dl=0)). My third game was against another lower young player rated at 1280. It was a French Defense where I could try out the French Two Knights and we stayed in book for five moves until he played an odd choice. I was very proud of my 8th move (8.g4) setting up a very active kind side attack. That attack finally ended with a rook sacrifice that won the game (1-0; games [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/8pqtgumxxvsg2mhwb6tli/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-3.pdf?rlkey=7nqanax3dorwvv2mut8tgxanm&dl=0) [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/eg6i1a4febspmw4ut7ubg/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-3.pgn?rlkey=8k609yyzfuurec3f3519b99sh&dl=0)). Finally, my last round was against a player rated pretty near me and on the 16th move I completely lost the plot and went down in flames (1-0; games [PDF](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ercr8ls3xu8wrf4q7jc6o/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-4.pdf?rlkey=2y0vo327e8aqvqomiq2ckiig7&dl=0) [PGN](https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yb8vyitplaozcths0g6ue/2026-Medical-College-of-Wisconsin-Open-Round-4.pgn?rlkey=rfgacoyg8n9v46adfkne40hed&dl=0)). I came in second in the section and even won a tiny amount of prize money which I turned around and donated to the sponsoring chess club. I very pleasant tournament and I’m looking forward to playing in the 2027 version. *February 24, 2026* - [February Rapid at Growth Chess Center]() in Madison. I'm registered, but there aren’t many players and there’s only one player rated ahead of me so far. Still, I enjoyed this in January, so I’m going to try it again in February. ***March 14, 2026*** - [March 2026 Growth Chess $1,000 Open](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/MARTHDO26) - I’m registered and I plan to play, although it is the day after we return to Madison from a vacation. ***March 28, 2026*** - [Growth Chess Adults Only Quads](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/MarAOSD26) - I’m registered for this as well, but that should do it before the Spring tournaments get underway. **Spring 2026** ***April 9, 2026*** - [April 2026 Growth Chess $1,000 Open](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/APRTHDO26) - I’m registered and I plan to play. April 24-26, 2026 - [2026 U.S. Amateur North Championship](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/2026USamateur) in Brookfield. I'm not yet registered for this, but I played in 2025 in this event and the times of the rounds made for an easy commute. I'm going to try and play in this tournament again this year. May 16, 2026 - Hales Corners Challenge in (ahem!) Hales Corners. I haven’t played in one of these before but they have a good reputation. I haven’t registered yet, but I hope to play. May 30-31, 2026 - [Arpad Elo Open](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/2026Elo) in Madison. I'm not yet registered for this, but I did play in this quite a bit when I was growing up in Milwaukee. One question will be whether or not I play in the Open division or if I just bail out and play in the U1800 section. This will be my last tournament for the Spring. Summer 2026 July 2026 - The 2026 [US Senior Championship](https://www.google.com/search?as_q=2026+US+Chess+Senior+Open&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&as_filetype=&tbs=&q=US+Senior+Championship&mstk=AUtExfCknJAax-4HeSUPMdsyt_ZNozz9sDZMabWJ3mjlE7whD2rK01NEvmY_BLsHBKhdXFexD7Icwlm1FtyJHYQveIVD8CKM7q_ATvN3oJPcePWYPwU8FW5JwSBpIArnCbmkXbo&csui=3&ved=2ahUKEwjI-L3YsKKSAxUERjABHcKyFT4QgK4QegQIARAB) in St. Louis. I plan to play in this event this summer rather than the nione-round US Open to be held in Michigan. The last Senior Open I played in was in New Orleans and it was pretty enjoyable (including a first-round loss to the eventual tournament winner). It will be held at the St. Louis Chess Club, 4657 Maryland Ave, St. Louis, MO. August 22-24 - The [98th Wisconsin Closed State Chess Championship](https://www.kingregistration.com/event/97WCSC) in Madison (the link is to the 2025 event). Like the US Senior Open, this will be one of the most important tournaments for me in 2026.