Today
I played in the Chess Tournament. I had a buy and was seeded 7th.
Next I played Ben G. with a 5 minute time, both of us were very rushed at the end, it was very intense, on a random draw I got black first, which I'm absolutely horrible with, but I ended up winning barely. about 6 minutes in I used 30 seconds to think ahead 5 moves, and he didn't take the time to figure out where my rook would be after we exchanged 2 pieces (it put him in check which eventually allowed me to capture a bishop and exchange rooks).
The next match was very intense as well, I played my rival Eric L. Neither of us has ever lost when we've played as white against each other (which inclueds MANY times). I lost the random draw again, and had black. 10 minute time each, a little more breathing room. He was very aggressive early on with his queen, and I attempted an exchange by pinning it on his king. He responded by moving the queen right next to my king, on a square protected by his Bishop and YELLED "CHECK MATE!!" Dejectedly I left the room to go find someone to share my defeat with. 2 minutes later I ran back into the room, realising that he couldn't move his queen because it was pinned. The match resumed, but the loss of time proved the difference, and I missed an obvious fork with my bishop which would have put me a rook up. Eric L. ended up a pawn end game, and he managed to queen it, and secure his victory.
All in all I played relatively well for having not played in quite a long time. It was the closest either of us has ever gotten to beating the other one as black. Maybe next time I'll get white :-D.