What really decides games at the USCF 1900 level

It’s dumber than you think.

I got my USCF rating over 1900 for the first time in December. If you had asked me a few years ago, when my rating was in the 1500s, what decides games at the 1900 level, I probably would have guessed it was really subtle strategic concepts related to pawn structures or weak squares or dominant pieces. Or maybe I would’ve thought it was complex combinations where one player outcalculated the other. Or maybe I would’ve thought it was deep endgame concepts that you had to read at least three books to understand.

I would’ve been wrong. What decides many games at the 1900 level is stupid blunders. Here are a few made by me and my opponents. All of these are from OTB tournament games.

This was in my very first game as a 1900, at the Charlotte Open in January.

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