Hello chess lovers,
I've been playing classical chess for the past 3 days. It was a 14-man tournament to pick 6 representatives to represent the state for the upcoming sports festival in November.
I did take some nice pictures of the venue, You can look that up here.
While I ended up qualifying, I had to earn my spot at the very last minute. It was a six round event and I started well only to lose back to back and fall into the hands of having a must win dramatic ending.
In this post, I what to share some of my games and my thoughts. Classical Chess is indeed very difficult, I felt it.
I would share game 1 and 3 today, then i would write another post for game 6 which was the decider!
Game 1
[Event "Rivers State Trials"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.08.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Awotu Daniel"]
[Black "Samostically"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2000"]
[BlackElo "1900"]
[ECO "C60"]
[Source "Analyze This App"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nge7 4. O-O g6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bg7 7. c3 O-O 8. f4
a6 9. Be2 d5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bf3 Rb8 12. Qa4 dxe4 13. Bxe4 Re8 14. Rd1 Nd5 15.
Nd2 Bg4 16. Nf3 Qe7 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Rf1 Qc5+ 19. Nd4 Be2 20. Re1 Bb5 21. Rxe8+
Rxe8 22. Qd1 Re4 23. Kh1 Bxd4 24. cxd4 Rxd4 25. Qg1 Rc4 26. Be3 Qb4 27. b3 Rc2
28. Bd4 c5 29. Be5 d4 30. Qd1 Qc3 31. Qe1 Qxe1+ 32. Rxe1 d3 0-1
I was black in game 1, I usually play the Sicilian defense or the French. However, I wanted a unbalanced position as my opponent usually plays the ruy Lopez so I went for 1.e5
After 3.Bb5, I opted for the Cozio variation, it is rarely played.
The idea is to develop my bishop on g7 and strike with f5 or d5 and get a good game and structure.
As at move 9, I was able to play d5 - my opponent is trying to blow me off on the wing, so I striked in the center, A common principle in chess.
Although, The move came with a double pawn cost as after 10.Nxc6, I have to take back with 10.bxc6. I was okay with that as I believe he won't have time to exploit the weakness because my pieces are more active and I can also give him a pawn for activity.
Position After 12.Qa4
It looked a bit scary in the first place as the Queen look to be attacking the weak a6 and c6 pawn but like I said, I wasn't worried about that as he had two pieces still inactive. After thinking and calculating multiple variations I played 12.dxe4 and after 13.Bxe4, 13.Re8 was the hardest move I had to make because I knew if I didn't get it right, I would lose.
The next set of moves were interesting. I maintained a very good advantage even with good defending from my opponent. I was surprised he played 15.Nd2 - it turned out that it was the best defensive move.
Picking the pawn on c6 could lead to mate in some moves or a bad position for white. Let's look at the diagram below (Note: He didn't play Qxc6)
Can you find the winning combination for black after Qxc6?
I found it- maybe that's why I had aches after the game :)
After the defensive Nd2, I maintained the pressure and got a nice win.
It was so interesting and shows the power of tempo and time.
Final postion 0-1
Game 3
This was my first loss, After a perfect 2/2. I played board 1 against the eventual tournament winner. It was a painful game as I had many chances to win but I failed to convert a tactical position in my pet line.
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.08.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Oluwadare Samuel"]
[Black "Dan Jumbo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[ECO "C44"]
[Source "Analyze This App"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 Qf6 6. O-O dxc3 7. Nxc3 Nge7 8.
Nd5 Nxd5 9. exd5 Ne7 10. Bg5 Qb6 11. Bxe7 Kxe7 12. Qe2+ Kd8 13. Rfe1 Qf6 14. Nd2
Bb4 15. Ne4 Qe7 16. d6 cxd6 17. Qd3 Bxe1 18. Rxe1 f5 19. Bd5 Re8 20. Qd2 fxe4
21. Rxe4 Qf6 22. Qa5+ b6 23. Qa3 Rxe4 24. Bxe4 d5 25. Bxd5 Qe5 26. Qd3 Qe1+ 0-1
Very short and annoying game. I was white.
I played the scotch gambit and i had an excellent compensation for my pawn.
As at move 10.Bg5, I was looking confident in my position and I started playing badly from here. I shouldn't have taken the Knight on e7. I felt I would still stop him from castling, but I forgot my own principle .
Less pieces makes less effects!
As at move 14. It became a bit clear that I have misplayed and I might not be able to sustain.
Missed alot of key moves and the rest was just a comedy of blunders. This lost pained me so much, I lost the next game after.
Luckily, I still tell the story because I qualified with 3½/6.
In Conclusion...
I had played decently in the opening in both games however game two went differently because I was in a hurry to blow my patient opponent. Lesson learnt!
I would share the must win game in my next post, Thanks for reading!
10% of the rewards on this post goes to 
Talking about the next season, I hope to bring in some female players and my chess coach to Hive before then. 
I am 
I love to engage with others and I love communication. I believe life is all about staying happy and maintaining peace.
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Thanks For Reading!