Not really a revenge story. When I was about 16, I was in some minor tournament in Brooklyn. I was 2-0, but hadn’t really played that well, didn’t really deserve to win both games. The pairings go up for the 3rd round. Some guy who was also 2-0 was not paired against me, but was absolutely irate and bonkers, yelling at the TD that he should be paired against me. I don’t understand the nuances of the Swiss system even now, so I’m not sure of what system is used to pair the 2-0 players. I’m just watching this as the guy turns red with rage. Why does he so badly want to play me? I don’t know, maybe he saw i hadn’t played that well, maybe because i was young, who knows.
Anyway, the TD says to me, “hey, you mind if i change the pairings”. Being a shy kid (16 or so at the time), I said fine.
So I played the guy. I have white. He plays the Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer. I play it rather mellow. He’s really smug. There’s practically a smile on his face. So smug that he castles king-side even though his pawns there are broken. I uncork a simple exchange sac which wins the game. I never saw him again at a tournament.
To the best of my recollection there were at least 3 other players besides myself and this irate gentleman , maybe more. That’s what confused me, how he knew it was he who should be paired with me. Maybe the other 2-0’s were known to him to be really strong players. Also, remember, this was about 1973, right after the Fischer championship, so there were many players in this tournament, which I didn’t win, by the way.