I came into this event not sure what to expect, as this was my first over-the-board tournament in over two years. Although this was a strong event, headlined by GMs Ivanov and Jimenez, I decided that my goal would be an ambitious one – to win the tournament. I knew I was capable of winning, and my results in the US Chess League were encouraging. The first round was a warning that could have been much worse. Playing Black against NM Terrie, I reached a bad position out of the opening, and two overambitious attempts to turn the game around left me with serious difficulties. After a long defense, a hopeless middlegame turned into a pawn-down rook endgame. It was still lost, but there were defensive opportunities. At around one in the morning, long after every other game had finished, I salvaged an unlikely draw in a time scramble. The lesson was learned, and although I continued to play ambitiously, I avoided overextending, and the next three rounds saw three wins, including a very satisfying victory in the Najdorf against IM Vigorito. Going into the last round, Ivanov, Jimenez, FM Winer, and I were in a four-way tie for first with three and a half points out of four. In the fifth and final round, Winer-Jimenez reached an equal queen and bishop endgame, which I expected would peter out to a draw. Jimenez showed me how mistaken I was: he continued his characteristically energetic play in the endgame, and a little passivity by Winer was all it took for his position to be ripped apart by the Cuban GM. This left only GM Ivanov and myself in contention for a share of first place with Jimenez. How that turned out can be seen below: