Areas for Improvement Revealed at the Liberty Bell Open

I played some sub-par chess at the Liberty Bell Open 2014. Plenty of learning experiences vs stronger opposition. I had a near miss vs. Sameer Mujumudar in the first round and it was all downhill from there. On the plus side I had a generally nice weekend with my girlfriend in Philly and I met more chess players and had the chance to say hello to some old friends I don't see too often. Also on the plus side, while the overall result was nothing to write about, I did obtain some interesting positions and insights into how I can improve my thought process at the board.
My round 1 near miss:

Truth be told, things didn't get better from there. I played into an interesting position for analysis in round 2. I feel I got a very playable game out of the opening with Juan Tica. I believe there's significant room for improvement in the middle game. I look forward to working on this game over the next few weeks.

I believe those two games are the foundation of many future successes for me even though I got no points out of the two games. There are many positives in those games and a few weaknesses to work on were revealed. Sameer and Juan, nice to meet you guys. Don't count on me being such a pushover next time! :)