For me, it seems that after a good tournament, I immediately drop into a slump. After Nationals, I have played three tournaments, Best of the West, Barber Qualifier, and National Open, and played poorly in all of them. I seem to have re-opened my blundering wound and the blood from it is flowing freely. I am outplaying lower-rated opponents positionally and then missing simple ideas that cost me points. However, I am also getting outplayed when facing stronger opponents. This doesn't bode well for me as I am still going to play the World Youth in South Africa. Luckily, my rating is still over 2300, at 2304, even after three horrendous tournaments. I hope to change the trend over the next few tournaments that I play!
