Friday Hivechess Tournament, round 4 had a weird time control that made it suicidal to berserk your opponent. It was 2 minutes + 3 seconds added. I tried my best to berserk, but each time I did, I ran into time trouble faster than I could imagine. I finished in 17th place, an extremely poor finish giving a brilliant start of beating strong players.
After my next two losses, I felt I was behind the top 5 players, and I might not catch up if I do not berserk in some games. This was a bad decision as I lost woefully. Some game I might be winning on the board, but I did not have enough time to convert the win.
This game against the tournament winner, Gmdakold, was the only game I can say I played well in the tournament. He mixed up the move order when he went for Ne4, and I grabbed on that opportunity to expand on the development of my knights a little bit further to his kingside, starting with Nb5. Then came the queen next to h5, my rook to c1 to control that open file as I apply more pressure to a struck black king in the center.
Watch the game:
https://lichess.org/tcbxVusT
This was the first game I played against Justfavour, and it was interesting to see how my d-file pawn advancement was responsible for the break in the center, making it possible for me to launch attacks on my opponent. After his blunder with the move Qd6, I knew I was winning the position because I had a discovered attack on his queen once I played dxc6. Hitting on his queen with my rook, and threatening his b7 bishop with my pawn.
Watch the game:
https://lichess.org/mtQtQoV0
After losing a previous game, it could affect your psychology heading into the next game against a stronger player. I guess this is the only explanation for why I would go ahead to capture a pawn with my rook when I can see clearly that I am heading into a fork of two of my pieces, and I still did it. After doing this, I went further to sac on his f2 pawn with the hope he would defend poorly against my minor attacks that will come next. Then he showed me why his rating is higher than mine by defending well and releasing counterattacks as well. I lost in flying colors.
Watch the game:
https://lichess.org/jOA6ZLff/black
I did not do well in another Friday Hivechess, but hopefully I will win this event one day. See you at the Saturday Hivechess Tournament.
