How I Got My First IM Norm!

Hey Chesskids! I am back to tell you about how I got my first IM Norm! 

To receive the title of International Master (IM), you need a FIDE Rating of 2400 and 3 IM Norms. To achieve an IM Norm, the opponents you play need an average FIDE rating of at least 2230, and you need a 2450 level performance rating in a tournament. 

The 2023 NYC Winter GM/IM Norm Invitationals took place in New York City between January 12 and January 16. My opponents had an average rating of 2326, which means that I needed 6/9 for an IM Norm.

I will go over three of the best games, cover my thoughts throughout the tournament, and share some of the key moments that led me to get my first IM Norm. I also have some tactical puzzles and advice for those of you who are playing competitively in tournaments!

 

 Game Analysis:

Round 1: FM Samrug Narayanan (2278) vs FM Brewington Hardaway (2345)

In the first round, I was looking to start the tournament off strong and play for a win. Just 14 moves in, my opponent made a fatal blunder, and after that I played well, never lost my winning advantage and secured a clean win.      

Can you spot the tactic which gives black a winning advantage? You can find the solution below. 

The Solution: Rxf3!! Sacrificing the rook to open up my opponent's king and allow my queen and knight to charge into the kingside and checkmate the white king. This resulted in my opponent being forced to give up material to stop checkmate and I won the game. Ed: This is a perfect example of King Level 53: Exchange Sacrifices!
 
Score After Round 1: 1/1
 
Full Game Round 1:
 
Round 2: FM Brewington Hardaway (2345) vs IM Saksham Rautela (2366)
 
I had white in this game and was trying to start the tournament 2/2. It was a Ruy Lopez and it was equal for most of the game until we got into time trouble and both started making blunders. Fortunately, my opponent made the final mistake and I was able to checkmate and win the game.
 
Score After Round 2: 2/2. 
 
 
Round 3: NM Grayson Rorrer (2332) vs FM Brewington Hardaway (2345)
 
In round 3 I had black, and I wanted to keep my momentum and play for a win. But since I had black, I never really got much, and me and my opponent both played pretty well so it was a draw. A draw with black is a solid result. 
 
Score After Round 3: 2.5/3
 
Round 4: FM Akira Nakada (2304) vs FM Brewington Hardaway (2345)
 
I did not deserve the result that came in this game. I was black and we went into a position where I had two rooks for the queen. There were opposite colored bishops and my opponent was attacking the whole game. I had no activity and eventually blundered a few pawns in time pressure. I felt like there was no hope, because I had 50 seconds to 15 minutes and I was dead lost.
 
But I did not give up, and by some miracle after more than 4 hours, my opponent blundered and I was able to trap his queen and win! This is why you never give up! One of the luckiest wins I have ever had, and it proved to be important later on. 
 
Score After Round 4: 3.5/4
 
Round 5: FM Brewington Hardaway (2345) vs IM Florian Kaczur (2471)
 
In this round I faced a strong IM that will soon become a GM. I was white and I went into a position where I was up an exchange, but poor time management and some bad moves led to me losing this game...
 
Score After Round 5: 3.5/5
 

Round 6: FM Zachary Dukic (2226) vs FM Brewington Hardaway (2345)

After the tough game the previous night, I was not in a great mood. My opponent is a very aggressive player and I had a great position out of the opening as black but, unfortunately, just two bad moves led me to a losing position and my opponent converted his advantage pretty well.

Score After Round 6: 3.5/6

Round 7: FM Brewington Hardaway (2345) vs GM Leonid Yudasin (2393) 

After losing two games in a row, I was pretty demoralized. I went from needing 2.5/5 for an IM Norm to 2.5/3. And unfortunately for me, I had to play a former world number 8. It was a great opportunity to play someone of this caliber and I actually got a winning endgame, but he put up resilient defense and we split the point. I now needed to win both games on the final day for the IM Norm.

Score After Round 7: 4/7

Round 8: FM Eigen Wang (2308) vs FM Brewington Hardaway (2345)

Knowing that I had to win this game to keep my norm chances alive, I had to take some risks. In some positions where I had an easy way to make a draw with black, I had to play for the win. 

The Key Moment:

How does black make white's rook look like a big pawn?


The Solution: g5! After Rxh6 and Kg7, the white rook must go to h3 and white's d4 pawn is now hanging and his rook is useless. After this, I won an exchange and won the game. I now needed to win with white for my first IM Norm.
 
Full Round 8 Game:
 
Score After Round 8: 5/8
 
 
Round 9: FM Brewington Hardaway (2345) vs FM Gus Huston (2253)
 
This was a very tense game because my opponent only needed a draw for an IM Norm, but I needed to win. I was putting pressure on him the whole game and was winning at one point, but messed it up and we went into an equal endgame.  
 
I thought I had no hope and the game would end in a draw.... BUT a miracle happened on move 51: my opponent made a fatal blunder which gave me the win and my first IM Norm! 
 
The Fatal Endgame Error: 
On move 51 my opponent played Kc5?? How does white take advantage of this fatal mistake?
Solution: e6! After fxe6 I have the intermezzo Ke5 (a clearance sacrifice!) and now his king is boxed out and cannot defend his kingside pawns. In just a few moves, I went on to promote and win the game, achieving my first IM Norm!
 
Full Game Round 9:
 
Final Score 6/9!
 
Tournament Thoughts And Takeaways:
 
After this tournament, my FIDE rating will be 2370, which is 30 points away from the first requirement for IM! I was thrilled about getting my first IM Norm, but of course I had some great fortune in a few games. I am happy with how I played in most of the games and glad that I never gave up in the losing positions, and ended up going from a loss to a win in some games. So if you learn one thing from this article, it should be to never give up!
 
I hope you enjoyed this article and I hope to come back with more news about my journey to IM and GM soon!