Earlier today, I was caught in a dilemma, to choose between two things of almost equal importance: chess and football. Today's Hive Chess tournament was scheduled to start at 4 pm, and the football team I support, Manchester United, had a match around the same time. I didn’t know what to do; should I sacrifice chess for football or vice versa? I prefer watching football matches at a viewing center. It is more fun that way. After contemplating for a while, I decided to play the tournament at the viewing center. I decided to risk it, knowing well that I might not be able to focus there. Luckily, the tournament didn't start until the second half, so I was able to focus on the match during the first half. Surprisingly, I played some beautiful games today and performed better than expected.
At some point, Istopped watching the football game and focused solely on the tournament. As usual, I’ll be reviewing some of my games in this tournament.
Many times in my previous chess posts, I mentioned about how I always struggle against Stayoutoftherz and how I have lost against him so many times. I checked the total scores and saw that in all our games, he has won a total of 25 games while I won just 1. Well, I landed a win today, increasing my number of wins to 2. It sounds funny, but I’m super excited that I was able to win. We both started our games well. However, Stayoutoftherz had the upper hand when I blundered. I was close to losing the game, but the only advantage I had was that I had more time. Still, a win is a win.
PGN:
- d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3 e6 4. e4 Bb4 5. Bxc4 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nf6 7. f3 h6 8. Ne2 a6 9. a3 Nc6 10. e5 Nd5 11. Qd3 Na5 12. Ba2 Nc6 13. Bb2 b6 14. Rc1 Bb7 15. O-O Qg5 16. f4 Qe7 17. Ng3 O-O-O 18. Ne4 Kb8 19. Rb1 Na5 20. c4 Nxf4 21. Rxf4 Bxe4 22. Qxe4 Nb7 23. Rbf1 Rhf8 24. Qe3 g5 25. Rf6 Rd7 26. a4 Qe8 27. Ba3 Rh8 28. Bb1 c6 29. Bb2 c5 30. Rd1 cxd4 31. Rxd4 Rc7 32. Bc2 a5 33. Qb3 Rc6 34. Be4 Nc5 35. Bxc6 Nxb3 36. Bxe8 Nxd4 37. Bxd4 Rxe8 38. Bxb6 Re7 39. Bxa5 Kb7 40. Bb4 Rc7 41. c5 Kc6 42. Rxh6 Kd5 43. Rh5 Kxe5 44. Rxg5+ Kd4 45. Rg4+ Kd5 46. a5 f5 47. Rh4 e5 48. a6 Ra7 49. Kf2 Rxa6 50. Rh5 f4 51. Bd2 Ke4 52. Bb4 Rc6 53. Rg5 Kd4 54. h4 Ke4 55. h5 Rh6 56. g4 Kd4 57. Rg6 Rh7 58. h6 e4 59. g5 e3+ 60. Ke2 Ra7 61. Rd6+ Ke4 62. Re6+ Kd4 63. Kf3 Rf7 64. g6 Kd3 65. h7 Rf5 66. h8=Q e2 67. Rxe2 Re5 0-1
Rosmarly is one of the team's top players and I’m always careful when playing with her. When I saw that she berserked me, I was relieved because it meant I had enough time to think. Unfortunately for me, I played my knight in a tight position and Rosmarly seized the chance to capture it, which means she had a piece up. But because she had little time left, she started blundering her pieces.
PGN:
- e4 c5 2. d3 Nc6 3. a3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qd8 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nf3 g6 8. Bg5 Bg7 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. g3 b6 11. Bg2 Bb7 12. O-O O-O 13. Rb1 Bg7 14. Ne4 Rc8 15. Nc3 Qd7 16. Re1 e6 17. Ne4 Rfd8 18. Re2 Nd4 19. Nxd4 Qxd4 20. Nc3 Qd7 21. Bxb7 Qxb7 22. Re1 Qc7 23. Qe2 Bd4 24. Ne4 f5 25. Ng5 Qxg3+ 26. Kf1 Qxg5 27. Qxe6+ Kh8 28. c3 Bg7 29. Re3 Qf6 30. Qxf6 Bxf6 31. Ke2 Kg7 32. Rg1 Kf7 33. Kf3 Re8 34. Rge1 Rxe3+ 35. Rxe3 Rc7 36. Re2 g5 37. Kg2 h5 38. f3 b5 39. Rc2 Rd7 40. Rd2 Be5 41. Rd1 Kf6 42. Kf2 c4 43. d4 Bf4 44. Kg2 a5 45. Re1 b4 46. axb4 axb4 47. Re8 bxc3 48. bxc3 Rb7 49. Rf8+ Kg6 50. Rg8+ Rg7 51. Rc8 g4 52. fxg4 fxg4 53. hxg4 hxg4 54. Rxc4 Bd2 55. d5 Kf5 56. Rd4 Bxc3 57. Rd3 Be5 58. d6 Rd7 59. Rb3 Rxd6 60. Kf2 Rd2+ 61. Ke1 Rh2 62. Kf1 Kf4 63. Rb4+ Kf3 64. Rb3+ Kf4 65. Rd3 Kg5 66. Kg1 Bg3 67. Rxg3 1-0
I thought to beserk my game against RD because I needed more points to make it to the top 3, but I changed my mind and decided to play it carefully. RD cast made a grace mistake when he moved his bishop to H5. The image below shows his blunder.
The game took an interesting turn in my favour from there.
PGN:
- e4 e6 2. d3 d6 3. a3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. h3 Nc6 6. Nf3 h6 7. d4 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Bd2 Nh7 10. O-O Ng5 11. Bxg5 Bxg5 12. Nxg5 Qxg5 13. Qg4 Qxg4 14. hxg4 e5 15. d5 Nd4 16. f3 c6 17. dxc6 bxc6 18. Ne2 c5 19. Nxd4 cxd4 20. Rab1 Be6 21. b3 f6 22. a4 Bf7 23. Kf2 h5 24. gxh5 Bxh5 25. Bc4+ Kh8 26. Rh1 g6 27. g4 Kg7 28. gxh5 gxh5 29. Rxh5 Rh8 30. Rg1+ Kf8 31. Rxh8+ Ke7 32. Rxa8 1-0
